July/August 2010 Newsletter

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free events for active people

Dear Friends and Members of Club Fat Ass,

Summer is the toughest time of the year for your newsletter team.  Tough to stay indoors and write.  With so many Club activities to chose from, tough to pick which ones to write about.

With long, summer days and beautiful weather, July and August are traditionally the busiest months for CFA members and their friends.  This summer, the Club is offering everything from your traditional trail runs in the forest, to night runs, to peak-bagging extravaganzas... 

Our recent poll on how you prefer to stay in touch with Club Fat Ass revealed that most Club members prefer checking-on at our "online clubhouse" (the website) closely followed by Facebook and this monthly newsletter.  Great that the website has become such a hub and source of information and inspiration.  Thanks for your thoughts and feedback.  If you didn't get around to it, you can still participate in the poll and influence how the Club might better serve you.

New to Club Fat Ass or haven't been out in a while?  Be sure to check out our New Member FAQ's.  Also, be sure to take advantage of our new Ambassador Program.  Details below. 

Happy trails and happy summer!

 

Sibylle Tinsel
Chief Executive Fat Ass


UPCOMING EVENTS

Club Fat Ass Events- Bagger Challenge - South Needles HikeBagger Challenge. 1 April - 10 October - North Shore Mountains, BC Canada.  See how many North Shore peaks you can run up and bag in a summer.    Find out more here.  We are also looking for GPS data of last years bagging extravaganza to share with all Baggers this year.

Photo left: Wandering around on top of the South Needles 


Photo right: Views from the Howe Sound Crest trail

Photo left: Sunset over Capilano River  during the Midsummer Night Run.

Capilano Canyon Night Run - A Midsummer Night's Dream. August 21 - North Vancouver, BC, Canada. Don't miss this night running classic followed by a garden party and potluck extravaganza.  Details here.

Go Home via the Hanes Valley. August 28 - North Vancouver, BC, Canada.  Chose between a nice and easy 14km trail or tough, backcountry wilderness runs of 18km or 30km length.  More here


Flash - Duel at the Pool - 2010.  September 3 - Vancouver, BC, Canada. A 5K swim in Kits Pool. At 8 complete laps to the kilometer, that makes this challenge 20 return laps, or 40 lengths of the world's best pool. Meet the Whale and Mako sharks here

Sunshine in September. 4 September - Langdale, BC Canada. 20km or 26km on beautiful, mostly single track trails just off the ferry terminal in Langdale on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Run in forests of grand old trees and gigantic mushrooms. Easy logistics with carpooling, walk on the ferry, run off the ferry and a lovely post-run get together with super views on the ferry ride back. As close to a get a way in a day as you can get! Changes this year include a new Event Host, bag drop and no more running on the highway. More details here.

5Peaks Buntzen Lake Warm-Up. 4 September - Port Coquitlam, BC Canada.  Details here.

Fall Mountain Highway Madness: 12 September - North Vancouver, BC Canada. Check it out here.

 

NEWS

New Member Welcome.  New to the Club? We've heard the word on the street is that CFA is only for the big dogs... you know, the ones that run all day and run all night and eat their young.  Our new New Member Welcome page is intended to dispel a rumor or two and help you find your way around, pick the events that are right for you and to connect with fellow members. 

Ambassador Program.  Also oriented at helping new Club members mingle with the old dogs, we're ramping-up an Ambassador Program.  The idea is to get you outgoing, positive and highly experienced big dogs to "adopt" a new club member.  Make them feel welcome.  Make sure they don't get lost.  Share some of the finer elements of CFA culture with them, like picking up trash and encouraging them to share their experiences and photos with other members in our online clubhouse.  Curious about becoming an Ambassador?  Contact CFA Membership person,  Jackie Montgomery.  You might just make some new friends and earn club points on the way!

Foursquare Game.  When not out there running with you, members of the Club's Steering Committee are constantly looking for ways to make the Club more fun and engaging for you.  We're currently evaluating Foursquare, an online game-thing that uses GPS data from your smartphone.  

