I met John Gayford last summer… he’s a great ol’ Aussie swimmer who joined LOST Swimming.  I liked him right away.  Like all Aussie’s he’s got lots of great sayings… one that stuck with me was when he was talking about our LOST gang… he said “I like your gang here, they’ve got a bit of spark to ‘em”… in his classic Crocodile Dundee accent.  I like that “a bit of spark to ‘em”… there’s worse ways to be described.  I also liked him for helping get a sailboat for my Lake O Crossing!  Great guy.

But I’m not here to talk about John… I’m here to talk about his wife, Jeanette Mayer… but I had to try and tie it into LOST Swimming somehow!  Anyway, I was over dropping something off for John at his house and walked around back to see if he was home… he wasn’t but his wife was.  And she was painting.  So I checked out some of the paintings she’d done… and they were awesome.  Really awesome. 

So naturally I wanted to help out somehow.  I said you have to get these out so more people can see them!  So I put her in touch with Brett and he’s been displaying a bunch of them at his coffee shop that we all go to after our runs and LOST Swims, “Bean There”.  I also put her in touch with Carl, another LOSTie and buddy who has a website development company, Hypeweb, (who set me up with this website!  See logo on the side!)… I’m not sure if she ended up using Hyperweb or not, but John just sent me an email to let me know that Jeanette’s paintings are now on the web!

So here is the link… take a look… I think you’ll agree, they really are great!

http://www.jeannettemayer-artist.ca/ 

Cheers,

Rob

So my new friend in Barbados, (always good to have friends in hot places!) Zary Evelyn, who has set up two new open water races there has also put something together with the government to bring in tourists!  I guess there are some advantages in being on a small island where you can actually talk with the government and work together to get things like this done!  Good work, Zary!

http://www.bookbarbadosnow.com/island-inclusive

If you stay on the island for 5 nights you get $300… and $400 for 7 nights!  Very cool.

So if you happen to be looking at going south, I’d be checking out Barbado’s… and feel free to contact Zary or his wife, Kristina… they are starting up a very LOST-esque open water swim scene down there and swim in the ocean almost every day… who wouldn’t! 

http://www.swimbarbadosvacations.com/index.php/enter-the-swim-races

Good work, Zary and Kristina!

Cheers,

Rob

Thanks for the shirt Darren! (although I didn’t know I’d be wearing it to soon!)

… and for my next trick… the Toronto Marathon. 

I had been running well in the first 4 races this year.  Had been.  A fast (for me) 1:42 Chilly Half Marathon in March… an even faster South Beach Half of 1:38… a fast and fun trail race in South Beach too… then a pretty quick 2:28 Around The Bay, 30k race also in March.  Problem is… that was March and this is May.  And a marathon is quite a bit longer.  And I think I fell off in my training.  And it was hot, 26C by the time we finished.

On the upside… I was holding the time I needed to qualify for Boston (3:25)… until about 30k… which, if you ask any experienced marathon runner, is when the marathon really starts.  I was holding 4:50 min/km or better until that point… then I started falling off… to 5:00 min/km’s… but the problem is, when the wheels fall off… they really fall off… and within no time I was holding 6:00 min/km… and then 7:00 min/km.  Not a pretty sight.  I finished… but that was about all you could say about that race… in a 3:54, in case you had a morbid curiousity. 

Oh, and the medals where huge!

So the lesson of the day was… just because you’ve been running well, doesn’t mean a thing… each day is new… and there is always a chance you can have your head handed to you… oh, and resting on ones laurels doesn’t help ones time either.

On the up side… open water swimming and triathlon season are almost here!

Congrats to all those that did the various distances at the Toronto and Mississauga Races! 

Double points for those that didn’t blow up!  ;-)

Below are the results of LOSTies and running friends… sorry if I missed anyone! 

Mississauga Marathon, 2013: Clara, Julia, Georgie, Ron, Ana, Alex, Bruce, Scott, Brian, Lambrina, Brett, Carla

(click to enlarge results)

LOST Race, 2010

As I mentioned, LOST Swimming registration is now open (under tab “How to be a LOST Swimmer”).  Officially this is the 8th season.  Time flies.

I look at where we started… which essentially was just me training for my English Channel attempt and having the same core group of buddies paddling beside me… the same group that you see plastered all over this website doing LOST swims, triathlons and marathons together.  In fact, our group has been training and racing together for over 15 years now.  And it’s always just been a bunch of friends looking to do a bit of running, cycling and swimming… and have a few beer-worthy adventures along the way!  The nice thing about LOST Swimming is just that it’s grown since then.

