Check ou this feature in Get Out There: http://www.getouttheremag.com/GOTnews.php?media_id=693
Club Fat Ass kicks off New Year with 50K Ultra
VANCOUVER, BC (29 December 2009) – At 9:00 a.m. on Friday 1 January 2010, approximately 100 fitness enthusiasts will kick off the New Year with a 50-kilometre “Resolution Run” around Vancouver starting in Stanley Park. One participant will make this his 100th ultramarathon. Another plans to complete the course twice for a total run of 100-kilometers.
Tim Wiens of Vancouver loves to run. A financial planner by profession, Wiens has continually challenged himself with running longer and more difficult running challenges. To kick off 2010, he’s decided to run 100K. Why on earth attempt to run a 50K run twice when there’s no money on the line and very little glory apart from bragging rights? Wiens explains: “I've completed this event the "normal" way several times, but I like variety. Nobody has run this course twice. It's in my nature to push things too far and given all of the fast guys running the 50K this year, I needed a distance I could win at. I'm attempting a 100 mile race five weeks later so this will ensure that I get a long training run in.”
Ean “Rain, No Train” Jackson also loves to run. If things go his way, he will celebrate completing his 100th ultramarathon (run that is longer than a standard 42.2K marathon) with a polar bear swim sometime around 2:00 pm on New Year ’s Day. “I’ve been impatiently waiting to join the handful of Canadians to have completed a 100th “ultra” for several years. It looks like I’ve managed to get through a bad patch of injuries. I’m looking forward to starting 2010 by knocking-off this lifetime goal... and getting started on the next 100.”
Roughly 100 other fitness enthusiasts will join Wiens and Jackson to challenge the distance and the elements in the 17th running of this classic Vancouver New Years day event. Most will run 50K and most will finish with an ocean swim.
The course includes some of Vancouver's most popular running venues. Beginning at Brockton Oval in Stanley Park, it continues along the seawall to the Burrard Street Bridge. Once on Vancouver’s west side, it goes along the shoreline to Spanish Banks before cutting through Pacific Spirit Park to Southwest Marine Drive. On the way back to Stanley Park, runners pass the Polar Bear Swim crowds at First Beach. Late risers, those with bad headaches, and "skinny ass" runners with less of an appetite for distance are invited to join in. A plunge in Burrard Inlet and a post-event party are also on the agenda for those attempting the “triathlon” version of the event.
Runners of all ages and abilities are invited to kick off 2010 on the right foot with this unique resolution fun run. A free beer awaits all registered guests who attend the post-event party. Representatives of the media are more than welcome and encouraged to bring their running gear!
8:30 – 9:00 – Assemble and start - Brokcton Oval in Stanley Park
13:10-13:30 – first 50K finisher - Brockton Oval in Stanley Park
16:00-18:00 – finisher celebration at Mosquito Creek Grill, Westview Mall, North Vancouver