Got an iPhone or similar phone with GPS?  Interested in social media stuff?  We'd love to involve you in testing how this might work for CFA events!  Please drop me a line if interested in being a tester.


CFA Steering Committee.  A small group of community minded people are selflessly working behind the scenes to build and manage your Club. We are always looking for help and fresh ideas.  We'd especially like to hear from enthusiastic folks to help as Event Host Chair and with PR and marketing.  Please drop me a line. For a couple of hours a month, you can make a big difference (and we actually have a lot of fun!)

2010 Membership Registration. Registration and Renewal for Club Fat Ass for 2010 is ongoing!   Don't miss out on a whole summer and fall of free events.

TECH TIPS

Image Uploading.  By popular demand here are some pointers on how to get your images into your blog and to the various slideshows on the website.

CFA ON THE WEB

Club Fat Ass PhotosFacebookClub Fat Ass Store


PAST EVENT RESULTS AND REPORTS

Check out the latest event reports here

CONTESTS

Refer A Friend Contest. Up-to-date standings here. Check out how to participate in the Refer a Friend Contest.

2010 Traveling Colours Contest.  Pictures of your 2010 adventures wearing your Club shirt (any colour) can be posted to Flickr following the instructions here. All submissions to date are posted here.


Jess and Pat looking happy at the Fat Dog 100 finishPhoto right:  Ali running through dandelion meadow during the Slack Ass in Edmonton

Photo left: Jess and Pat happy to reach the finish of the Fat Dog 100

Photo right: Craig collecting bagger and shirt points

 

2010 Point Series. Jess has taken the lead with a steady diet of CFA events and wearing her favorite shirt during other races.  There is still time for you to participate, win bragging rights and a pair of new runners!  Read about how to collect points. Up-to-date standings here.

Bagger Challenge.  Peak bagging season is in full swing, trash talk is at new heights and Craig has used his holidays to tie with last year's winner, Ken Legg, and slowly close in on the leaders, Killaine and Ean.  Time for Craig to get back to work!  Have a look at the standings and links to how it all works here.

CAUSES YOUR CLUB SUPPORTS

If you have any causes close to your heart and want to raise awareness and/or funds let us know. A number of CFA Event Hosts use their events as fund raisers. Be sure to consider the special section on the Club website that offers ideas on how to raise money for your favorite cause while hosting a free CFA event.

North Shore Rescue. NSR is a volunteer Mountain Search and Rescue Team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The team consists of approximately 40 volunteers skilled in search and rescue operations in mountain, canyon and urban settings.  A few of our members are also NSR members. We'd like to continue our record of not using their services and rather help with their promotion of back country safety.  NSR depending on your donations... consider a few bucks donated as a life insurance policy for yourself or a loved one!

Run for the Cure.
  The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure is Canada's largest single day, volunteer-led fundraising event dedicated to raising funds for breast cancer research, education, and awareness programs.  If you would like to support one of your fellow members, please click here.

Easter Seals 24 Relay. The Easter Seals 24 Hour Relay is an annual community based fundraising event that challenges groups of people to run or walk Relay-style for 24 hours. Teams of runners and/or walkers made up of Corporate and Recreational groups collect individual pledges or organize team fundraising events to raise funds towards their collective team totals.

CFA member, Glenn Pace, again ran the 24 hour relay (this time he completed 110 Miles) to raise funds for less fortunate children. Here the link to his fundraising page. Read about his 2008 adventure here

BC Lung Association. Event Host, Craig Moore, uses his events to raise awareness and funds for the BC Lung Association.

Mary Leliveld Tri BC Fund. Mary was a friend and member of CFA. The fund was established in her memory to help deserving athletes get to competitions they otherwise might not be able to race in.

PRPAWS (Powell River Parks and Wilderness Society
The boys who ran the Sunshine Coast Trail 180 in 2003 and 2004 vowed to help raise funds for PRPAWS, a society that aims to protect old growth forest in the Powell River area.  You can help, too, by participating in the Marathon Shuffle.


SPONSORS

 

CFA does not sell or otherwise distribute our member list.