In fact, here are some stats that will give you an idea how much LOST has grown:

• we’ve grown from 1 member… to 154 last year!
• from 8 people in the first LOST Race… to 128 last year!
• from no website… to our 3rd year… and from 95,000 visits or 261 visits per day… to 235,000 visits and 634 visits per day in year two… to 481,557 or 1,319 visits per day over this past year!!!
• over 500 people from around the world receive the LOST updates!
• we hosted the 10k MSC National Championship
• we’ve had 3 LOSTies swim the new 42k LOST Route from Port Dalhousie to Oakville
• we’ve had 7 LOSTies attempt to swim Lake Ontario
• we’ve had 2 LOSTies swim around Manhattan Island
• we’ve had 1 solo and 1 relay in the Tampa Bay Marathon Swim
• we’ve had 1 swimmer in the USMS 25k National Championships
• we’ve had 1 swimmer complete the 28k Ederle Swim in NYC
• we’ve had 4 solo swimmers complete the 20k Swim Around Key West, and 2 relays
• we set a new record for number of people out for a single Saturday morning LOST swim last year at… 85!
• we had 15 triathletes compete as LOST Triathletes in  Ironman Louisville in 2009
• we had 14 triathletes compete as LOST Triathletes in Ironman Canada in 2011
• we’ve also had more individual short distance triathletes and Ironman train with LOST and represent LOST than I could count!  But we’re proud of each of them!
• and as a measurement of how many people have gotten into Lake Ontario because of LOST … LOSTies have bought 120 wetsuits from our sponsor Xterra in the past 2 years!
• and with the help of our new 12 person Board of Directors we have a lot more new events and ideas planned, including running our own Lake Ontario Crossings!
  

  A new LOST world record… 85 swimmers!

Not bad considering when I started swimming in Lake O… I had never-ever seen anyone swim in our beautiful Lake!  People thought I was crazy… maybe they were right… but at least I have a lot more company now!

The long and short of it… I hope to see you out for a dip this summer!

Cheers,

Rob

Okay a bit of parental bragging here… my daughter Maisey just signed with Bryant University in Rhode Island! 

(just as her big brother, Dylan, is coming home from the University of Maryland!)

She and I have been working on getting her a scholarship to US university for over 1 1/2 years!  I added up all the schools we looked at last night… to one degree or another, we looked at 74 universities!  Many of them approached her, some we approached, some she was accepted to, some made good athletic offers, some made good academic offers, some implied they would make offers, but made nothing at all.

Maisey Kent, Fastest “Naked Woman” 2009

She was accepted to 3 Canadian universities.  She applied and was accepted to U of Toronto, Guelph and Carlton.  Easy peasy.

But to find just the right school in the US is so much more difficult.  First of all, most schools will take you if you have decent marks… but getting one to pay you to go to their school is much harder. 

Secondly, we have about 40 universities in Canada… they have over 4,000 in the US. 

And thirdly, the variables are almost incalculable… you want: a good school… with a good swim team… who will give you a good amount of academic and or athletic money… in a nice city… that’s not too big or too small… or too remote… and it should have a guys team and a girls swim team… and you don’t want to be the fastest on the team or the slowest… with a decent pool and facilities… a good coach… and tight knit team… lots of seniors graduating is a good thing too so that they are looking for lots of freshmen… and do you early-sign or wait until spring… and hopefully in Maisey’s case, they are looking for a freestyle and backstroker… and a school that isn’t too expensive too start with… and allows “stacking” athletic and academic scholarships… and has the right level of SAT scores… and one that we can go visit and that she can come home to for holidays.  Oh and all of this has to be done within the very strict boundaries of the NCAA rules.  You get the idea.

Let’s just say it was tough and emotional… and to add a bit more drama, it came down to the day before the NLI (national letter of intent) expired… essentially Maisey had to make up her mind by April 30… and we didn’t get the final numbers from Bryant until April 29!

But to quote the famous line from Captain Mathew Webb, the first man to swim the English Channel, “nothing great is easy!”

Bryant is a small, beautiful and very modern and well funded school in Providence, Rhode Island.  It is 150 years old, but the founder of “Tupperware” is an alumni and he donated an entire campus… so it is almost all new, with the exception of a few old buildings they moved there.  (the mascot’s name is “Tupper”!) It has the 27 best business school in the US (Maisey is planning on taking International Business/Studies).  They have a great program that stresses balance and being well balanced.  They require students, if they are taking a liberal arts degree to minor in business… or if you are taking business to minor in liberal arts.  And Rhode Island, well, I’d never been there… but it is gorgeous.  In fact it looks a lot like old Oakville… or all the nice areas of Boston. 

Maisey and Rob… The Duel in The Lake! (2012)

It was the glass slipper that happened to fit Maisey perfectly.  And she was bouncing off the walls yesterday she was so excited! 

Just like when we all train for some big race, it’s nice to see when people are rewarded for their hard work… and it’s even better when it happens to your kids.  I’m just really happy for her.

