EDITORIAL

Seasons Greetings!

If you are like me, I am sure you are wondering: Where did this year go? Obviously a busy one and hopefully a good one for everyone!

The Royal Victoria 8km, Half and Full Marathon saw many personal bests this year. It was particularly enjoyable for those of us that finished our races and then were able to cheer in the full marathoners. It appeared everyone finished strong and we can certainly attribute that to very dedicated runners and a great training program.

The Vancouver Island Race series begins in just 6 short weeks with the first race, Central Saanich Pioneer 8km, beginning January 14, 2007. Discount packages are available for early registration and details are available online at VIRA website
or view our Upcoming Races for contact information.

On a personal note, I am preparing for my very first marathon, the Disneyworld Marathon, in January. I was delighted to hear that two other locals were participating as well and look forward to the possibility of seeing them down in Florida. I also would like to thank Laurie Ritchie for designing my training program between the Royal Victoria Half and this race. Her program has really helped me to maintain focus and stay on track. Although, I am relying heavily on the excitement of the day and some photo "ops" with Mickey to carry me to the finish!

Snow or not, training for the Comox Half Marathon begins this week, take special care as roads may be slippery! In addition, good luck to those of our membership, and there are quite a few, that will be participating in the Boston Marathon in April 2007. That is quite an accomplishment, I am sure we will all be cheering you on at home!

Wishing you the Happiest of Holidays!!

ORCA Singlets

There are still team singlets in stock, please contact Pam Horbay, our clothing coordinator. The cost is $30.00. Email or phone 738-0447.
If anyone would like to have the ORCA logos screened onto personal clothing, the cost for small logos are $3.00 and the larger logos are $3.50 (a minimum of 12 items to be screened to place order). Great idea for hoodies, T-shirts, or tanks!

Club Equipment Storage

My apologies in the last newsletter when I incorrectly stated we were still looking for someone to take over from Randy and Kim Longmuir.

Greg Higgins has kindly volunteered to store the Orca equipment in his storage locker. Thank you very much, Greg.

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PLEASE NOTE: CLUB MEMBER CHANGES

It is important that you let Kim Longmuir know if your email address changes. Please call at 248-8515 or email Kim. Kim is the keeper of the Master list of club members; to keep you informed, you must keep her informed!

Our new Web Master and Orca member, Ken Peters, has designed a brand new web site for the club. The site is still at http://www.orcarunning.ca/
Please welcome Ken to our executive and we would like to thank Terry Harrison for her work on it to date.
If you have any quality photos from a previous race or Orca event or are planning to take your camera to future races; we would welcome these for the website? Please email your photos to Ken Peters.
ORCA Webmaster

Questions or comments regarding the newsletter or if you would like to submit an article, please email Ann McDonald.
ORCA Newsletter Editor

UPCOMING RACES

January 14, 2007 at 11:00 am. Central Saanich Pioneer 8k
Central Saanichton
$15.00 Preregistration or $39.00 includes short sleeve "technical"
$18.00 after Jan 9, $22.00 day-of-race
Contact Sylvan Smyth 250-480-7869


January 28, 2007 at 9:00 am. Mill Bay 10k
Mill Bay
$15.00 Preregistration, $18.00 after Jan 23, $22.00 day-of-race
Contact Loni Dutton at 250-746-6344


February 11, 2007 at 11:00 am. Cedar 12k
Cedar
$15.00 Preregistration, no shirt, $18.00 after Feb 6, $22.00 day-of-race
Contact Bastion at 250-758-0026


February 25, 2007 at 11:00 am. Hatley Castle 8k
Colwood (Royal Roads)
$15.00 Preregistration, no shirt, $18.00 after Feb 20, $22.00 day-of-race
Contact Stephen Cook at 250-474-4863


March 11, 2007 at 9:00 am. Synergy Health Management Ltd. Bazan Bay 5k
Sidney
$15.00 Preregistration, $18.00 after Mar 6, $22.00 day-of-race
Contact Patrick Brown at 250-388-6492


March 18, 2007 at 11:00 am. Comox Valley 1/2 Marathon
Courtenay
$15.00 Preregistration, $18.00 after Mar 13 $22.00 day-of-race
Contact David Nowak at 250-897-8484


April 1, 2007 at 11:00 am. Merville 15k
Merville
$15.00 Preregistration, $18.00 after Mar 27, $22.00 day-of-race
Contact Cynthia Durand-Smith at 250-286-1364


April 15, 2007 at 11:00 am. Sooke River 10k & Series Awards
Sooke
$15.00 Preregistration, $18.00 after Apr 10, $22.00 day-of-race
Contact Jeff George at 250-479-9404

For a full list of Upcoming Races, please visit: Team West Coast

OCTOBER/DECEMBER ARTICLE

Royal Victoria Marathon Results
8KM, Half and Full Marathon
Submitted by Laurie Ritchie, ORCA Member

Here are the results for Team ORCA. Thank you for all your feedback!br>
The Oceanside Running Club Association (Team ORCA) had a very successful day in the Royal Victoria Marathon/Half Marathon and 8 km races. There were 44 ORCA members that successfully competed in these races on this cool, rainy day.

