Friday, April 26, 2013

WR3 2013


Saturday, April 20th

It was cloud and windy and 14 degrees. 

The Wear Red Road Race at Queen Charlotte Armoury. The course on Pownal, Alexandra, Keppoch, Stratford and Old Charlottetown. 

David MacPherson won the half marathon and Jenn Nicholson for the top female. I finished in 1:42:49 and came in 20th out of 75 runners. 

Myriam Cyr won the 10km race in first place overall and Bill MacGregor for the top male. 

Alex Cyr won the 5km race and Charlotte Gardiner for the top female.

Official Result: 20th out of 75
Half Marathon in 1 hour, 42 minutes, 49 seconds

 






Running For Autism
Not Against It
acceptance, inclusion, awareness
 



Thursday, April 18, 2013

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Charlottetown Running Room Remembers Boston


Charlottetown Running Room Remembers Boston

"Hi everyone, I wanted to extend this invitation to you all. Our marathon clinic is at 6:00 tonight at the Charlottetown Running Room. We'll be running 6K at 6:30. I am inviting everyone to come run with us whether you are in the clinic or not. Bring a friend and walk if you like. Would be great to get together and run our 6k with you tonight. We are dedicating it to our fellow runners in Boston and the spectators who cheer us on. So proud to part of our PEI running community. Cheers."
          --Heather Ogg

CBC PEI Boston Marathon Bombing Interviews






P.E.I. runner recalls loud 'bang' at Boston Marathon

At least 3 killed, dozens injured after 2 bombs exploded near finish line

A P.E.I. runner recalls her experience in Boston after two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday killing at least three people and injuring dozens.

So far, there has been no word on the motive or who may have launched the attack.

Jennie Orr, 21, from Mayfield, P.E.I. went to Boston to run in the marathon. She said she heard a bang about 30 minutes after she crossed the finish line. She said she was about two blocks away.

“I just assumed that maybe a crane dropped something. But there were a few bombs that had gone off and then people started running towards us and I was so sore that I couldn’t run away from it but we crossed the street,” she said.

“I was pretty sore after the marathon. I was glad to have my aunt with me.”

Boston Police Department Commissioner Ed Davis said that around 2:50 p.m., simultaneous explosions occurred near the finish line — about 45 to 90 metres apart — that resulted in "multiple casualties.”

Davis said that no other explosive devices have been found so far, but that any parcel left along the race route is being treated as suspicious.

Earlier, Boston police had said two people had been killed and 23 injured but Davis wouldn't confirm any numbers. Other media reports put the injury totals at up to 100 people.

Competitors and race organizers were crying as they fled the chaos. Bloody spectators were being carried to the medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners.

One runner, a state police officer from neighbouring Rhode Island, said he saw at least two dozen people with very serious injuries, including missing limbs.

According to the Boston Marathon website, there were 19 Islanders registered to run the race.
Orr said as far as she knows, everyone from P.E.I. is safe.

“A lot of them said they'd be doing (a) Maritime marathon from now on instead of coming down to Boston because we’re all a little scared,” she said.

She said after the ordeal, she has second thoughts about returning.

“In all honesty I don’t know, I was planning to come back next year and I don't necessarily know if I will after this time. I might do something closer to home,” said Orr.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2013/04/16/pe-marathon-follow.html

No reports of Islanders injured in marathon bombing

19 from P.E.I. registered to run Boston Marathon

There are no reports of Islanders injured after the bombing at the Boston Marathon on Monday.
Two bombs exploded near the finish line, killing three people and injuring 140.
'There were a lot of people crying, calling loved ones and wanting to know what was going on.'—Kim Bailey
Nineteen Islanders were registered to run in the marathon. Many also had family and friends along the race course.

Kim Bailey was running her seventh Boston Marathon. She said she knew something was wrong when the runners ahead of her stopped moving.

"I was just running, listening to my music and I had no idea anything was going on until the runners ahead of me were basically at an impasse."

She first thought there was a medical emergency on the course, that maybe one of the runners had suffered a heart attack.

But then Bailey said she could tell it was much more from the reaction of people around her.

Runner will return

"There were a lot of people crying, calling loved ones and wanting to know what was going on."
Bailey said store owners along the route came out to bring the runners water and a spectator gave her a coat to keep warm.

Race officials directed the runners around the finish line to an alternate route. Bailey finished the course and was back at her hotel before the true horror of the situation hit. Bailey said if she had not added a few extra minutes along the course she could have been at the finish line when the bombs went off.

"If I hadn't of stopped at the porta potty a couple of times, if I hadn't stopped at the water stops, I could have been right in the middle of it, you know, so it's that, so thankful."

Another Island runner, Jennie Orr, made it across the finish line and moved away from the area when the explosions hit.

"I was pretty sore from the marathon so I was glad to have my aunt with [me]. I just, I came all the way to run this race and I don't know if I'll come back next year."

But Bailey said, as long as she can qualify, she will will continue to run the Boston Marathon.
"The saddest thing would be if people started to succumb to the fear."