Congrats Maisey!

Cheers,

The Proud Dad.

Darla’s first ride back! woohoo!

So triathlon season is pretty much here… finally!  There have been a few hard-core cyclists that have been out on the bike for weeks already… but I’m a bit of a fair weather cyclist… so our Sunday ride was my first of the season.  Actually on Saturday I put the pedals on my bike on Saturday, wiped off the cob-webs (literally), got rid of the gels taped to the top bar and pumped up the tires… as I hadn’t been on my bike, quite literally, since Ironman Canada… 20 months ago!

Triathlon Club of Burlington

Margaret, the President of the Tri Club of Burlington called Joanne to say they were going out for a nice, light ride… the first ride of the year… perfect… just what I needed to get me back on the bike.

But it wasn’t to get me back on the bike… it was to get Darla back on the bike!!!  Now you may not remember, but Darla, a dedicated LOSTie and fantastic person, was training for her first Ironman in Florida, ironically just a few weeks after our Ironman Canada race in 2011.  But tragedy struck.  During the race… she was hit by a car.  Really badly.  I won’t list all the injuries, but it was life threatening to say the least… but fortunately she made it through

Darla on a bright sunny day of LOST Swimming… Sept 16, 2011

the life threatening part… and started a very, very long and unpredictable recovery.  In fact, the last time I saw Darla was when she came out to the LOST Polar Bear dip… 16 months ago.  She was very proud then, because she could walk, just barely, and with double canes and only for a few minutes… but it was so great to see her up and out of the hospital after so many months. 

So to say this was a special ride was a bit of an understatement.  We went 24k, climbed a few good hills (Snake Road) and Darla was awesome.  She was understandably nervous and was worried she would be slowing us down… she didn’t.  Well, not me at least.  She did really well.  You wouldn’t have known she had had such a horrible accident at all.

I find people toss around the word “inspirational” too much these days… not every race that everyone does is inspirational… but let me tell you… Darla and her amazing comeback… that is inspirational.  Makes me want to get out on the bike more too.

Great to be back in the saddle… for Darla… and for everyone!

Thanks Darla.  See you soon… out for a LOST swim too!

Cheers,

Rob

White breaks 32-year-old swim record!

Eclipsing Baumann’s 1981 medley mark part of six-record month for OAK swimmer

When Andrew Ford touched the wall first to win the 200-metre individual medley earlier this month at the Canadian World Championship Trials, he secured a spot on the national team.

The second swimmer to touch, Oakville’s Evan White, may have accomplished something even more impressive. White may not have earned a spot on the world championship team but he did break one of Canada’s longest-standing records.

His time of the two minutes, 2.38 seconds eclipsed a long course 15-17 age group mark that had been on the books for 32 years. How long is that? Well, for starters, it was 15 years before White was born. It was seven Prime Ministers ago. When the record was set, there were only two Star Wars movies — Luke didn’t even know Darth Vader was his father.

Equally as impressive was who set that record in 1981 — Alex Baumann, who three years later would set the world record in the event on his way to one of his two Olympic golds in Los Angeles.

“I know he’s a gold medalist,” White said. “And I know he’s a legend for Canadian swimmers.”

White locked his focus on the record of 2:02.78 after earning a silver medal with a time of 2:04.30 at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in January. Knowing he wasn’t shaved or fully tapered, White knew he was capable of more.

After qualifying sixth at the world trials, White delivered the swim he knew he had in him, taking four-tenths of a second off Baumann’s mark, which was the oldest record in the country among swimmers 15 and older.

This past weekend, the Grade 11 student at Iroquois Ridge added his name to the record books again, at the aptly named BDO National Record Challenge in Owen Sound. White shattered the short-course 200m IM record of two-time Olympian Tobias Oriwol. White’s time of 1:58.26 cut more than a second off the decade-old record.

“It was a little faster than even he really thought he could do,” said Oakville Aquatics Club coach Sean Baker. “It was a pretty big jump, but he had been working toward that since the world championship trials.

That capped a meet in which he had already added his name to the record books twice. White and his OAK teammates established new marks in 4x50m freestyle relay and the 4x50m medley relay.

David Whiteside, Gamal Assaad and Bryce Kwiecien-Delaney joined him to shave .05 off the freestyle relay record with a time of 1:33.17.

“We were biting our fingernails on that one,” Baker said.

With Matthew Mac replacing Whiteside for the medley relay, the fingernails got a reprieve as the OAK team took almost a full second off the record, finishing in 1:42.70.

Those two records, coupled with two freestyle relays set at the world championship trials, gives OAK eight of the 10 national relay marks in the boys 15-17 age group.

