I have been somewhat remiss in my posting lately but I have been up to my neck in personal and business stuff for the last 3 weeks.  Needless to say, it’s nice to finally be closing in on some calmer water (I hope).

I didn’t do a post race blog for either Gravenhurst or Bala but needless to say that both were terrific events once again and the weather certainly smiled on us every day!  Many thanks to the Kuzniak clan for inviting Bob Hatcher (my second shooter) and myself to spend the weekend at their beautiful lakeside home in Gravenhurst.  Needless to say it was a very calming atmosphere and one that was sorely needed for me!

I will attempt to keep up on things with a little more tenacity as I head into the dog days of summer.  I have the nice Highland Yard 10K, 5K & 2K in beautiful Minden, Ontario coming up on Friday July 30th followed by a week off before we hit the heavy part of my summer schedule.  I am still managing to get in my training and eating my vitamins so…NO EXCUSES FOR ANYONE!

I hope you are enjoying your summer with much happiness, health and wellness!  Remember to love your friends, your family and cherish all the moments you have with them. (I will miss you Dad!)

Mike C.

Sara, David, the volunteers and of course the World Class staff of Angus Glen helped make the event a flawless and well organized affair.  Add in an absolutely perfect evening for running and you have another slam dunk perfect event. 

The next Raceworks event is in a beautiful little town called Minden.  It`s for a great cause and an absolute treat to cover.  Congrats to all the finishers yesterday!  From first to last, everyone had a smile, kind words and had a terrific time!

In happiness and health as always!
Mike C.

On to the actual races!  Saturday’s venue was as expected terrific.  MultiSport made a few changes to the course including moving the finish line outside which was fantastic.  The bike out/in transition was also a lot better and much more spacious and efficient.  The course itself is flat as a pancake and led to some very fast times.

The First Annual (and definitely not the last) Half Iron in Welland was nothing short of amazing.  Over 300 athletes gutted out a 2000 meter swim, 90k bike and 21.1k run.  That leaves just the most brutally insane (in a good way) to run the Half Iron Duathlon (7.5k run, 90k bike, 21.1k run).  GEEEZE!

Resident Elite Pro athlete Wolgang Guembel crushed the course in 3:56:49!  It was also a nice touch that his Dad and mom also ran the course.  His dad is training for his first Ironman Canada (at 60 years old).  Must be genetic!

Bob Hatcher (my right hand shooter took care of home base pretty much the entire weekend while I wandered (and drove) off to get interested bike shots, run shots and other shots from the course.  Sunday found me in Lowbanks, chatting with some locals who welcomed me to park in their driveway and offered me water and such.  It was a terrific spot with a clear view of Lake Erie and the shoreline along with some nice trees and such.

Over 12,000 photos were taken on the weekend and all are posted and indexed in our events area (just click on the link above to view all the events).

In happiness and health as always,
Mike C.

The participation by everyone involved in the club is always amazing to see.  Everyone is doing something, everyone has a smile (and usually a beer on hand) and most of all, they care about everyone that races the race and crosses the finish line. 

This year’s version was no different.  Bob Hatcher who shoots a lot of events with me, took the lead on this one as I was covering a soccer league shoot in the morning.  By the time I got there the main 50K race was in full finishing mode.  Just watching people of every way, shape and form running, jogging or even walking 50K is unreal!  Bob mentioned that one gentleman was running his 60th Marathon on his 60th birthday!!!!

The weather held (although maybe a little on the humid side), the event finishing area was filled with nice shade trees and of course holding anything in Niagara on the Lake is going to be a winner!  If you want more information about club races, visit www.welovetorun.com and start training for next year!

In happiness and health as always!

Mike C

There must be something in the Water at Binbrook because two of the very accomplished age group athletes decided to run two races back to back (literally within an hour of finishing!).  Bob Esplin who is always a top age group and overall finisher in the Duathlon did the GT 12.9 Triathlon and place top three in both as well as top 5 overall in the Du!  Murray Legge who is another elite age group athlete also decided that one just wasn’t enough so he place top three in both races as well!  To top that, a friend, avid MultiSport athlete, Ironman finisher in Kentucky Ed Dillon has decided that TWO isn’t enough!!!!  He is going to challenge himself like never before and will be running the Olympic, Sprint and GT 12.9 races back to back to back in Wasaga Beach!  THAT is going to be something to see.

My second shooter today was Joel Smith who brought his usual creative self to the table and came up with some extremely cool shots of dismount taken from a very tall ladder!  They really are a throw off the usual and will provide the athletes with a really cool photo from a different perspective.

I myself waded into the water for the starts and managed to get some really cool shots of the “thrashing” that goes on when the horn blows.  The water (thankfully) was beautiful and warm!  Lots of exit shots, lots of second station running shots from a really nice vantage and scores of other shots to choose from transition and finish line.

