Lance Armstrong once said that pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. In my case my feet and quads are revolting on me, but if Lance can do it so can I! 45 minutes of extra sleep in the morning, which does not sound like much in the grand scheme of the infinite plain of time, but how sweet it was to not have to get up until 5:45am. The dart tournament the night before at the Charlottetown Legion was a good time and a welcome excuse to get off our feet between throws. Nobody’s arms were too badly tortured during the run yesterday to toss the darts, but the trip down to the retrieve the darts from the board seemed a little slower than normal.
Grundel cream applied, we started the day off at Woods Island ferry terminal. The weather seemed to continue to cooperate with our jolly posse of runners with cool temperatures, little wind and broken cloud cover. We were joined for the day by Jess Macdonald and Aaron Myers which reduced our pavement pounding work load. I am also pleased to announce that Janis MacDonald did indeed survive her courageous efforts to clean the toxic waste pile that some may call our soiled laundry. The Center for Disease Control has cleared her house once again as fit for human habitation. The village of Belfast went all out with signs of encouragement and lots of people out to run and bike with us. It was great to see, a real boost to our spirits.
The afternoon brought with it rain showers and the K-Rock cruiser with the continually good natured Amber. She insists the fund raiser at St. James Gate tonight will be a boat load of fun, even though she is going to miss part of the evening to go play soccer. It has something to do with her being the Island’s female version of David Beckem. All the same we all wish her luck, and hope to see her out after a triumphant match!
The downside of the rain showers (besides the running in it) is the fact our MRSP now has all the windows up, which means the air onboard is remaining onboard. Considering the amount of body odour with which a group of runners produces this is not an ideal situation. Busie has give up any hope ridding the bus of the repugnant scent. Odour eaters placed on the bus have sized up the situation and decided collectively to leap to an honourable death under the wheels of the bus rather than do battle with the revolting stench. The ‘tiny odour trapping bubbles’ of Febreeze simply burst into flames as soon as the liquid droplets leave the nozzle. The run on the road is our one and only escape; it is the overriding motivation to stay on the road.
A huge thanks has to go out for Bikie, who braved the wet conditions on the Harley to control traffic as we headed through the busier parts of the highway. We all feel a whole lot better knowing that he is out there doing this for us. Our pain has been replaced by something better; the excitement of kicking our shoes off at the St. James Gate tonight for our fund raiser. Well, I may not kick my shoes off has the horrible reality of the condition of my feet is liable to case panicked rush to flee the immediate vicinity resulting in countless injuries! But the pints will be cold!
CU at the Pub, and on the road tomorrow
WolfMan
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Day 3
Someone once said that pain is temporary, but glory last forever. Our 5am wakeup call went out, and like the elite group of crack athletes that we are the team was ready to go seconds later. By ‘seconds’ and ‘ready to go’ I mean 45 minutes later we dragged our tired and pain riddled carcasses out to see Busie and the MRSP for the trip out to East Point. Apparently, Boomer Gallant put in a good word with the weather Gods and the rain, fog and wind that pelted us yesterday has been replaced by more suitable Island climatic conditions of broken cloud, occasional spits of rain and sunshine. The addition of horns on the bus to ‘cheer the runners on’ as added a new dynamic to the MRSP and those who choose to spend their time while not running trying to ‘rest’.
Cpl Dave Chivery from the Charlottetown City Police joined our merry running road convoy with his police issued Harley Davidson. Now known as Bikie, he is going to be busy for the remainder of the week controlling traffic round our slow rolling fleet. Despite their two and four wheel differences, Busie and Bikie seem to be getting along fine. Thanks to folks at the Souris FD and Town Hall for all they did as we made our presence felt while in town.