White and Kwiecien-Delaney have been a part of all eight while Assaad has been on seven of them. Whiteside, Omar Mahmoud Afara (three each), Peter Serles, Mac and Mitchell Gour (one each) have also contributed to OAK’s rewriting of the record book.

“It’s pretty fun. It’s a bunch of us, guys who have been together and moved up through the ranks together,” he said. “We’re all good friends and we’re pretty tight. We’re all working hard and pushing each other.”

Baker said it doesn’t take much to motivate White. “He’s always pushed himself,” Baker said. “He’s willing to do what we ask him to and he rarely, if ever, misses practice.”

White began with swimming lessons but showed a knack for it and his instructor suggested swimming competitively. He started at the age of nine but didn’t immediately set the world on fire.

“I was pretty average. I don’t think I was amazing or anything,” White said. “I just worked hard and got better.”

White is now representing his countries at international junior meets — he’ll travel to Spain and France for meets this summer but high-profile meets at home will also keep him busy. He’ll compete at summer nationals and age group nationals and is one of six OAK swimmers to qualify for the Canada Summer  Games, where he’ll swim four individual events.

White says what he enjoys about swimming is that what you put into it, is what you get out of it.

“I enjoy the racing and seeing that your hard work pays off,” he said. “There’s not any luck involved.”

And having seen members of his club excel at the university level and make it to the world championships and the Olympics, it only motivates him to work that much harder. It makes him think about following in the wake of not only the Olympians from his club, but of those whose records he is now breaking.

“It’s pretty much always on my mind,” the 17-year-old said. “It’s one of my goals.”

—Follow regional sports reporter Herb Garbutt on Twitter, @herbgarbutt

Kim just dropped me an email to pass you on to you all about the first viewing of the documentary they have been making about her!  For those of you who don’t know Kim, she and her father are legendary in Lake Ontario marathon swimming history!

http://openwaterpedia.com/index.php?title=Kim_Lumsdon

http://openwaterpedia.com/index.php?title=Cliff_Lumsdon

She’s swum Lake O twice before… and is going to give it another go this summer!  Which would make her the oldest woman to cross (56)… going after current record holder (54), and fellow LOSTie… Colleen Shields! (who has also swum it twice!… and is putting together a relay swimming the length of Lake O this summer!).

Name: Against the Tide
Date: May 30, 2013
Time: 9:30 pm
Location: Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, 506 Bloor Street West

The film is called “Open Water” and it is the first film screening in that program

Contact: Debora at:  dfoster@ryerson.ca

PS.  a special “shout out” to another friend… from Jersey (the real Jersey… not New Jersey!) who also is also a 56 year old female marathon swimmer of much renown… Sally Minty Gravitt!  http://openwaterpedia.com/index.php?title=Sally_Anne_Minty-Gravett Sal will attempt to do a double crossing of the English Channel!!!  Only a very small number of people in the world have ever done a double… and like Kim… she’s going to the age record too!  And in case all this wasn’t coincidental enough… they are even going on the same dates!

Good luck Kim and Sal!!!  Let’s hope for flat water all around the world in July!!!

Cheers,

Rob

Here we go!!!  The first sign of spring… LOST registration is open!  It’s so cool that Melanie and I have already been inundated with lots of emails about when LOST Swimming and registration will start, (June 1st or so… but don’t worry… I’ll let you know!) which put the pressure on me to get my act together and formalize the changes and get the registration done too!

The registration can be found under the “How to be a LOST Swimmer” tab above.

We’ve made a few changes this year too:

1. I’ve formally created a 12 member LOST Board of Directors, to give an official title to all the people that have been helping me for years… to get more opinions and ideas in the mix… and to keep on strengthening and growing LOST Swimming! So your new Board of Directors are: Rob Kent, Joanne Kent, Melanie Price, Bill Johnson, Alex Mcmillin, Madhu Nagaraja, Joe Allan, Lynn Delathouwer Rodgers, Stacey Van Wart, Jenn Strang, John Strang and Darren Osborne!
2. We are no longer a MSO team (Masters Swimming Ontario)… no hard feelings, but the cost of belonging to MSO was just too expensive and many of the non-safety related rules and regulations related to the LOST Race were not open water swimming friendly.  So we’ve found our own insurance provider that will cover more events… for
   

   Melanie’s Lake O Crossing

   less money.  So guess what that means?… the cost for the LOST Race has gone down significantly.  As I’ve always said… my goal with LOST swimming was never about making money, I just love open water swimming and would like to see it grow… and it’s just more fun to swim and train with other like-minded swimmers and triathletes! 

