Bits and Pieces
By Stig Skarborn in Fredericton
COCs
The Canadian Orienteering Championships were held this year in
Manitoba. Three of the four New Brunswick orienteers who attended the
COCs came home with medals. Graham St-Laurent of Fredericton grabbed
a gold, finishing 15 minutes ahead of his competitors in the male
17-19 category. Don Heron of Gondola Point took a silver medal for
the male 55-64 category. In the Short O event, St-Laurent won a third
place bronze medal as did Alex Whaley of Kingsclear in the male 15-16
category.
(Reprinted from the Daily Gleaner, Tuesday, August 12, 1997.)
Junior World Championships
Doug Mahoney from Hillsborough was the best Canadian among 159 runners
at the Junior World championships where he placed 70th in the 11.9 km
long classical race with a time of 79:05. The winner was Johan Modig
from Sweden with a time of 60:51, second place went to Vladimir Lucan
of the Czech Republic in 63:33, and third place went to Marian Davidik
of Slovakia in 64:10. The next major event was on July 21, where Doug
joined fellow New Brunswickers and elite orienteers Wil, Sandy and
Mike Smith from Alma, and Mike Fellows and Stig Skarborn from
Fredericton, for the Swedish five-day orienteering event. This event
is the largest in the world with over 11,000 competitors registered
for each of the five competition days. After the Swedish event, the
three Smith siblings will compete in the World Championships in Norway
as part of a five-woman and five-man Canadian team who have qualified
through championship events in Canada.
Orienteering World Championships, Grimstad, Norway
In the men's individual classical event, two qualification heats were
run with the top thirty in each heat advancing to the final. Wil
Smith from Waterside, New Brunswick, placed a heart breaking 31st with
an excellent time of 1:12:03 to be eliminated along with team member
and brother Mike Smith, and Brian Graham from Ottawa. The longer
final was won by Thoresson of Norway in a time of 1:40:16, with the
only qualifying Canadian, Mike Waddington from Ontario, placing 54th.
In the women's classical event, Wil's sister, Sandy Smith placed 34th,
again to be narrowly eliminated from the final. Pam James of Halifax
placed 19th in the qualification heats, and advanced to the final
where she placed 58th. The winner was Hanneh Staaf of Norway in a
time of 1:12:56.
In the short distance event, Wil Smith was the best Canadian man, but
at 19th in the qualification race was eliminated from the final,
reserved for the best 15 in each of four heats. The women fared
substantially better with both Sandy Smith and Pam James qualifying
for the final by placing 11th and 7th respectively. The final saw an
Austrian girl, Lucie Bohm, win the gold in 25:15, with Pam James
placing 38th in 33:16 and Sandy Smith 51st in 36:44.
The final events were the four person relay events. Lead Sandy Smith
and second runner, Pam James, had the women's team in 17th position,
only to slip to a final 20th. The winning team from Sweden finished
in a time of 2:51:41. In probably the best performance ever by a
Canadian team, the Canadian men finished in 15th place among 33 teams,
with Wil Smith having the team in 7th place after his great lead off
run, where he was only 5 seconds behind the Danish runner who was part
of the winning team in a total time of 4:18:58. One of the pre-race
favourites, Sweden, was disqualified for taking the controls in the
wrong order.
Sentier NB Trail
Sentier NB Trail will be a 2,000 km all season, shared-use
recreational trail connecting communities throughout the province.
The government's interest in developing such an extensive trail system
is the direct result of a growing public demand for recreational trail
development. Both local users and tourists are increasingly
interested in ecotourism opportunities. Trail-related recreation is a
popular activity in North America and abroad. Likewise in New
Brunswick, as public interest in personal fitness and the natural
environment has grown, awareness of the need for recreational trails
has increased. Recreational trails are becoming a focus for this
increased public desire for both physical activity (Canadian Social
Trends, Spring 1992) and for environmental awareness (Balmer, 1991).
In less than 100 years, we've gone from horse and buggy to 14 million
cars on Canada's roads. Our communities are planned for them, our
personal finances are arranged for them, and our days are organized
around them. And, in less than 100 years, the car has come to have a
major impact on our environment and our health. Active transportation
plays a large role in helping to meet those environmental and health
challenges. More Canadians need to discover the benefits of active
transportation: using walking, cycling or other modes of physical
activity to get to school, work or the corner store. With each person
who walks more, a car is driven less, and the environment and the
individual become healthier. For more information contact Active
Living - Go for Green at 613-562-5310 or visit their web site:
www.activeliving.ca/activeliving/go4green.
Some of the benefits of using trails for active transportation include:
- a safe means in which to get to work, school, corner store, etc.,
- using cars less will lower tax burden on infrastructure,
- improve health and well-being,
- save money,
- reduce emissions and save green space,
- encourage people to get active,
- improved access to nature areas, and
- increased social interaction.
(Reproduced from Living Proof!, Issue 6, June 1997, a publication by NB Municipalities, Culture and Housing.)
This page is maintained by:
Benjamin Lee.
Last updated: 1997-10-26