Runners); Joel MacDonald’s mom, Janis. Not only is she running and biking with us today, but she volunteered to undertake perhaps the most difficult task imaginable; brave the unbelievable horrors of our team’s dirty laundry! I hope the toxin pile of stench does not cause any genetic mutations in the surrounding live stock farms.For our next VIR, we pulled out all the stops and swelled the running parade vehicle tally to five. We were augmented by the rescue truck from Montague and an RCMP cruiser manoeuvred gracefully by the intrepid Brenda Hogan. Premier Joe Ghiz joined us at Pools Corner and set a gruelling pace for the final drive into Montague. After a tremendous effort on the road he was quick to support the Children’s Wish with a purchase from our BBQ’er to recoup his depleted energy level.
decreased from this morning. Stiff legs and the beginnings of atrocious looking feet are making the hobbling around our Home Base all the more sad and funny. But glory and the occasional good natured ribbing seem to make up for this. Still just a little shy of our third wish, the glory of this worth while cause will drag many more miles out of the guys and girls before we concede defeat.CU on the road, WolfMan
Cpl Dave Chivery from the Charlottetown City Police joined our merry running road convoy with his police issued Harley Davidson. Now known as Bikie, he is going to be busy for the remainder of the week controlling traffic round our slow rolling fleet. Despite their two and four wheel differences, Busie and Bikie seem to be getting along fine. Thanks to folks at the Souris FD and Town Hall for all they did as we made our presence felt while in town.
Runners); Joel MacDonald’s mom, Janis. Not only is she running and biking with us today, but she volunteered to undertake perhaps the most difficult task imaginable; brave the unbelievable horrors of our team’s dirty laundry! I hope the toxin pile of stench does not cause any genetic mutations in the surrounding live stock farms.For our next VIR, we pulled out all the stops and swelled the running parade vehicle tally to five. We were augmented by the rescue truck from Montague and an RCMP cruiser manoeuvred gracefully by the intrepid Brenda Hogan. Premier Joe Ghiz joined us at Pools Corner and set a gruelling pace for the final drive into Montague. After a tremendous effort on the road he was quick to support the Children’s Wish with a purchase from our BBQ’er to recoup his depleted energy level.
decreased from this morning. Stiff legs and the beginnings of atrocious looking feet are making the hobbling around our Home Base all the more sad and funny. But glory and the occasional good natured ribbing seem to make up for this. Still just a little shy of our third wish, the glory of this worth while cause will drag many more miles out of the guys and girls before we concede defeat.CU on the road, WolfMan
Day 2
Even the longest journey begins with a single step.” In our case it was a wet, windy step, but the team was in good spirits after an early start out at North Cape. With the wind mills spinning like mad and grundle cream applied (see Wikipedia for that medical term) we set off, luckily the powers that be didn’t make the day completely rotten, the blustering gale was a tail wind. We were joined by 9 year old Dylan Allain, who not only ran with us but along with his school mates at St. Louis Elementary raised over $1400!
Amber and K-Rock’s community cruiser soon joined us out on the road to spur our little band of marry runners onward. A welcome addition, her sunny disposition seemed to bring out the best in Island weather and soon the unremitting, perma-cloud gave way to broken white and blue sky. I say this knowing that she tried her best to get my song request on the air, and the fact it did not get played was in no way her fault. The PEI Road Runners sent out the big guns on our longest run leg; Scott Clark of Summerside added his considerable running talent to keep the run times on schedule. Thanks guys for keeping the pace reasonable!
We ended our longest day by running into the Summerside Sobeys. We were pleased to see that our BBQ’er had not blown away during the worst of the inclement weather. The City of Summerside was kind enough to provide the team with an outstanding spaghetti supper, and perhaps more importantly to the people who were in contact with us a place to clean away the tell tale odours of a fun filled day of running and hanging around on our MSRP (Mobile Support Run Platform (Bus).
Meanwhile, back in Charlottetown the Boot was making its début on CBC’s Compass with weatherman Boomer Gallant. Some team members were allowed to remain on site as security for Bootie to keep crazed fans at bay. Boomer seemed impressed by Bootie, and Bootie was impressed by Boomer’s quick wit. Needless to say the air waves on Compass were filled with mutual admiration on this broadcast.All in all, the first day was a good one. The steps needed to continue a journey are often harder then the ones with which we started. Judging by the hobbling the runners are doing as they head out towards town for a pint of relief, that will certainly ring true tomorrow. So give a little boost to these guys as you wiz by tomorrow and toot your horn and give a great big wave!CU on the road, Wolf Man
Amber and K-Rock’s community cruiser soon joined us out on the road to spur our little band of marry runners onward. A welcome addition, her sunny disposition seemed to bring out the best in Island weather and soon the unremitting, perma-cloud gave way to broken white and blue sky. I say this knowing that she tried her best to get my song request on the air, and the fact it did not get played was in no way her fault. The PEI Road Runners sent out the big guns on our longest run leg; Scott Clark of Summerside added his considerable running talent to keep the run times on schedule. Thanks guys for keeping the pace reasonable!