3. Our new insurance will cover: LOST Swimming, The LOST Race, other LOST events and swims (Polar Bear Dip, Blue Moon Swim, etc)… and Lake O Crossings!!!  We have decided that we will start conducting Lake O Crossings along the 42.2 km, LOST Route from Port Dalhousie to Oakville… the route that Melanie, Madhu and I have swum over the past 2 years!  This is a big undertaking that the Board is excited… we are also going to supply the boats that we require and the swim masters… a one stop shop… more like what is done in the English Channel and at other marathon swims around the world.  Lots more to come on this… but drop me an email if you are interested!
4. You get a LOST swim cap with registration this year!  Last year they cost $5, but we can afford to do this with the less expensive insurance… and can plow any extra money back into the club too!  One of the regulars actually came up with this idea to change
   

   LOST Swim Cap

   the cap colors each year… to keep out bandits!  Hey, it’s not fair if some have to pay then everyone should have to pay!  Think of how much you pay for all the clubs and equipment and races you pay for… and I think you will find that $40 is about the best value going!  Oh yeah… and the other great idea that one of the board members came up with, was to do like they do at BMSC, put your first name on your cap… so everyone gets to know each other’s name… friendly is good… especially if you are as bad at remembering 150 names as I am!  And besides, if everyone has their name on their cap, then no one stands out as looking too dorky!

Lots more info to come as the season approaches, but time to start getting your head into open water swimming!  (the Lake is still a little too chilly to be getting much more than your mind into it now though… but soon you’ll be able to get your whole body in!… it’s about 40F / 5C right now!)

Cheers,

Rob

So if you have 10 minutes to kill… my new friends and documentary film makers, Katie Jones, Christa Morrison and Jonathan Jackson made this.

It’s about ultra running… and features Carla Miceli, Richard Takata and… you guessed it… yours truly!  Carla and Richard are great runners… and they even did a great job making me look like a runner!  Thanks Katie, Christa and Jonathan!

Enjoy…

Cheers,

Rob

So last fall I got a call from someone I’d never met, asking me about open water swimming.  Not that unusual, LOST swimming has become quite well known in the world of open water swimming, so I get calls and emails pretty regularly… the interesting twist was that this guy wanted to start a race right here in Toronto and wanted to know how to do it!!!

His name is Steve Hulford and he and his swimming partner had been swimming out at the Toronto Islands last year and discovered… low and behold… that Lake O is actually a great place to swim!  And they thought it might be cool to start a race there!

Steve also happens to have two useful qualifications to just that… he’s a good swimmer, having swum for U of T, back a few years ago… and he’s a pretty entrepreneurial guy.  Just what is needed to build something like this.  So he and I went out for coffee a few times, chatted and emailed a bunch… and then he disappeared for a while… and recently surfaced with this:

Looks great… good work guys!!!  You can count me and a lot of LOSTies in!

PS.  We are even looking at tying a few races together to make an open water series right here in Ontario!  More to come!

Cheers,

Rob

So I was thinking about trying to add a “forum” on to this website… a place where marathon swimmers could chat about, well… marathon swimming.  But this website wouldn’t support it too well… and besides no need to re-invent the wheel… one already exists!

Last year a couple of guys I know in the marathon swimming world did just what I was thinking of doing, starting a marathon swimmers forum… and guess what they called it… the “Marathon Swimmers Forum”! 

Good work Evan Morrison!… he’s also a pretty knowledgeable guy… he’s one of the top marathon swimmers out there!  Amongst many other things, he won the Tampa Bay Marathon Swim that is in the other post I just put up!  http://openwaterpedia.com/index.php?title=Evan_Morrison

Just click on the logo on the right hand side of this page entitled “Marathon Swimmers Forum” and it will take you there (like all those logos!).  I’ve been a member for a while… it’s a great site and lots of useful and interesting information about races, swims, training, etc. 

So go forth and chat… and tell them you are a LOSTie!

Cheers,

Rob

Tampa Bay Marathon Swim

Last year I swam the classic 24 mile “Tampa Bay Marathon Swim” that my friend Ron Collins puts on… it’s a great race!  People literally come from all over the world to do it, there aren’t huge numbers, because oddly, not that many people can race 24 miles, but he usually gets 20 – 30 swimmers, plus relays!

I swam it solo and LOSTie, Ted Gregory, swam it on a 6 person relay with a gaggle of girls… luckiest 72 year old around!  Last year a huge lightning storm rolled in about three quarters of the way through the race… and we all got pulled… unfortunately.  It really sucked, because at 6 1/2 hours through the race I was feeling good and was doing quite well.  Having said that… that is the nature of our sport… that’s what makes marathon swimming tougher than other ultra distance running and cycling events… mother nature plays a much bigger role in your swim!

2012… This was just the start of it…

This year I’ve been doing more running and although I’d like to go back and tick that box, it’ll have to be another year, but my pal Ted went back with the ladies to get it done… and guess what… mother nature dealt them a crappy hand again!  No big electrical storm… just really rough water!  An unusually high percentage didn’t finish… including Ted’s team.  Tough break pal!

