2009-09-24
what we didn't win
hey chariots, we did not win the 9.19.2009 (christoph's 50th bd) powerball lottery www.nhlottery.org i bought a $ 1.00 ticket for the entire team when we were getting gas en route to the start.
2009-09-22
Hello Kitty / New Balance Boston - Chariot's friendly competition
Great fun we had at www.rtbrelay.com . Here is a video of two of our friendly competitors who ran a keen race. We had dinner on the Thursday night with a large contingent of runners from New Balance out of Boston, MA. Thursday afternoon our vans were parked beside Hello Kitty. Real nice folk they all are. Enjoy the video, it's hilarious. Stay tuned for Chariots for Hire's video as it will be stellar. Neat link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reach_the_Beach_Relay
1 2 Hello Kitty Ac 1/106 Men's Open 20:22:58 5:54
2 1 New Balance Boston 1/123 Mixed Open Men/Women 21:02:55 6:05
28 86 Chariots For Hire 3/9 Men's Super Masters 24:47:30 7:10
Chris Duke's photo expose - awesome!
Fellow 'Chariot for Hire' Chris just released this awesome 400+ photo expose of www.rtbrelay.com Excellent to watch in slideshow format. Chris' photos certainly capture the experience of this epic event. Click on the link below. Cheers, Scott
http://picasaweb.google.com/dukechris/ReachTheBeach2009?feat=content_notification#
http://picasaweb.google.com/dukechris/ReachTheBeach2009?feat=content_notification#
2009-09-21
Another Happy Runner
I was happily 'off-line' for the time away in NH for RTB, but am plugged in once again.
There is not much to say that has not been said about how wonderful an experience this was, so I just want to be redundant and say it was wonderful. Great guys, great scenery, great event, great runners and running, not a single (significant) hitch or hiccup along the way. We all finished vertical and smiling and are richer for the experience (what a deal in Scotch in Woodstock!)
A special note of thanks to our #12, John, who stepped up at the very last moment to fill in for a fallen commrade. Without his willingness to head off into the wild with 11 strangers, we would have been in a bit of a jam.
Our next adventure in the planning stages is to get a bunch of us pre-qualified for NYC marathon in November 2010. This gig has no limit to the number of participants, so any would-be or wanna-be Chariots, get out there and get a qualifying time soon and then send us you resume.
There is not much to say that has not been said about how wonderful an experience this was, so I just want to be redundant and say it was wonderful. Great guys, great scenery, great event, great runners and running, not a single (significant) hitch or hiccup along the way. We all finished vertical and smiling and are richer for the experience (what a deal in Scotch in Woodstock!)
A special note of thanks to our #12, John, who stepped up at the very last moment to fill in for a fallen commrade. Without his willingness to head off into the wild with 11 strangers, we would have been in a bit of a jam.
Our next adventure in the planning stages is to get a bunch of us pre-qualified for NYC marathon in November 2010. This gig has no limit to the number of participants, so any would-be or wanna-be Chariots, get out there and get a qualifying time soon and then send us you resume.
Lost & Found ☺ TA12 Van 1 Scott
At TA12 Van 1 enjoyed downtime and dinner at K.A. Brett School before our run into the night. While there I plugged in my camera battery charger, albeit I left it behind. Rather than turn back 10 kms later I left it as is. Thereafter en route home in the van I emailed the School and Mark at RTB. Today I spoke to the School on the telephone. Great conversation we had. The charger and battery is en route to my home in Guelph. ☺
http://www.brettschool.net/indexhome.html / http://www.tamworthnh.org/about.html Hi Noel ( K.A. Brett Elementary/Middle School), Hi Mark (RTB). Greetings, my name is Scott Cameron. I participated in Reach the Beach. While at your school we enjoyed donating to your fundraiser, r&r’n and your hospitality. It was great speaking with the volunteers. Nice to see students there too. While in the gym I left behind a charger and battery plugged into the outlet by the pay telephone / router. Noel, could someone please retrieve the charge and battery and mail it to me? I will gladly pay for any costs incurred. I ran with the Chariots for Hire team. Interesting read about the history of your school in the lobby. My cousin is Barrack Obama via both of our mothers. Both are Dunham family. Originally from Woodbridge, NJ, USA, Barrack’s family stayed in the USA, my family immigrated to Canada. One of my team mates suggested when we needed to replace our 12th I should have asked Barrack. Mark, great time had by all. I hope all went well. Cheers and thanks, Scott http://guelphchariotsforhire.blogspot.com
I love you, van
Couldn't have wished for a better gang of guys to spend 72+ hours with in a fairly cramped space. I know our van was the messy one, but there was method to our anarchy. Once our runner was on course, we were a support machine, eh? I loved the way we shared the driving and other chores with no plan or pressure. Every guy ran hard - you could tell that. And thanks for all the laughs.