We ended our longest day by running into the Summerside Sobeys. We were pleased to see that our BBQ’er had not blown away during the worst of the inclement weather. The City of Summerside was kind enough to provide the team with an outstanding spaghetti supper, and perhaps more importantly to the people who were in contact with us a place to clean away the tell tale odours of a fun filled day of running and hanging around on our MSRP (Mobile Support Run Platform (Bus).
Meanwhile, back in Charlottetown the Boot was making its début on CBC’s Compass with weatherman Boomer Gallant. Some team members were allowed to remain on site as security for Bootie to keep crazed fans at bay. Boomer seemed impressed by Bootie, and Bootie was impressed by Boomer’s quick wit. Needless to say the air waves on Compass were filled with mutual admiration on this broadcast.All in all, the first day was a good one. The steps needed to continue a journey are often harder then the ones with which we started. Judging by the hobbling the runners are doing as they head out towards town for a pint of relief, that will certainly ring true tomorrow. So give a little boost to these guys as you wiz by tomorrow and toot your horn and give a great big wave!CU on the road, Wolf Man
Day 1
The early bird gets the worm.’ With that in mind the team started loading the bus at 0530 am, by 0600 am we were off and looking forward to the blue skies and green fields of PEI. Well, one of two isn’t bad. Once in Charlottetown we kicked of our event at the Lt. Governor’s house and then cruised back in our super cool Mobile Run Support Platform (or BUS for non-military people) for a little meet and greet with all the delightful media folks. The rain washed out our annual softball tournament, but the Charlottetown Lion’s Club were good enough to BBQ supper back at our home base of HMCS QUEEN CHARLOTTE. There our good fortune continued; while hunkered down in our dry domicile the Lion’s Club and Union of Public Service Employee’s each gave us donations.
The big surprise came when “busie” (our bus driver) drove the team over to the Montague Legion were we learned that while we cowered in the warm comfort of our home base, the intrepid and seemingly waterproof members of the local sea cadets and legion stopped some 5000 cars for a voluntary toll. Their soggy efforts did not go with out reward, because combined with the donations from the Montague Legion were able to raise close to $4500. Thanks to all who endured the painful traffic tie ups in Montague today for our worthy cause. I think the next big fund raiser in the area will have to be for cold medication for all those that are afflicted from the long hours in the cold and rain. Thanks Montague!!!
So down to the running wish total, with the money the team raised and today’s contributions we are standing at TWO WISHES!! Not bad, and we have not even started running yet. Tomorrow the weather does not look like blue skies are going to dominate our adopted homeland, but instead rain will ensure the emerald fields continue to bless us as we run into the week. So wish us luck as our soaked feet pound the puddles and pavement tomorrow, and feel free to drop us a coin or two as you drive by kicking up the vile road spray; because as Montague proved today, every little coin helps!
C U on the Roads PEI Wolf Man
The big surprise came when “busie” (our bus driver) drove the team over to the Montague Legion were we learned that while we cowered in the warm comfort of our home base, the intrepid and seemingly waterproof members of the local sea cadets and legion stopped some 5000 cars for a voluntary toll. Their soggy efforts did not go with out reward, because combined with the donations from the Montague Legion were able to raise close to $4500. Thanks to all who endured the painful traffic tie ups in Montague today for our worthy cause. I think the next big fund raiser in the area will have to be for cold medication for all those that are afflicted from the long hours in the cold and rain. Thanks Montague!!!
So down to the running wish total, with the money the team raised and today’s contributions we are standing at TWO WISHES!! Not bad, and we have not even started running yet. Tomorrow the weather does not look like blue skies are going to dominate our adopted homeland, but instead rain will ensure the emerald fields continue to bless us as we run into the week. So wish us luck as our soaked feet pound the puddles and pavement tomorrow, and feel free to drop us a coin or two as you drive by kicking up the vile road spray; because as Montague proved today, every little coin helps!
C U on the Roads PEI Wolf Man
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