The Red River Runners are (left to right) Margarita, Judy, Sara, Fatima and Hannah

Post submitted by James Slade, runnning enthusiast, ACCESS program instructor

The annual Great Grain Relay is on March 9 this year.  Red River College has been well represented over the past ten years or so and we have several medals to show for it!  This great March fundraiser is in support of Juvenile Diabetes Research, which is a great cause.  We’ll have great weather because it happens indoors at the Max Bell Track at the U of M!  Are you interested in forming a team of 5 runners, or joining in?

• Date: Saturday, March 9
• Time: 12:00 noon  – 2 pm
• Distance: 800m relay – after you do your 800, you hand off.  Once everyone on your team has gone, you are up again!
• Place: Max Bell track at the U of M  (free parking on Saturdays)
• Beer garden and lunch after: Beer garden?? Did someone say beer and lunch???
• Cost per team:  $150.00

If you’re interested, send an email to James Slade (jslade@rrc.ca) or Mike Krywy (mkrywy@rrc.ca).

Let us help! Recreation Services offers a number of fitness classes tailored to meet your diverse fitness desires. All fitness classes start the week of January 14th. The deadline to register is January 11th.

Fitness Class Schedule:

• Monday Ki Aikido (12:05-12:50pm)
• Monday Iyvengar Yoga (4:15-5:45pm)
• Monday Cardio Complete (4:15-5:00pm)
• Tuesday Spin (11:05-11:50am)
• Tuesday Dynamic Core (12:05-12:50pm)
• Wednesday Total Body Workout (4:15-5:00pm)
• Thursday Spin (11:05-11:50pm)
• Thursday Dynamic Core (12:05-12:50pm)
• Thursday Iyvengar Yoga (4:15-5:45pm)
• Friday Zumba (12:05-12:50pm)

Fitness Class Costs:

• Iyvengar Yoga is $90 for 10 sessions.
• All other classes are $65 for 10 sessions.

Multiple Class Discount:

• 2 classes receives $20 off!
• 3 classes receives $30 off!
• 4 or more classes receives $40 off!

Click here to visit the Athletics and Recreation website for more detailed information, dates, times and the registration form. Registration forms are also available at the Student Service Centre. All fitness class information and forms can also be found at the North Gym front desk. The deadline to register is January 11th.

No NHL hockey yet, but there’s still plenty of hockey being played on rinks throughout the province.  I passed by an outdoor rink in Oakbank on the weekend, and it was filled with kids and teens shooting the puck around. Nice to see.

This weeks’ hockey tip is on mastering the saucer pass. A saucer pass is a great technique for lifting the puck a few inches off the ice and dropping it onto your linemates’ stick.  It’s a lot like throwing a frisbee where you move the puck from the heel of the stick to the toe – creating a spinning saucer motion in the process.  I only began practicing this technique last year, as I got tired of having my passes around the net getting picked off because they were on the ice, or having my passes go into the rafters when trying to raise the puck a few inches. With a little bit of practice, I actually found the technique relatively easy to get the basics under my belt (which makes me wonder why I waited 3 decades to begin pacticing it ????). It takes a lot more practice and confidence to develop proficiency for using it is a game, but having an understanding and feel for the fundamentals is a good starting point.

Jeremy from HowToHockey.com has put up this tutorial – you can see his full range of videos here.  I like the way he mechanically breaks down the techniques – they’re usually among the best “how to” videos on Youtube.

The added benefit of learning the saucer pass technique is that it helps teach you to develop more “touch” when handling the puck. The technique relies on good simple mechanics, not strength and power.

Here’s one final video with Patrick Kane demonstating his skills (in case you’re missing the real NHL these days).

Recently, I listened to a webinar about walkable communities. I thought about my own experiences, about wellness at the college, and what we could do to promote walking and a more walkable campus. Three presenters spoke, and I really enjoyed hearing different perspectives from Sam Schwartz Engineering, the Center for Disease Control (health focus) and America Walks (community engagement).

My biggest take away was exercise improves health. One neat statistic from The Center of Disease Control was that “6 bouts a day of 2-3 minutes of stair climbing improves cholesterol and fitness in college women”.

Now they had my attention – and it got me thinking about my experiences here at the college – and where and how much I walk. The session left me with some neat ideas on how to promote walking, and how we could make the campus more inviting for walking. Some of the ideas I liked were creating a map of outdoor walkable routes, creating walking/running club (which I believe exists). I then thought about walking indoors especially as we head into winter – and walking in the mall or the stair wells.  Wouldn’t it be great to have some fitness information about how many calories I burned or how many steps I took? Could I use a pedometer to help track my success? These and other ideas could be a great part of a regular wellness routine.

So now that I have thought and talked about walking –  how about I just get up and do it! See you in the stairwells.

(#22 bus-loop, Rouge Road)  Steve Jobs once said, “It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.”  I tend to agree. So the thought of extracting at least 40 minutes of it twice a day from now until spring is very satisfying. Every year the first snow pushes me off my 28″ bike and onto a #22 bus for daily commutes, my trusty MacBook on my lap (Mr. Jobs would approve). No windshield scraping, no squinting through that narrow slit above the dash with the wipers and defrost on high until I can finally see beyond the hood. No, as I let Transit Tom do the driving, my precious time is much better spent on other things. Read on.

