Letter to ONB

Don,

Hello. I've been told that I'm going to recieve some funding for competing in the NA Champs and the Ontario Champs, so I thought I'd give you a brief run-down of how things went. The Ontario's were held 2 weekends ago, and no NB athlete had an outstanding race, but we all had a good time. It was a two day meet, but both days were individual events: a 12k classic, and a 4k short the next day (which is a format that I really think NB should look into for our Championships). Day 1, the classic, was extremely hilly (5-6%), and very physical. Mark Adams won in 95 min, Mike Smith was 4th, in around 109 min, and I was 7th, in about 113 min. Neither Mike nor I were very pleased with our runs...lots of silly mistakes and ran out of gas on the hills. Jon Smith also ran (H17-20), and I think he may have been 4th or 5th, but again, he was not particularly pleased either. The next day was the short, and there were only 4 courses, so Jon and Mike and I all ran the same course 4. Again, we were not particularly pleased with our runs. I think Mark Adams won again in 34 min while Mike was 4th in 41 min, and I was 5th in 43 min. Again, lots of silly mistakes we should not have been making.

The next weekend it was off to St. Louis, Missouri, for the NA Champs, which turned out to be about an 18 hour drive for me. It was a decent turnout from NB: Ed, Luella, Mike, Sandy, Wil, and myself. Mike, Wil and Sandy all ran their respective elite classes, while I opted for my age class (H19-20). The terrain was amazing, lots of rolling hills, and fast wide open running. Day 1 was terrible for me - I made an 11 min error on the first control (so stupid!), and that pretty much cost me the race. My course was 6.5k long and I did it in 65 min while the winner was 56 min. Mike and Wil both ran well, completing their 8 km course in 62 min apiece (Mike actually won by seconds), and found themselves in 3rd and 4th respectively. Mike Waddington won it in 54 min. Sandy did not have a particularly great run, ending up in 9th or 10th on the first day. Day 2 was of similar course length, and everyone ran better. I ran mine in 43 min, and won day two by just under 9 min, but unfortunately I was edged out of first place by 58 sec. Mike and Wil both ran exceptionally well: Wil was 55 min (4 min behind the winner, Mike W), and Mike was 59 min. That put them in 3rd and 4th respectively. So when it was all said and done, the results for the NA Champs were as follows:

H21  1. Mike Waddington: 105.58
     2. Mikell Platt: 115.46
     3. Wil Smith: 118.14
     4. Mike Smith: 122.07
H20  1. Mark Innes: 108.43
     2. Myself: 109.41
F21  1. Pam James: 102.38
     5. Sandy Smith: 133.35

Doug Mahoney