Congratulations to all the Benders who ran Oakville Half Marathon. Heard it was hot and tough….well done!
We had a great Wine Run Sunday morning, the run part was very difficult, running through the mid-day heat, but the before and after race partying was fantastic. Thanks to Firmo and Teresa for hosting (and for keeping the pool open.) and to Michelle for organizing the event! 22 Benders participated, despite the hot conditions.
This week:
Tuesday – 6:45 – Tim Hortons (Shoppers World) – 6 or 7 k run
Wednesday – 6:30 – Running Room Bramalea – Some more track work. Make sure to wear something pink.
Thursday – 6:45 – Chris Gibson Rec. Centre – 6 to 8 km
Saturday – Reply to Liz if you’re looking to do your long run on Saturday.
Sunday – Several Benders are participating in Run for the Cure. If you haven’t registered for the Team “Benders 4 the cure” please do so. If you require additional info, please reach out to Michelle for details. More info on Sunday’s long run to follow.
Have a great week, hope this great weather continues.
The annual fall tradition of The Wine Run was this past weekend and in attempt to keep things fresh it was decided to hold this year’s event on the sun!! Traditionally this run is the perfect way many Benders close out the summer. But this year summer weather was a little hard to come by and it turns out that Sept. 24th was one of the nicest days of summer (…yes I’m aware it’s actually fall!)
Benders assembled at the ever gracious DeMelo House for a fancy breakfast before making their way across the city trying to find shade wherever they could and stopping at other Bender houses that were generous enough to host the brave souls who decided wine, long runs and hot sun (near 40 with humidex) sounded like the perfect way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
Thanks to every one who hosted a pit stop, provided supplies and participated…oh and of course organized! This event continues to embody the Benders spirit – running, friends, fun and booze!
Well done, all the Ottawa Army Run participants. We had a great time. Such a nice city to visit. The race day temperatures were very hot, and made for tough running, but we did it.
There was also a handful of Benders out on the trails this weekend. Specifically 5 Peaks at Heart Lake Conservation Area. Entering both the Sport (6K) and Enduro (11K) distances. Well done all. Quick shout out to Lorraine who had a bit of a run in with some roots and rocks.
Next Sunday, hope you come to the Bender Wine run. Plans are in the works right now, Michelle will send out more info shortly.
This week:
Tuesday – 6:45 – Tim Horton, Shoppers world, for about 6 km
Sharing a fantastic letter from Don Doan about the Don Doan Dash.
Email from Don Doan – Sept 11, 2017
To our Bender Family,
I fully understand the planning, co-ordination, co-operation, teamwork, sacrifice, time, blood, sweat and tears that it takes to plan and execute a first class event…so I know I am qualified to praise everybody involved…
Race Director Samantha;
the organizing committee comprised of Jim, Jackie, Denis, Rob, Grace, Mike, Ivar, Maria and Paul;
and the large contingent of volunteers…
WOW! What an incredible job by some incredible people!! Truly a first class event…take a bow Bender Nation – you deserve it!
And of course all the other Benders, family and friends who showed their support through registration…THANK YOU!!
To be honoured with the race being named the Don Doan Dash, and then to have ALS named as the charity of choice…I have no words…speechless I am!
ALS is a relentless, insensitive disease that has NO effective treatment, and NO cure…and until the very successful ALS Ice Bucket Challenge fundraising venture in 2014, ALS research was grossly under-funded!
Neither treatments or cures are possible without funding! It is so essential that the momentum established by the Ice Bucket Challenge funding be maintained, and this can only happen through new fundraising ventures, which makes the DDD donation by the Benders so critical!
I was saddened to learn at an August 31st ALS support group meeting that a regular attendee at our meetings passed away in late July at age 37! I was further stunned to hear that in August in the City of Brampton alone (600,000 residents), a total of four new ALS diagnosis were confirmed! That’s a serious statistic, given that there are 2,000 to 3,000 Canada-wide ALS patients! It seems like the bad guys are winning, but on Sunday we dealt them a serious hit through the hosting of a successful event and by raising community awareness.
I’ve seen my potential future at Sunnybrook, and it isn’t pretty…however, on Sunday I was able to focus on the present, and your collective gift to me made the present very enjoyable. Pam and I are so pleased to have you in our corner for this heavyweight fight!
FEEL PROUD OF OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS…THIS COMMUNITY GIVE-BACK WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL!
THANK YOU BENDER FAMILY!! YOU PUT NEW WIND IN OUR SAILS, AND WE HOPE TO LEAVE ALS IN OUR DUST! WE LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!
Thank you all again for helping us put on a great race on Sunday. We needed help in many areas to make the event work, and we got so many helpful and enthusiastic volunteers.
And a thank you to Samantha from The Benders, for taking on the task of race director, “Job well done!” The tireless planning and organizing of our team over the last several months.
So glad to see Don and Pam too!
Well done, congratulations to Steve on his completion of the 100 miler in Woodstock Michigan. Yes, another 100 miles. He’s a machine.
And congratulations to Mike B. and his team. They participated in the Ragnar relay Friday all night till Saturday morning, and he still managed to get to our race in time to help organize volunteers.
Looks like the weather will be good this week. Here is the plan:
This Week:
Monday – 6:00- Liz, Michelle and I will be running on the Etobicoke Trail starting behind the old Running Room. Join us if you’re interested.
Tuesday – 6:45 – Tim’s parking lot at Shoppers World about 6 km
Wednesday – 6:30 – Bramalea Running Room – 6 to 8 repeats of 800 metres (2 laps = 800 meters) both the marathoners and the half marathoners. Other distance runners come join us too.
Thursday – 6:45 – Chris Gibson Rec Center – 6 to 8 km
Sunday – 23 km long slow run for the marathoners, 18 km for the halfers. Location to be determined.