Tampa Bay Marathon Swim, 2012… it was rough even before the storm!

Some consolation though, the 6 that did complete it were pretty decent swimmers… including one Olympian… who came second!  Tough crowd… literally!  Congrats!

Check out Ron’s race report and the results:

Chelsea Nauta Claims Victory At The Tampa Bay Marathon Swim

Six Swimmers out of a Field of Eighteen Starters Battle Wind and Waves to Complete a 24 Mile Swim of the Length of Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay, Florida – Tampa native Chelsea Nauta was able to fight through swells and a strong headwind to become the Overall Champion at the 16th Annual Tampa Bay Marathon Swim. The three-time FHSAA Swimmer of the Year and USA National Team member was able to finish the swim in 10 hours, 7 minutes to hold off Olympian Brooke Bennett who finished only 4 minutes later.

The Men’s Champion was Chris Burke, 51 of St. Petersburg, FL, who completed the course in 12 hours, 16 minutes. He was able to out-duel his friend and training partner, Dr. Mark Smitherman of Clearwater, FL who came to the finish line in 12 hours, 33 minutes.One relay team of six swimmers, NC State of Mind,  turned in the quickest time of the day, posting a time of 10 hours, 2 minutes. Starting at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and ending on the Courtney Campbell Causeway in Tampa, the race was held on Saturday, April 20th in celebration of Earth Day and the revitalization of Florida’s largest estuary.

Official Results

10 hours, 7 minutes – Chelsea Nauta, 24F, Brandon, FL
10 hours, 11 minutes – Brooke Bennett, 32F, Clearwater, FL
12 hours, 16 minutes – Chris Burke, 51M, St. Petersburg, FL
12 hours, 33 minutes – Mark Smitherman, 55M, Clearwater, FL
13 hours, 37 minutes – Sergio Salamone, 45M, Buenos Aires, Argentina
14 hours, 37 minutes – Ann von Spiegelfeld, 51F, Tampa, FL

10 hours, 2 minutes – NC State of Mind Relay Team
Patrick Woodruff, 29M, Durham, NC
Kelly Woodruff, 27F, San Diego, CA
Mary Robbins, 28F, Durham, NC
Greg Sanchez, 55M, Cary, NC
Jack Roney, 25M, Fuquay-Varina, NC
Sarah Sanchez, 15F, Cary, NC

Tampa Bay Marathon Swim route… swimming south to north.

Since this event was first staged in 1998, it has drawn competitors from across the United States, Great Britain, Guatemala, Italy, Australia, Japan, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Germany, India, Canada, and the Cayman Islands.he Tampa Bay Marathon Swim is possible because of the conservation efforts of people like the Earth Day Network.  Please take a moment to look at their message below to learn about other Earth Day celebrations world-wide. 

Cheers,

Rob

 Here is a picture of happier times at the Boston Marathon… the day before the race. 

Kind of cool, our group and another group of running friends from Oakville, Connor’s Runners (in orange), all met up for this picture! 

The story below from the ”Huffington Post” is about Chris Kavanagh, who is a good friend who Joanne and I have run with when we trained with Steve Connor’s group a couple of years ago.  Chris is the one in the front holding up the picture of the Oakville Beaver.  Glad you are safe Chris!

The LOST Runners and Connor’s Runners at the Boston Marathon, 2013. Connor’s Runners are in orange (click to enlarge)

Canadian At Boston Marathon Recalls Bomb Close Call

 http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/04/16/canadian-at-boston-marathon_n_3094677.html

The LOST Runners and Connor’s Runners at the Boston Marathon, 2013. Connor’s Runners are in orange (click to enlarge)

 

Oakville runners, their friends and family, hold a copy of the Oakville Beaver prior to the start of the 2013 Boston Marathon Monday. Hours later, the streets of Boston became a bloodbath after two bombs detonated near the finish line. Oakville residents recount the horror to Oakville Beaver Sports Editor Jon Kuiperij.

 

http://www.insidehalton.com/community/OAKVILLEBEAVER

 

OAKVILLE — Though approximately 850 kilometres separate Oakville and Boston, many local residents were at the centre of Monday’s deadly bombing attack of the Boston Marathon.

Forty-two Oakville runners were registered as participants in the world’s oldest annual marathon, while some of their family members and friends were among the half a million spectators who lined the Boston streets to watch the race.

Fortunately, according to Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, no Canadians were killed or injured by the explosions that killed three — including an eight-year-old boy — and hurt more than one hundred others.

But the bombings made for a frantic and stressful few hours for members of Oakville’s running community as they waited to hear from friends, relatives and teammates.

“It’s just about as disturbing and frustrating to be here than be there, because all of my buddies are there,” Rob Kent, a three-time Boston Marathon competitor who did not participate in this year’s event, said Monday afternoon.