And here's a valentine to van 2 as well. I know we had our worries about your navigational abilities after you missed the turn to Vermont, but once the race started, you guys were awesome - always there for the handoff, and hey, you even cleaned our windshield at the gas stops!
In the end, you got the last laugh, cruising through the border well ahead of us.
Take it easy today if you can guys. See you at the track.
And here's a valentine to van 2 as well. I know we had our worries about your navigational abilities after you missed the turn to Vermont, but once the race started, you guys were awesome - always there for the handoff, and hey, you even cleaned our windshield at the gas stops!
In the end, you got the last laugh, cruising through the border well ahead of us.
Take it easy today if you can guys. See you at the track.
2009-09-20
it's nice to be home
it's nice to be home. the boys had a fantastic time. we reached the beach. great to be doing what we do at 50+. will do until the end. beauty night for some solo r&r time out on the front porch. oh look, there goes a runner in the night past my home on the sidewalk. neat. looking forward to our next gig. until then, bring on monday, batter up, good to go, then off to the blue jays game with son david tomorrow night. slainte, scott http://guelphchariotsforhire.blogspot.com
RTB09 results
http://www.rtbrelay.com/2009results.html "Chariots for Hire" did great. Well done boys! 28 / 400. Team #86 Chariots For Hire 3/9 Men's Super Masters 24:47:30 7:10 minutes per mile. We won the cereal, the breakfast of champions! Bear Naked cereal, take your pick, bananna nut or cranberry nut. http://www.bearnaked.com Hey, maybe they will sponsor us.
"the last leg" ?
great drive from hampton to the border, however, we were stuck in lane 3 for a L O N G time at customs. with five cars in front of us, art makes a sprint to lane 2, thereafter we cruise through the border to the laughter of the customs officer who had just cleared through our team mates in van 2. good call art. folks, when in doubt take lane 2. next stop, guelph in 90 minutes.
chariots on the road
currently somewhere near rochester, new york. hope to be home in guelph within 3 hours. all are well. stiff quads. too funny when i pounded mike's asking them how they were. he suggested during lunch at a rest area that we all do a 100 metre dash in the parking lot. it didn't happen. tried to post more photos, but reception for such is not the best. will get around to posting more photos later. this road trip was a blast. we all had so much fun. next up on the agenda is to get our guaranteed entry times for the 2010 new york city marathon. www.ingnycmarathon.org excellent venure. i last did this in 2006 with no aspirations to go back, however, as part of chariot for hires gig this will be fun. nyc is a great city. cheers, scott
My three legs (Art)
It's 6 am here and I've been awake since about 4:30. Although I went to bed just after 9 pm, you'd think I would have done a little better than that! But, it's not surprising that I'm wired I suppose.
This was definitely the best of the 3 relays I've done. We had none of the weather challenges that plagued us at shore-to-shore (heat, thunderstorms), and the course was much tougher (hills) and more interesting. Plus an event that's
8x larger is just way more exciting.
I'm very sore from all the hills, and so are all the other guys. We just don't have anything comparable to train on. My first leg was my fastest, and not just because I was rested. The roads were graded and smooth, even though we were in the mountains (without the clouds we would have seen Mt. Washington - 6000 ft.) I had only one long uphill. My first leg was long at 14.5 km, so I was on the road for just over an hour. But I had a tailwind the whole way, so finished feeling very strong.
My second leg, just after midnight, was another story. I was tight and sore by then, and immediately developed an aching left knee whenever I had to climb a hill - and the 12+ km leg featured half a dozen or so, including two that had my heart rate way up. Strangely, my knee felt fine on the descents and the flats. I can't complain, because others had much hillier legs than I.
Nightime running is mentally tougher, because you inevitably feel alone and lost, no matter how frequently your van buddies stop to encourage you. My second leg took about 58 minutes, and it felt interminable. But again, I got off lucky. Three or four of our guys had to run 2 of their 3 legs in the dark, including my buddy Sandy, who's sleeping soundly beside me here. No one complained about the straws they'd drawn.