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James Slade (1st), Derek Kochenash (2nd), Jason McMaster (3rd)

The first annual Red River Fun Run has come and gone, and there were many winners.

James Slade displaying the winning time.

The fastest runner of the day was James Slade who completed the race in a time of 25:44 over the 5.8 km distance.  James also helped out immensely organizing the race, and did well to nab one of the randomly drawn prizes, a $25 gift certificate for the Prairie Lights.Filling out the podium were race winners Derek Kochenash and Jason McMaster. Derek and Jason are both part of the RRC Run Club which started up in the summer and regularly had 5-20 staff members out walking or running every Wednesday.

So while we’re at it, let’s throw a bouquet to Run Club members like Sara MacArthur, Judy McMullen, Laurie Musick, Chau Le, Michael Whalen, Dayna Graham, Margarita Rowley, and Alison Ivey who got it all going in the summer.  Some of the other regulars like Jackie Wood wanted to run, but work got in the way this day.

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The Red River Fun Run is set to kick off on Wednesday (Oct 10^th) at noon at the bus loop  on the NDC campus. If you want to see the expertly mapped route, courtesy of instructors James Slade and Michael Whalen, check this out.

One circuit is 2.9km.  The full race is 2 times around (5.8 km) for runners and one loop for walkers. Of course, you can opt to run once around if that’s what you’re up for (if you want to round off, this is like a mini-marathon…though a bit shorter in distance).  The course has been marked with stakes that have orange flagging tape on them, making it a bit less likely for you to get lost / confused/ run the wrong way.

Next year, we’ll plan this race for September when it might be warmer…but this year, we’ll have to brave the elements.  There will be some random prize draws for participants. The SA has donated 2 student prizes, and the Wellness Committee has some prizes for staff. To be eligible for a prize please register for the race online.

In anticipation of next week’s First Annual Red River College Fun Run, we asked several regular RRC runners to recollect their own best and worst races.  If you are interested in taking part in the Fun Run,  the race will be held on October 10th (noon start) at the bus loop on the Notre Dame Campus. Click here to register.

James Slade – Instructor

Best race: No question, Boston Marathon, 2008 where I had to run with one contact lens missing (lost it in the pool the night before) in the blazing sun (who the heck thinks of sunscreen in April???) and desperate for a port-a-potty (yup…me and the other 25,000 runners…get in line).  What was it that made it the best?  The crowd was the absolute best!  I was at least a km away from Wellesley College and thought I could hear water running, then about 500m away I realized it was not a waterfall, but the famous Wellesley Scream Tunnel!  You get through that, you go on another 17 km or so and enter the city proper to more screaming fans, on both sides of the road, and by the end of that stretch, my ears were ringing!  You simply cannot quit amidst all that support.

Worst race:  So many it’s hard to pick just one, y’ know?  Was it the torn hamstring that went ‘pop!’ at km 4 of the 10 k that slowed me to a snail’s pace, looking for ice at the finish line to discover NO first aid facilities whatsoever?  Or was it the race I showed up late for…so late when I arrived, everyone else was finishing? (just screwed the time up, no one to blame but me).  I could go with, not a race but rather, my first really long run starting my marathon training that was all of 6 km, and hurt so bad I had to walk down stairs backwards for the next two days!  Here I am still running and still looking for more ‘worsts’!  In the grand scheme of things, I always figure that if this is the worst thing in my life right now, then life’s pretty good!

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2012’s most relaxed Red River Rebel Rider

On September 9, 2012, the 9th day of the 9th month of the 9th anniversary of the Red River Rebel Riders (rrrr…), Gurdeesh Ghuman from NDC Security stunned supporters when, in his very first year with the team, he became the youngest Sikh in history to place last in the MS Riding Mountain Challenge, arguably Manitoba’s most prestigious cycling event. His time? 4½ Hours.

Team captain Guy Dugas was quick to waive off allegations that the 34-year veteran of the Indian infantry had taken banned substances to reduce his performance. “Absolutely not! In fact, if it hadn’t been for a large coffee at the last rest stop, he might have taken even longer to come in.” For his part, Gurdeesh attributes his success to a strict training regime (he used to cycle daily to and from school in India) and a healthy bladder.

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Inaugural Run Club runners (left – right): Michael, Judy, Brian, James, Sara, Jackie, Alison, Chau.

Staff and Students are invited to come out on Wednesday, Oct. 10th for the first annual Red River Fun Run – sponsored by the RRC Run Club, the Wellness Committee and the RRC Students’ Association.

This 4km run (or walk if you prefer) around the Notre Dame Campus should be a good time to fight off the Fall weather with some invigorating activity.  All participants will be eligible for a prize draw.  The event begins at noon at the bus loop on the south side of the Notre Dame campus, and College President Stephanie Forsyth will be on hand to kick off the event. The RRC Students’ Association Executive have also promised to bring out their Boom Box to help create a “carnival-like” atmosphere.  So come out, bring your running shoes, and have fun.

Please register online so we can get a sense of the number of participants ahead of time as well as to complete a participant consent form.

Keep watching this space for further updates and runner profiles.  If you wish to lend a hand to the event, you can contact me at mkrywy@rrc.ca.

And finally…. if you want to get yourself in shape ahead of time, the RRC Run Club meets regularly each Wednesday at noon in front of the NDC gym. Don’t be shy, they’re good folks who are kind to new runners.