“You try to figure out what emotions are coming over you. It’s just very disturbing and upsetting. I don’t know whether it’s the right emotion to feel, but it just makes me very angry.”

Steve Connor, a local chiropractor who heads a marathon training group called ‘Connor’s Runners’, spent Monday afternoon checking emails and Facebook messages between appointments.

“Everything’s been chaos, but everyone’s accounted for. Anyone who had a spouse or family there watching has checked in as well,” said Connor, who knew 19 participants in the race.

There were certainly some close calls.

According to results posted on the Boston Marathon website, eight of the 42 Oakville runners completed the 42-kilometre course less than 15 minutes before the first bomb exploded near the finish line approximately four hours and 10 minutes into the race. Chris Kavanagh was the closest, finishing in a time of 4:08:13.

“I crossed the finish line and within seconds, I turned with the blast and then the second blast,” said the 62-year-old Kavanagh, a self-employed sales consultant. “There was so much grey smoke, you really couldn’t see much of anything. That’s how much smoke there was. I truly thought it was a gas main that had gone off… it didn’t even occur to me that it would be a terrorist act.”

Connor’s Runners teammate Mariellen Glover, a Burlington resident, crossed the line shortly after Kavanagh.

“I had just passed the pad and was under the John Hancock (sign) when the first explosion happened. I turned around and saw the second explosion. They flattened the metal fences and advised the runners just to move,” Glover said in an email Connor forwarded to the Beaver.

“It was a little surreal. People were crying. I had one guy beside me as we got our water and medal who was praying. But everyone is safe and sound.”

Kavanagh’s wife, Mary Jo, was approximately a kilometre from the finish line. It took her nearly an hour and a half to get to the family waiting area and discover that Chris was okay. Cellphone networks in the area had been shut down, as had the airport and subway.

“The city was truly in lockdown,” Chris said. “It was amazing how quickly the authorities responded to the event.”

Others had finished the race well before the bombs went off but were still in the proximity.

Kent, the founder of the Lake Ontario Swim Team (LOST), received an email from a LOST member (Kent chose not to disclose his or her name) detailing how close they were to being in harm’s way.

“(A runner) and myself were about 150 metres away on our way to collect our medals,” the email read. “We’re still very shaken!!!” Is everyone in our group okay?”

Elite wheelchair racer Josh Cassidy, a Sheridan College graduate who lived in Oakville several years ago before moving out of the area, finished the race approximately two-and-a-half hours before the explosions. He was sitting in a restaurant close to the finish line when he heard the bombs go off.

“No one was sure what it was at first, but I got a gut feeling it wasn’t good… and I put down my fork cause I couldn’t eat,” Cassidy said in a release. “Sure enough, moments later you could hear the commotion outside, and out the window were people running from the finish line area, across the street.

“I wasn’t afraid at all myself, more just really sad seeing others in fear,” he added.

“The marathon store I had just been to (the previous night) to pick up my racing top… was in front of the explosion and had its windows blown in. Hoping the awesome and friendly staff are all okay… Seeing the people running and hearing the screams on the replay was just horrible. Hard keeping back tears for those visibly really emotionally or physically damaged.”

The Boston Marathon is the centerpiece of Boston’s celebration of Patriots’ Day, a civic holiday that commemorates the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The Boston Red Sox also play a home game each year on Patriots’ Day that begins at 11 a.m. at Fenway Park.

Former Oakville Buzz junior B lacrosse player Mark White, his parents, Mike and Susan, and friends Matt Gulliver and Tyler Malenfont attended Monday’s Red Sox win over the Tampa Bay Rays. The group then headed to Quincy Market, a tourist area within a mile of the marathon’s finish line.

“We actually went right by the finish of the Boston Marathon and continued on to Quincy and went in to have lunch,” said White, now a student at the University of Southern Maine. “You could actually hear the explosions. No one knew what it was, so nobody thought anything of it. Then somebody said something of a bomb, the restaurant threw on the news and everyone was in awe watching everything go down.

“Then the news mentioned that if you’re in a touristy spot, you should get out of there because I guess there were tips there were other bombs in the area. So we were like ‘let’s get out of here now’ and tried to scurry out of there as quickly as possible.

“It was tough to get a cab, but we finally did get one. They shut down the train station, so we took the bus back to Portland (Maine).”

“Being in a high-tourist area like Quincy (Market)/Faneuil Hall was unnerving, hearing the sirens, and seeing everyone glued to their (mobile devices) made us think we were at risk,” Susan added in an email. “It was surreal… A day that began as a chance to experience Fenway and other areas of Boston ended in such tragedy.”

Kavanagh said the bombings wouldn’t be enough to deter him and other runners from attempting to qualify for next year’s event.