In the 8 km race, we had seven top ten finishes. Nick Breault ran to an 8th place finish in the Male 13-15 category in 37:10, David Beatty ran a 37:34 to finish 7th in the M50-54 category, Anne Crossley finished in 37:50 for 4th in the Female 40-44 age category, Deirdre Best ran 39:46 for 6th in her F13-15 category, Tom McGregor ran a 40:06 to finish 10th in his M55-59 age category, Carly Breault captured 2nd place in the F-under 13 category and Daphne Trelawney ran a 43:59 to finish 7th in her F55-59 age category. Also, Wayne Lawrence ran 37:43, Ron Breault ran 40:44 and Barb Breault completed her family foursome in 46:13.

In the Half Marathon, Laurie Ritchie finished first in her F45-49 age category in 1:29:14 and Heather Beatty was awarded fourth in her F50-54 age category in 1:39:53. Personal bests were achieved by Shirley Wong (1:49:25), Jill Grisdale (1:52:27), Judith Mayor (1:58:32), Alana Leung (2:03:36), Heather McPherson (2:14:31) and Stephanie McLeod (2:24:54). This was a first half marathon for Stephanie Happach >(2:02:33), Beth Alden (2:11:50) and Mairi Speed (2:13:17). Those that also completed the half marathon were Jackie Allen (1:43:37), Ann >McDonald (1:51:54), Malcolm Farrow (1:56:15), Don Heppner (1:55:17), Miki Butterworth (2:07:10), Jennifer Best (2:16:48) and Natalie Nobert (2:26:15).

The marathon featured Nanaimo's Steve Osaduik's successful attempt to break the marathon course record and come in under the Olympic qualifying time. He shaved almost 2 minutes from this record to post a 2:16:47, a full 12 minutes ahead of the second place finisher! Brodie Guild was the first Team ORCA finisher, placing 4th in the highly competitive M35-39 age category in 2:51:15. Suzanne Evans of New Westminster was the first female finisher in 2:47:03. Team ORCA's first female competitor was Catherine Irons who raced to an impressive third place overall finish and first in both the overall masters category (35+) and in her F45-49 age category in 3:07:22. She is now a member of a BC select team. Faye Amos ran a very quick 3:33:33 to capture 4th in the F50-59 category and Barry Carr sped to a 3:58:58 finish for 8th in his M60-64 category. All of the above athletes had qualifying times for the Boston Marathon as well as Peter Poland (3:17:05), Rod Bailey (3:21:57 - a personal best by over an hour!!!), Sharon Dawson (3:37:51), Liz Carroll (3:43:08 - a personal best by over 4 minutes!) and Lara Mullen (3:43:17 - a personal best by 11 minutes!!). Teresa Klemm (5:00:31) and Sandra Kinloch (5:25:27) put in an incredible effort in both training and in completing their first marathon! Other Team ORCA members that completed the full marathon were Lucky Butterworth (3:29:40), Shayne Stokes (3:43:31), Melissa Ross (3:46:37 - finishing despite a bad cold), Steve Crabb (3:56:38) and Donna Golding (4:07:33).

Welcome New Members

A reminder that now is a great time to be thinking about renewing your Orca membership for 2007. The fee is still a steal of a deal at $10.00. It is important that you also sign a new waiver each year. If nothing has changed with regard to your information, please just sign and date the back. The form can be downloaded on our website at http://www.orcarunning.ca/

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Annual ORCA Christmas Light Run

ORCA Christmas Light Run and appy's:
Please join us for a relaxing run viewing the Christmas lights in Parksville followed by mingling and appy's at the Upper Deck!
Date: Mon Dec 11, 2006
6:30pm-7:30pm: Relaxing run starting at Ballenas School
7:45pm: Mingling and Appys provided by ORCA at the Bayside Quality Inn pub: Upper Deck
Please join us at the pub even if you cannot make the run. Looking forward to seeing you there! Please RSVP to Melanie if you are able to join us for appy's so that I can order the correct amounts.
Thanks so much! Happy Holidays!
Melanie

Team ORCA Annual Ken Owen Award

Once again it was time to give consideration a deserving club member for the Ken Owen Award for Most Inspirational Orca. The award was initiated last year; Orca club members, Mike Bourcier and Michele Levesque, sponsored the award in memory of their dear friend, Ken Owen.

For those of you who did not have the pleasure to know Ken, he was a long-time Orca member who was a joy to be around. Ken loved running, triathlons, and the camaraderie of his running friends. Ken passed away unexpectedly in 2005, and is missed by all who shared his friendship.