The Don Doan Dash page has been updated to include pictures and results from race day. A full blog post about the race will follow shortly. Thanks to everyone for their support in making this event an incredible success!
Hope you all had a great Labour Day weekend. And now it’s September….already?? Vacations have come to an end, back to school, back to work.
Don’t forget The Don Doan Dash this coming Sunday! If your friends or family haven’t already signed up registration closes Thursday at midnight. We’re almost at maximum numbers for T-shirts. Don’t wait till race day cause there might not be any shirts left.
This Week:
Tuesday – 6:45 at Tim’s in Shopper’s World parking lot
Wednesday – 6:30 – Bramalea Running Room – Speed work
Thursday – 6:45 Chris Gibson Rec Centre
Sunday – Not sure how we’re going to work this out, because most of us will be at The Don Doan Dash in the morning but our Long slow run requirement this weekend – Marathoners – up to 32k and Halfers up to 18k. Check the emails, we’ll will figure it out later in the week.
Congratulations to Carlo, Maria, Tony, Teresa, Firmo and all the other Mud Heroes out there. Back to back OCR races for Firmo, he’s putting the washing machine to work with all that mud. Anyone looking to do one of these obstacle races talk to these guys. Their Mud Hero group seems to be growing every year!
Only 12 days before the Don Doan Dash. Lots of work going on in preparation for this race. If you haven’t already, please sign up and get your family and friends to come also.
Still need some volunteers too. Contact “Get Fit with Maria”
We had a great turnout last sunday – 22 Benders at Second Cup.
This week:
Tues – 6:45 – Tim Horton – Shoppers world for 6 k
Wed – 6:30 – Running Room – we start speed work – 4 x 800 repeats. Terry Fox track in Ching Park. Hopefully we’ll be able to use the track.
Thurs – 6:45 – Heading to Vegas!! oops! I mean, meet at Chris Gibson Rec Centre to run 6 to 8 k
Sun – 8:30 – Long run, back up to 29 for the Marathoners and 18 for the halfers.
Eight courageous Benders dressed in black… Seven courageous Benders dressed in black and one navy blue arrived at Mount Saint Louis Moonstone to face Tough Mudder 2017. There was a mixture of experienced obstacle course racers in the group. Many having done the always popular Mud Hero. Others had Warrior Dash on their resume as well as couple Spartans mixed in. Surprisingly though no one in the group had done the Tough Mudder.
After passing the multi-tiered registration process which moved surprisingly quick the group found their way to the starting corral. Going off in the first wave of the day, the warm up in corral was pretty standard with the hype man getting every one pumped while making sure everyone stayed safe and looked out for one another. One thing that stuck out in particular was that Tough Mudder was NOT A RACE. It was an experience, it was about team work. I didn’t think much of this line until the gun went off and the crowd started moving.
The start of the Tough Mudder began with a climb straight up the ski hill. In every race I’ve been in the past there’s always people that burst out of the gate and gun it full out regardless of terrain or their ability. Surprising true to what the hype man said, Tough Mudder was not a race. The crowd almost leisurely made their way up the mountain. A growing line of Mudders assembled up the mountain giving each others encouraging high fives as they made their way up. This was going to be a team experience!
Tough Mudder boasts 20 obstacles spaced over 18kms. We were met with the first obstacle after cresting the mountain. Mud! Getting everyone dirty right off the bat. From there it was obstacle after obstacle with only breaks to climb mountains or descending them. Laughs, cheers and high fives as the group made their way through the course.
There were challenges to be found too, whether it be tight spaces, cold dark water, heights or electrocution every Bender faced something out of their comfort zone. Teamwork provided the extra bit of encouragement that some needed when confronted with that challenge that seemed too daunting. A few obstacles offered two choices, one for newbies and one for Legionnaires (veterans). The Legionaries options offered a more challenging twist to the obstacle. Even though we were all first timers the Legionnaire route was what we tackled with glee. That is all but one obstacle.
The final obstacle offered up this choice but there was something different about this obstacle. Legionnaires to the right for Kong, everyone else to the left, Electroshock Therapy. If anyone has heard one thing about Tough Mudder, it’s about this obstacle. The name isn’t just a clever title. THERE IS ACTUAL ELECTRICAL SHOCKS!! 10,000 volts worth of shocks!
Watching a few brave Mudders run the gauntlet and face the sharp sting of the dozens of live electrical wires suspended above a pit of mud and water it was our turn. One by one we made our way through the final obstacle. Some carefully and calculated, other wildly and quickly, regardless of the strategy there was just too many live wires. Zap! Zap! Zap! go the Benders, one by one we all fell to the 10,000 volts! But we all made through to the other side earning the free beer that had been strapped to our wrists all day. Cleaning up and hitting the beer garden we relaxed and enjoyed our free beer to the yelps of fellow Mudders getting zapped.
Cheers to the Tough Benders!
Also cheers to the amazing spectators who followed us throughout the course on the special spectator route snapping pics, taking videos, laughing and cheering us along all the way! Hopefully we can return the favour next year!
Congrats to all those who raced in the Groovy Disco Dash and Tough Mudder. Congrats to Jacki who placed first in her age category…on her birthday! We drop down in distance this week for those following the fall training schedule.
This Week:
Tues – 6 km from Tim Horton, Shopper’s world at 6:45
Wed – 6:30 from the RR. Hills – last time – up to 10 repeats for marathoners and 8 or 9 for halfers.
Thurs – 6:45 Chris Gibson – 8 km
Sat – Few benders are running their long run instead of Sunday. See the email list for details.
Sun – 8:30 at Second Cup on Hwy 10 – 23K (Full) / 12K (Half)
Congratulations to all the Benders who ran Oakville Half Marathon. Heard it was hot and tough….well done!
This week:
