Rapids Do Well in Vermont

Five club members managed to find their way down to North Hero Vermont last weekend to participate in the first annual Lake Champlain Marathon. In spite of the perfect storm we all managed to arrive at different times but in time to reach the starting line for the 21 km event on Saturday. An early start of 10 am was delayed until mid-afternoon to give the Waterloo ladies time to negotiate bad road conditions. They arrived with 15 minutes to spare! Todd, Heidi, John A., John B. and Fimke all performed well with Todd putting in the best time with a fourth place overall in a field of 27. The 42 km on Sunday was held under absolutely perfect conditions with sunny skies and no wind. Heidi, John A. and Todd partook in this event and again Todd showed his skating strength and stamina by placing 6th overall in a field of 24. We all agreed that this was a wonderful weekend at a superb venue. Most of us stayed at the very comfortable North Hero Lodge where lodging, food and draft beer were all first class. We all agree that this is the venue to head for next year.

We must thank the various folks in North Hero who made this event possible. It was their first time and to put on such an event but they handled the steep learning curve admirably.

Marathon skating now moves out west with the Silver Skate Marathon in Edmonton on family day weekend and the Sylvan Lake (near Red Deer) being held the following weekend over three days. Anyone interested in joining me at Sylvan Lake for three races of 25, 50 and 100 km?

Canadian Age Class Long Track Championship Results

St Lawrence had a strong showing in the Canadian age class long track speed skating championships in Winnipeg Feb 8 and 9 with three local skaters representing Team Ontario at the competition.

Nick Everett  was 4th in the 13 year old male category.  His  3000m time was the fastest in his age group at 5:08.82.  He was the top skater from Ontario in his age group.  He placed 3rd for  bronze medals in the 100m and 500m sprints.

Connor Taugher was 11th overall in the 14 year old male group and was 2nd overall from Ontario.  He had 2 top ten finishes (8th in 100m & 9th 300m)and was the top Ontario skater in both the sprints.  Taugher was 12th overall in the 3000m.

Chloe Segal placed 13th overall in the 12 year old female group. She was 10th in the 3000m, 14th in the 100m and 12th in the 500m  races.

Results from Brockville Meet February 9th

St Lawrence Rapids had a very successful Competition taking in 9 out of the 21 medals handed out on Feb 9, 2013 at the Brockville Memorial Centre.  Many skaters  recorded personal best times for the meet as well.   89 skaters participated from Speed skating Clubs in Kingston, Ottawa, Gloucester, Quinte (Belleville), Val Des Monts, Quebec and  6 skaters from Nunavut.

The 9 medalists from St Lawrence were as follows:
Alpha Division:  Tristan Brunet Silver and Bryony Schonewille Bronze.
Bravo Division:  Andrew Chartrand Gold
Charlie Division: Lukas Heuval Gold and Emma Grace Wheeler Silver
Delta Division:  Aidan VanBeek Gold
Foxtrot Division:  Landyn Urslak Gold and Lucas Peddell Silver
Golf Division:  Julia Wheeler Silver

Other results were as follows:
Alpha Division:  Nathan Heuval 4th, Spencer Delaney 5th, Terry Knapp 9th and  Abigael Schonewille 11th
Bravo Division:  Corinne Schonewille 6th and Kyle VanBeek 12th
Charlie Division: Kayle Urslak 11th, Nick Thompson 13th and Natalie Peddell 15th
Delta Division:  Malcolm Spence 6th
Echo Division:  Nolan Roney 5th
Foxtrot Division:  Cameron MacKay 6th, Jordan Throop 7th
Golf Division:  Andy Giroux 5th, Annella Roney 6th, Paige Besner 7th, Arie Devos 10th  and Celia Giroux 11th.

The skaters who have qualified for the Provincial series will complete their season February 24 and 24th in Kitchener for the Provincial Championships.  St Lawrence has 2 skaters who qualify for this series:  Nick Everett and Chloe Segal.

The Final Competition Provincially for the Regional Short track series for 6-11 year old skaters will be in Oakville March 2 and 3rd and for age 12 and older, including Masters in Clarington March 9 and 10th.

Here is the meet protocol as a pdf file.  The Personal Bests page has been updated.

Upcoming International Masters Championship in Syracuse

Registration is open: 1st Masters International Short Track Championships
Twin Rinks Ice Arena, Cicero, NY USA
April 6 and 7, 2013
(Cicero is just north of Syracuse, a three hour drive from Ottawa.)

Information: http://www.imssc.org/images/pdf-ann/12-ann-wmg-shorttrack.pdf

Distances: Everyone gets three distances.
· Those 30-54 years old skate 500m, 1000m and 1500m, plus optional 3000m relay
· Those 55+ years skate 500m, 777m and 1000m, plus optional 3000m relay.

Registration: (skaters register themselves) online at www.safepayevents.com/MastersInternationalShortTrack (credit card or paypal).
Deadline to register: March 1st or 175 participants, whichever comes first.