 

 

Marathon Madness


Pu
Published on April 15th, 2013
Teresa Wright

Prince Edward Island residents rocked by bombs detonated at Boston Marathon including one woman who crossed the finish line moments before explosions

Beverly Walsh had just crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon Monday when she turned around and saw two bombs exploding along the route where she had been running just moments earlier.

“I didn’t know what it was right away. I thought, ‘Bomb,’ and then I thought no, that’s being too negative,” Walsh said in a telephone interview with The Guardian Monday evening.

That’s when someone told her to start running again – this time for her life.

Her husband was nearby, waiting to watch her finish the race. Walsh could see him, but could not get to him.

“He was in the family area where I couldn’t get, then he cut out in front of me running and I shouted to him, so we were together,” she said.

“Then I thought, ‘Well at least we’ll die together.’ I shouldn’t be saying that, but that’s what went through my mind.”

Walsh was one of 19 Islanders running in the Boston Marathon Monday when two bombs exploded near the finish line, killing at least three people and injuring over 140 others, according to numbers released at press time.

Dianne Pye of Charlottetown was still running the marathon when she heard the twin blasts.
She was half a kilometer from the finish line.

“I could hear them when I was running but, of course, did not realize at the time what the explosions were. It almost sounded like people banging on drums,” Pye told The Guardian in a telephone interview.

She kept running, pushing hard now for this last leg of her race when someone began yelling and people around began stopping.

“I stopped because everybody was stopping and they made an announcement that we couldn’t go because there were bombs at the finish line,” Pye said.

Once she heard this, her immediate concern was her husband’s safety.

“Where is my husband and what has happened to him, that’s what was going through my mind,” she said.

Her husband Grant was at the finish line, waiting to watch her cross when the explosions went off.
He had been tracking his wife’s progress online and knew she was close when he saw the blasts of smoke and fire that sent people running and screaming in all directions.

He tore down the fence in front of him and went rushing toward the finish line in an attempt to find her.

“He was afraid at that point, because they were saying that there could be more (bombs),” Pye said.

“All he could think about was how close I may be to the finish line. He knew I should be coming anytime.”
“Then I thought, ‘Well at least we’ll die together.’ I shouldn’t be saying that, but that’s what went through my mind,” - Beverly Walsh
He was quickly stopped by officials who herded him and other concerned spectators to a location further away from the scene.

Meanwhile, Pye had also been ushered to a secure area with other terrified runners and spectators.
No one knew what was happening and everyone was worried about friends and family.

“People were crying and there were a lot of female runners who were very upset and worried, because of course we all have family at the finish line and we didn’t know who was injured and who wasn’t injured. It could have been any one of our family members,” Pye said.

Finally, she was able to get to her belongings where she used her cell phone to call her husband. They were both so relieved to hear of each other’s safety.

Another Islander, Kimberly Bailey, was also running in the marathon on Monday. She had her headphones on and was about 700 metres from the finish line when she was met with a wall of runners who had stopped suddenly.

“When I came up against it, there was a lot of pandemonium. A lot of confusion, a lot of people crying, a lot of people were talking about bombs… people were visibly upset.”

Bailey said she just couldn’t believe it was a bomb.

“I was just stymied by it and really in disbelief. I thought there must have been an electrical explosion, it’s an old city.”

A marathon veteran with over 60 races under her belt, Bailey said she never imagined this marathon would be one to be concerned about.

“I’ve done crazy Canadian death races, the ‘sinister seven’ where you’re out by yourself in the woods at night with bears,” she said.

“If I thought I was going to be in any kind of risk, it would have been being attacked by a bear or a cougar in the north of Alberta, not at the Boston Marathon.”

It has been reported to the P.E.I. Roadrunners all marathon participants from P.E.I. are safe.

twright@theguardian.pe.ca
Twitter.com/GuardianTeresa

Souris runner witnesses chaos and compassion at Boston Marathon


Souris runner witnesses chaos and compassion at Boston Marathon

Mon, 04/15/2013 - 19:24 

By Heather Jordan Ross
hjross@peicanada.com

Kim Bailey of Souris was four minutes from the finish line at the Boston Marathon this afternoon when the runners ahead of her came to a standstill.

“The crowd was really loud I had my earphones in, I couldn’t hear anything except the roar of the crowd and my music and I didn’t know what was going on but the crowd just stopped in front of me,” she said.

“I couldn’t understand what was going on, I thought someone had fallen or passed out.

“I was around the corner from the finish line. I didn’t see anything except for the pandemonium and people looking for loved ones.“

Then she said she got “dribs and drabs” of information that there were explosions.

Reports say two are dead and over 90 are injured in Boston after two explosions detonated at the Boston Marathon at 2:45pm on Monday.

“Some were saying bombs, a majority or people were saying it must of been electrical or a gas leak because Boston is an old town,” she said.

“We were there for about an hour. We couldn’t move. Police cars were going and fire trucks. It was zoo. A lot of people were crying and cell phones were down.”

