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Grouse Mountain to Mountain Highway Return, 14 Km
A beautiful day was enjoyed by all that came out for our first training run this year and there were lots of us. A record 53 people showed up for our trip from Grouse Mtn to Mountain Hwy today. There were 15 signed waivers for those that are not in the race and those people only need to sign the waiver once for all the runs. We’re one week ahead of schedule in a sense given that we usually begin our runs on the same weekend as the Vancouver Marathon but really we’re right on target as usual. So that may have contributed to the numbers being up or maybe not. I think that more and more people are simply discovering the joy of an early morning trail run with a bunch of other great people. I recognized lots of faces and it sure is nice to see many of the same friends and acquaintances as always. From our 2006 organizing committee we had Enzo, Francine, Glenn, Rod, and me to help guide and provide encouragement. Glenn told me that he almost forgot about the run this morning but he can be forgiven as he just got back from a weeklong business trip to Europe. Enzo showed up in his brand new RAV4 with Francine. And Rod was looking good after a hiatus from Knee Knacker duties last year. It’s important to note that our committee has our work cut out for us this year. There are many changes taking place and as always we want to put on the best event possible. Both the start line and a big chunk of trail up on Black Mountain are brand new. Also we’re seeing increased registrations for the Knee Knacker and we’re doing our best to accommodate everyone. The lottery sadly chopped out 30 people from the race but thankfully there are lots of opportunities for everyone to still be involved. In fact, please be sure to check out our need for Volunteers. It’s crucial to the success of the race that we are fully covered with happy and energetic volunteers stationed throughout the course in a wide range of duties, not to mention at the banquet afterward as well. For those of you in the race we request that you get 1 person to volunteer somewhere. Another area of change this year is with the training runs. I strongly encouraged all runners today to step up their game and take a leadership role. That means whenever you’re with the group to please watch out for other runners and take full responsibility for yourself as well. We have more and more people coming out so there are lots more opportunities for problems. But of course that means there are also lots more of you to take part and make a difference. This will become more important as the temperature warms up and also as we will be taking up more and more parking spaces and trail space. Please remember we’re not the only ones out there enjoying the trail and the day. On a side note, our apologies that dogs are not invited on the training runs simply to be considerate of everyone. I noticed there was some very nice trail maintenance done near Abelard Canyon on Fromme Mountain by the North Shore Mountain Biking Association. The trail has been smoothed out and is now a bit quicker. We will be having our own Trail Work Party on Saturday May 27 (details to be announced). Please do your part to give back to our amazing Baden Powell Trail and sign up now. Thanks to everyone that took part in the training run today and for also being a part of such a great community of runners. The Knee Knacker continues to be a world-class event because we all make it that way. With your energy, excitement and commitment we can keep it strong for all the new runners willing to test themselves on the most ‘knarly’ trail race in Canada. Please be sure to show up early for our next run. We will meet at Grouse Mountain again and I’ll be doing a bit more of a speech to give some advice, find out more about you and answer questions. Meeting time is again 8:00 am.
Craig Moore
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