The recipient of this award is chosen for his/her "INSPIRATION" to other members of ORCA. The criteria for the award is that it is given to the person who, through his/her dedication, tenacity, comeback, etc has been an inspiration to us all.

The recipient of this year's award is Laurie Ritchie. Annette Owen presented Laurie with the trophy at our Annual General Meeting on Thursday, November 16th, at the Parksville Conference and Community Centre.

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Weekly Runs Update

There have been two weekly runs added to our list.

Thursday Night Social Run at 6:30 PM
1126 Blind Bogey Drive in Eaglecrest
Directions: turn right on Blind Bogey Drive off Eaglecrest Drive
45-50 minutes at an easy pace
These runs will be starting Thursday Sept. 28th. Please phone 752-3291 or e-mail Leanne Parsons if you have any further questions.

Starbucks Social Monday night run at 6:15 PM
498 Hirst Ave in Parksville
45-60 minute run, bring a towel and change of clothes. The house will be open to dry off on those rainy nights and to change. Then it will be off to Starbucks. Please email Rod Bailey or phone 240-2331 if you wish further information.


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Special Discount to ORCA Members

Be sure to visit the following Team ORCA Sponsors:

Outsider - The Outdoors Store, Qualicum Beach 752-6610
-10% off running related products, excluding sale items

Frontrunners, Nanaimo 729-8200 or Victoria
-10% off anything except food, heart rate monitors or sale items

Extreme Runners, Courtenay (250)703-9544
-10% off most products

Body Works Fitness & Tanning, Parksville 248-3346
-20% off gym memberships

Body Sculptors Fitness, Qualicum Beach 752-5553
-$40 for a month membership or a ten punch card

Fitness Connection, Parksville 248-3144
-15% off membership fees

Heaven on Earth Natural Foods, Qualicum Beach 752-3132
-10% off sports nutrition items and vitamins, including items on sale

Arrowsmith Bikes, Nanaimo (behind Earl's) (250) 758-6675
- See Kebble Sheaf or Robin Dutton for 10% off all merchandise.

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Online Book Offer

Submitted by ORCA member Dr. Larry Smith, Chiropractor and Author of:
Embrace the Journey of Recovery: From Tragedy to Triumph!
Embrace the Journey of Recovery will passionately reignite your spirit and teach you how to confront, conquer and powerfully triumph over any life threatening illness! Experience the remarkable story of two courageous yet ordinary individuals and their astonishing recoveries from heartbreaking tragedy. The message is simple. They transformed their lives and you can too!
To find out more about this exciting new book and to receive a free download of the Fitness Prescription DVD click here


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You Know You're A Runner...

Travel
-when the drive to the race is longer than the race itself
-when you keep your family updated on how far you are from your destination by saying "There's only a half-marathon (10k, 5k, etc) until Grandma's house," and everyone knows how far that is.
-when you run to your gate at the airport even though you aren't late and you aren't wearing running shoes
-when you pack a seperate bag for your running clothes
-when your idea of sightseeing involves visiting the local running store and finding the best place for hill repeats and long runs
-when you get off an 18 hour flight and go for your long run because a) you need to stretch your legs, b) you want to see the city/country, and c) you have a scheduled run
-when you realize that all the traveling you did in the last year revolved around races
-when, on trips, you find it entertaining to see how fast you can convert speeds and distances from miles to kilometers and vice versa
-you avoid travelling to places where you won't be able to run
-when you get back from vacation and the first thing you tell people about is how the running was
-when you fly with your running clothes and shoes in your carry-on bag

Nutrition
-when all your friends think you eat too healthy
-when you not only eat gels, but you know the best flavors for every brand
-when you consider pasta to be a food group
-when the sports drinks are in front of the soda, beer, and juice in your fridge
-when you know the name of all the checkers at your local health food store
-when you have two eggs, two pieces of toast, a slice of cheese, a glass of juice, and a yogurt for breakfast and are still hungry by 11 AM
-when you drink your least favorite kind of sports drink because you know it is what they will be handing out at waterstops for your next race and you want your body to be accustomed to it
-when pasta is the only food you'll eat two nights before a race

Adapted From: You Know You're a Runner If.., at http://www.running.about.com/


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President: Randy Longmuir

Past-President and Treasurer: Brenda Light

Membership Director: Kim Longmuir

Secretary: Donna Golding

Events: Melanie Peake

Communications: Ann McDonald

Media Contact: Don Petrie

Webmaster: Ken Peters

ORCA meetings are held every 2 months. If anyone from the club would like to join us, please do so! Goodies are always provided!

Next ORCA Meeting: January 22, 7:30 p.m. at Kim and Randy Longmuir's residence. Please Email Randy or Kim for more details.