My third leg, run at just after 9, should have been a picnic at 7 km. But the accumulation of soreness, sleep deprivation and irregular eating makes the body very unwilling by the second day of the race. Luckily, the weather was spectacular: brilliant blue sky, cool air, warm sun, and a light breeze that hit me from all directions. On their final legs, most guys were "roadkilling" other runners in droves, as we caught up to the heart of the field (as a high seed, we'd started late in the day, so began the race nearly at the end of the field). My last leg wasn't like that. I had only a few runners with me, and we were equally matched. I caught and was passed one younger guy a half dozen times during my short leg; he was better on the climbs, but I could re-take the lead on the descents and flats. Before I expected it, I was finished, after just over 30 minutes of running.
I got back in the van and found an unexpected treat in the bottom of our communal cooler - a hard-boiled egg courtesy of Christoph's forward thinking wife. After a steady diet of energy bars and trail mix, it was bliss.
Before long, I was back on the road supporting my van 1 buddies as they struggled through their last legs. Christoph was celebrating his 50th birthday, so at the end of his leg, I organized a throng of about 100 strangers to sing Happy Birthday to him as he approached the transition area.
Soon enough we were finished, and could kick back our heels at a coffee shop, then the finish line, as the van two guys finished things up for the team.
This was definitely the best of the 3 relays I've done. We had none of the weather challenges that plagued us at shore-to-shore (heat, thunderstorms), and the course was much tougher (hills) and more interesting. Plus an event that's
8x larger is just way more exciting.
I'm very sore from all the hills, and so are all the other guys. We just don't have anything comparable to train on. My first leg was my fastest, and not just because I was rested. The roads were graded and smooth, even though we were in the mountains (without the clouds we would have seen Mt. Washington - 6000 ft.) I had only one long uphill. My first leg was long at 14.5 km, so I was on the road for just over an hour. But I had a tailwind the whole way, so finished feeling very strong.
My second leg, just after midnight, was another story. I was tight and sore by then, and immediately developed an aching left knee whenever I had to climb a hill - and the 12+ km leg featured half a dozen or so, including two that had my heart rate way up. Strangely, my knee felt fine on the descents and the flats. I can't complain, because others had much hillier legs than I.
Nightime running is mentally tougher, because you inevitably feel alone and lost, no matter how frequently your van buddies stop to encourage you. My second leg took about 58 minutes, and it felt interminable. But again, I got off lucky. Three or four of our guys had to run 2 of their 3 legs in the dark, including my buddy Sandy, who's sleeping soundly beside me here. No one complained about the straws they'd drawn.
My third leg, run at just after 9, should have been a picnic at 7 km. But the accumulation of soreness, sleep deprivation and irregular eating makes the body very unwilling by the second day of the race. Luckily, the weather was spectacular: brilliant blue sky, cool air, warm sun, and a light breeze that hit me from all directions. On their final legs, most guys were "roadkilling" other runners in droves, as we caught up to the heart of the field (as a high seed, we'd started late in the day, so began the race nearly at the end of the field). My last leg wasn't like that. I had only a few runners with me, and we were equally matched. I caught and was passed one younger guy a half dozen times during my short leg; he was better on the climbs, but I could re-take the lead on the descents and flats. Before I expected it, I was finished, after just over 30 minutes of running.
I got back in the van and found an unexpected treat in the bottom of our communal cooler - a hard-boiled egg courtesy of Christoph's forward thinking wife. After a steady diet of energy bars and trail mix, it was bliss.
Before long, I was back on the road supporting my van 1 buddies as they struggled through their last legs. Christoph was celebrating his 50th birthday, so at the end of his leg, I organized a throng of about 100 strangers to sing Happy Birthday to him as he approached the transition area.
Soon enough we were finished, and could kick back our heels at a coffee shop, then the finish line, as the van two guys finished things up for the team.
Photos of Chariots at Reach the Beach 2009
I can only upload five photos at a time per blog, so with that here we go with a selection of some photos on my memory stick. no doubt there are many more to follow re: photos and videos. cheers, scott (currently we are in Massachusetts), don't ask me why we are here, i am not driving, maybe we are going to run the boston marathon route today for a cool down run. : )
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