I am looking forward to the Welland Tri/Du/Gt and Half Iron race coming up on June 26th and 27th.  It should prove to be an amazing weekend of racing with tonnes of volunteers to help make it a perfect session of racing!

Click on the Events Tab above to access all our galleries!

Until then, stay happy and healthy!!!

Mike C.

My new deputy Bob Hatcher is going to be with me on almost all my events this year.  Bob and I work great together and just having him there removed the usual hectic stress of having to be “everywhere at once” that I have had over the last 7 years!  It’s about time I expanded my minions anyway!

As to the race weekend, what can I say but “BINGO”!  It was supposed to be nothing but Thunderstorms and rain all weekend but barely even a drop spilled during the races.  It was a new venue for MultiSport and you would expect some issues but there were none.  From MultiSports New Green initiatives, to the fantastic new sponsors like Infinit Nutrition, it was nothing short of a slam dunk!

It was a great way to kick off what is sure to be the best year yet for MultiSport.  I for one stand waiting for next Sunday already!

What do you do to beat down a bitterly cold day and light snow in May? Just add a tonne of smiles, Mother’s Day, 5K race, 1K girls scamper and a great cause. That’s what we did today!

Sara Sterling and her amazing daughter Maddy organized the Markham Women’s 5K and Girls 1K to benefit a new program at Plan Canada called Because I am a Girl. Proceeds from the pledges and donations today are going towards building a school for girls in Tanzania. They invite you to help support this great cause!

Again another fantastic community cause to bring together people for a terrific cause. Special guest announcer Rod Black of CTV/TSN was on hand as the MC announcing the finishers and producing a lot of happy faces all round! From the first finisher (in just over 18 minutes) to the final 1K girls run athlete; smiles were the order of the day.

Congratulations again to Sara, Maddy, Sam, Rob Black, the race crew and volunteers, the host site Bill Crothers Secondary school and all the competitors for organizing, helping and participating in a great cause!

In happiness and health as always,

Mike C.

VISIT THE PHOTO GALLERY

Did the rain hold off?  Almost!  We managed to enjoy a perfect day of diffused light, nice temperatures for running and a record setting crowd for this event!  However, the rain goddess decided to “rain on the parade” or at least the awards.  The event has expanded and over 600 racers graced the course today!

A fantastic community driven fund raiser exceeded their goal by tallying a total of $116,000.00 through pledges!  How’s THAT for a community effort.  Margo, Jane and the entire crew from the volunteers to the crew of Sportstats ran a flawless event and squeezed through the 600 5K runners without so much as a hiccup!

As for the photos; I was very happy to welcome a friend and great photographer Joel Smith to the My Sports Shooter gang!  Trial by fire I always say!  Joel came on board at short notice when I found out how large the event had grown.  We managed to get over 5000 photos in a little over an hour…now THAT is commando shooting.

It’s important as a small business to develop relationships with the community both local and at large.  I am very happy to have been part of this event in Richmond Hill, Ontario for 3 years now and look forward to growing along with the event for many years to come.

In happiness and health as always!
Mike C.

VISIT THE SOUTHLAKE GALLERY

WHEW!  It didn’t rain!  It rained from the time I left St. Catharines until I got on the 400 North and then like magic…POOF!  No more rain.  It was calling for 90% chance of rain the entire day and we didn’t get a drop in Aurora!

That made it a much more enjoyable event for everyone!  Last year, the skies opened up and didn’t relent until near the end of the Half marathon.  This year proved to be a great race again, with tonnes of community involvement and a nice venue for a great race and a great cause.  It’s always fantastic to work with the Raceworks Crew as well as the Sportstats timing crew.  The event went off without a hitch and the distances (as verified by many runners with GPS) were DEAD ON! 

Times were good and the Newmarket Huskies were out in FULL FORCE again this year!  It’s always great to see so many kids and adults dedicated to fitness and doing so with fantastic results.  Well over half of the top 20 finishers of the 5K were from the club!

Congratulations to all the finishers from the first to the last!

In happiness and health as always!
Mike C.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE GALLERY

Could the weather have been any better?  NOPE!  The first running event of the My Sports Shooter 2010 season is in the books and…It Was Marvellous!  We managed over 4000 photos for the race. 

Ming Chang Tsai cooked the ten miles in a little over 1 hour and 2 minutes and never seems to miss a beat no matter what race I see him in!  There were unlimited smiles on everyone’s face from the first athletes to the final racers across the line.  The crowds were great and the Race Works Crew led by Sara Sterling was once again responsible for a perfect race, on a perfect day at a perfect venue.

Sounds too good to be true?  It’s not.  Angus Glen Golf Club is a Five Star facility with five star staff and is a perfect host both for facilities and for the race venue itself.  If you are interested in racing any of the Angus Glen series, visit the Raceworks site.  The next in the series is the Canada Day Angus Glen 5 Miler.  It is going to be an amazing evening race followed by a fantastic BBQ hosted by the golf club.

Thanks for a great start to the season!
Mike C.