“That was my second time, and I can’t wait for my third. I’m just more determined to go back. Boston is a great, great city, and I just need to be part of it again,” he said.

“It’s a world-class event that has traditionally been offered and run as a very small-town situation. It’s very folksy, everything is just so fantastic. It’s likely some of that will change from a standpoint of security, but that’s precisely the reason why I’m sure I’m not alone in saying I’m determined to go back.

“You can’t let these horribly tragic, terrible events dictate our world. You cannot justify cowardice. There is no explanation for it.

“I can tell you once again, above all else, I felt and continue to feel fortunate to be there, to have been there,” he concluded. “But I feel more fortunate and happy to be someone who lives in Oakville.”

The Boston Globe has just reported over the news wires just minutes ago that “There have been 2 large explosions at the finish of the Boston Marathon”… also “The Boston Marathon headquarters have been locked down”… and “There are multiple injuries at the scene”.

“Hi All,  crazy crazy things happening in Boston, but we wanted to let everyone know we are all safe.  Very scary time and very upsetting. ”…….. Alex

“We are all okay but a few friends finished just as the bombs went off so they are very traumatized and shaken up.”     Lambrina

“Ana, Mark and myself are all ok.  Ana and I were about 150m away on the way to collect our medals.  We’re still very shaken!!!  Is everyone in our group ok?”    Clara

“You can see on the TV coverage a huge Canada flag on the 4th floor, 4 doors down from the explosion – that’s my flag and my room that I was in when it happened.  I’m sick to my stomach about this”.     Freddie

That’s horrible… unbelievable.  I hope everyone is okay, especially all our friends.

Here are the results of the friends we have running it.  Looks like most of the people I know have finished… but lots of injuries to other people… I think.  Horrible.  This was supposed to be good news about how well everyone did.  I’m shocked…

Monday, April, 08, 2013 – 3:03:22 PM

Submitted photo

Colleen Shields

By Eamonn Maher

Staff writer

Local resident Colleen Shields is going to take another run at crossing Lake Ontario this summer, except this time she’s approaching it from a different angle.

And the 61-year-old won’t be swimming alone in an attempt that’s never been completed before – crossing the late horizontally – a treacherous 305-km trek from Kingston to Burlington.

Shields, who stands as the oldest woman to cross Lake Ontario from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Toronto, will embark from Kingston on July 23 as part of a five-woman relay team that is raising money in support of Plan International’s “Because I am a Girl” campaign.

Rebekah looking pretty good after Crossing Lake O! 2011

Joining Shields are three other women who’ve successfully crossed Lake Ontario before, 47-year-old Nicole Mallette of Hamilton, Samantha Whiteside, 23, from New Hamburg and Markham teenager Rebekah Boscariol and another 18-year-old, Mona Sharari, of Richmond Hill, who conquered the English Channel last summer.

Shields said someone came up with the idea for the relay fundraiser after her attempt to make the 51-km crossing of Lake Ontario last September came up about 10 kms short of the finish line at Toronto’s Marilyn Bell Park. She successfully crossed the lake in 1990 and 2006.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 (above: the finish of Nicole Mallette’s Lake O Crossing in 1997)

“We’re all very aware about how difficult this is going to be but we’re all excited because nobody has done it before,” said Shields, a Mississauga-based travel agent.

“We’re checking with the Guinness Book of World Records to see if this is qualifies as the longest open water swim. We still have some things to put together, like looking for boats that will accompany us during the swim and if we could find a houseboat, that would be awesome. We’re calling it Because Girls Can and I think that the Because I’m a Girl movement is a wonderful organization and a great charity. We’re aiming to raise well over $100,000 and I think we can do it with corporate sponsorships and other donations.”

The women have set up a Facebook page called Because Girls Can Relay to provide updates and more information leading up to the event.

This just in from our own LOSTie and photo buff, Bruce:

“These specimens are making a break for it from Lake O, up the Humber River (beats 16 mile creek!). What did they see that we’ve missed? Minutes from Bloor and Jane. Go figure!”

… and my response to that would be: ”Now that truly is swimming uphill… I’d definitely rather swim up 16 Mile Creek!”

Cheers,

Rob

Easter Run, 2013

… okay, technically it was Good Friday… but we’ll call it the Easter Run anyway.  Just the usual suspects out for a nice 9k run.  A good hard run… and coffee with the gang after… sometimes it’s the simple things in life.

Officer Rick and the Chicks… apparently there is something about a man in uniform… how else can you explain all the women around Rick?!

Here’s to hoping we’ll have the LOST Swimming gang in this very same coffee shop warming up on a Saturday morning after a freezing cold morning dip in the Lake… in just a few weeks!

Just nice to have such a good bunch ‘o friends.

Cheers,

Rob