In her time being stuck in the crowd, she said she also saw compassion.

“What I saw was real beautiful acts of kindness by bystanders, giving coats and food out and water, just making sure that people were warm. There were some runners down because they were cold and dehydrated, and people were covering them up.”

Ms Bailey said she is in shock.

“There’s just a bunch of people walking around in shock that this happened at a marathon, a family oriented event with mothers and fathers and babies,” Ms Bailey said breaking down crying. “It makes ... it makes no sense ... at a run that fundraises for charity.

“I would just never think this would happen at a marathon and I wonder what is wrong with the world, what is wrong with people when they start targeting events like this that are just so wholesome and meaningful to people and communities they raise money for.”

Mr Bailey said the subways are down, so she walked for an hour and is now at a lobby of the hotel with her husband.

“I have to find my belongings. Everything is all messed up. I left a bag of clothes on one of the marathon buses and there’s just a lot of pandemonium as you can imagine. I was planning on heading home tomorrow.”

This was Ms Bailey’s seventh consecutive year running.

According to the PEI Road Runner’s Facebook page, all Island runners are safe.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Live Blogging Islanders at the Boston Marathon Split Times

  PEI Runners in Boston

reportedly all okay!

 

Canadian Runners in Boston - Need Help? 

Phone line set up for Canadians in Boston: 
1-800-387-3124

 

Explosions at the Boston Marathon

>>  READ MORE HERE   <<

and HERE 


Live Blogging Islanders at the Boston Marathon
Split Times 

Screenshots from Live Tracking PEI Runners & Runner Results


MacKinnon, Mike (CAN)




Chaisson, Stan (CAN) 



McCosham, Leo (CAN) 



Clark, Scott (CAN) 



Gallant, David (CAN) 


Matters, Chris (CAN) 




Newson, Kristy (CAN) 

Dalton, Paul (CAN) 





Benson, Brenda (CAN)

Mutch, James (CAN) 





Grant, Kara (CAN) 

Brown, Beth Ellen (CAN) 




Clark, Dave (CAN) 




Orr, Jennie (CAN)


Grant, Marian (CAN)



Shea, Shawn (USA) 




Walsh, Beverley (CAN)



It appears this is as close as Dianne & Kim got to finishing their marathon before the explosion. 
So glad that they, and all our PEI runners and family members, are okay. 
Our thoughts are with all those affected by today's horrible events in Boston


Dianne & Kim at 4:02pm
 

Pye, Dianne (CAN) 




Bailey, Kimberley (CAN) 

Island runner Jennie Orr spent all winter preparing for today’s Boston Marathon


 
Island runner Jennie Orr spent all winter preparing for today’s Boston Marathon 
 
Published on April 15, 2013
Jason Malloy 
 
Jennie Orr ran all winter to prepare for today.

“We ran when it was -25 C. We ran in snow, any kind of weather, we were usually out,” the 21-year-old Mayfield resident said. “The difficult runs make you really appreciate when the weather is good and the conditions are good. . . It gives you something to draw on (during) those moments when you don’t think you can do it.”

She is hoping for good running conditions today as she laces up the sneakers for the Boston Marathon. She is one of 18 Islanders entered to run the historic race.

“It’s a lot of work to run a marathon, but I am really, really excited to have the opportunity to run with some of the best,” Orr told The Guardian recently before leaving for the United States. “I am honoured just to be in the race.”

Orr’s first marathon was the Bluenose in Halifax last year where she qualified for Boston by 15 seconds. She completed the BMO Nesbitt Burns Prince Edward Island marathon in October, qualifying for Boston by 10 minutes.

She credits the P.E.I. RoadRunners club with helping her prepare for the marathons.
“Without them I could not be doing what I am doing today.”

Orr said she looks for the 36-kilometre mark during the 42-kilometre runs.

“I know I am almost done and that makes it a lot easier and I get excited to finish,” she said. “A lot of people talk about hitting the wall at 36, but I feel like the toughest kilometres are from 30 to 36. . . I find that 36 is kind of the magic number.”

And it becomes a magical moment six kilometres later when she crosses the finish line.

“It is absolutely amazing,” she said. “The sense of achievement and satisfaction, you can’t compare it to anything else.”

***

In Boston
The following is a list Prince Edward Island residents entered to run the Boston Marathon:

Kimberley Bailey, Cornwall
Brenda Benson, Summerside
Beth Ellen Brown, Charlottetown
Stan Chaisson, Charlottetown
Dave Clark, Summerside
Scott Clark, Summerside
Paul Dalton, St. Edward
David Gallant, Charlottetown
Marian Grant, Stratford
Mike MacKinnon, Miscouche
Chris Matters, Charlottetown
Leo McCosham, Charlottetown
James Mutch, Charlottetown
Kristy Newson, Stratford
Jennie Orr, Mayfield
Dianne Pye, Charlottetown
Shawn Shea, Stratford
Beverley Walsh, Charlottetown