Walks: Sat-Wed, Sept. 29 to Oct. 3

Ellen sports her first half marathon medal

There's one race behind us, the KW Walking Classic, and the Shore Things did well. Our male walkers, Bob and Rainer, each placed first in their age categories and second male overall in the Half Marathon and 10K respectively. Everyone's times were excellent. And Ellen got her first half marathon medal with a 3:04:46 chip time. Pretty darned good.

Note that the KW Classic will not be held next September, as they're shifting to a spring race. The next one will be in April 2014 to coincide with Mental Health Week. Mark your calendars.

Okay, schedules: Saturday is a long one for the Detroit Full marathoners: 35K, or thereabouts. I know you'll organize your own start time.

Detroit Half marathoners: 16K. Please state when you want to begin, as three of us DHMers, plus Jan, will be doing the 25K Toad trail race on Saturday instead. And that will be another fall race behind us. Let's all pray for fine weather.

Monday: Detroit Full, 14K; Detroit Half, 10K.

Wednesday, normally hills night, is the first night of the Doc Soup season, so many of us (who should be doing hills) will be away. Sign in if you're in for hills on Wednesday anyway. Or, if you're available, those who have to miss could do hills on Thursday evening. Occasions is the starting point, either way.

Olwyn passes along this "shameless plug" (her words) that gives us a deal on an upcoming show that Steve has worked on. She says, "it’s a new Canadian musical, somewhat dark, comical, macabre, and it’s about murder; what could be more fun than that?!?" Here are the ticket details:

We at Theatre 20 are most thankful for the overwhelming support from our community as we speed forward to our inaugural production of Bloodless: The Trial of Burke and Hare! To show our gratitude we are offering $1 dollar tickets to our Theatre 20 Family & Followers with the purchase of another!  

Valid on all performances from Oct 9 - 13, 2012 on top-price only.  

After you submit the code, buy tickets using the price $1 DEAL - Web. Must be purchased in multiples of 2 (full price + $1 split in half)  

Be the first to witness this morbidly entertaining tale of murder and mayhem based on the true story of two 19th century Irish serial killers and their cut-throat pursuit of riches. Directed by Theatre 20 Artistic Director Adam Brazier with Founding Artist Colm Wilkinson as Creative Consultant, this wickedly eerie story is told in memorable song, macabre humour and compelling lyrics. 

"If you like your humour black, drink this one down" 

-Winnipeg Free Press

  FULL PRODUCTION   

PREVIEWS: Oct. 9-11, 2012 

OPENS: Oct. 12, 2012 

RUNS: Oct. 28, 2012 

To take advantage of this exciting opportunity, use the promotion code TURKEY12 

 FOR TICKETS:

To order call 416-872-1212 or 1-800-461-3333, visit any Mirvish theatre Box Office or book online at:  

www.mirvish.com/shows/bloodless

Okay, that's it for now. I wish myself a very happy birthday. Have fun, everyone!

Walks: Sat-Wed, Sept. 22 to 26

The silver-medal-winning Flaming Dragons, with our own Olwyn

Your Saturday schedule, should you choose to accept it: Detroit Half, 11K; Detroit Full, 19K. A mere walk in the park this week! And the only people doing the Toad are the ones racing in Waterloo this Sunday. (Wish us luck and no rain.) So, our race plans are beginning to come to bold fruition.

For those on a training schedule, I'll leave your start time to you. And for those who just want a friendly walk, how about a distance of your choosing on Saturday, starting at 8 am.

Monday from Loblaws at 7 pm: Detroit Full, 10K; Detroit Half, 8K; Toad, 6K.

Wednesday from Occasions at 7 pm for hills: Detroit Half, 10K; Detroit Full, 8K; Toad, 5K. Note the switch in distances, as the full marathoners rev up to their longest walk. Or walks, if Susan has her way.

Thanks to all the willing volunteers for our November 10th party. I still need to hear from a few of you whether you're coming – and with how many – so that our set-up crew knows how many tables to prepare. If you've never been to our year-end bash before, all Shore Things, old and new, are welcome, as well as partners or pals. I'll send out a general email later with all the details. Just save the date.

Still time to order calendars (approx. $20) and year books (TBD). Please let me know.

In my super-long message last week, I missed saying L'shannah Tovah! to all those celebrating Rosh Hashana. I hope your year is filled with all things joyful.

And a very happy birthday to Niki. Wishing you sunshine on your day, and all year through!

Walks: Sat-Wed, Sep 15 to 19

The cultural component of last Saturday's epic 29.3K

This is an especially long post, so please scan the headers, especially the one about requests:

First, the week's distances:

Here, the September half marathoners and full marathon trainees part company for a while – unless you're Ruth, who's doing all three! For the Detroit Full, the schedule says 29K. As that's what we ended up doing last week, I'll leave the distance and start time to you to decide.

Other scheduled distances for Saturday: Toad, 18K; Detroit Half, 16K; KW, 8K. As Bob and I are doing them all, with two races on the next two weekends, we've decided to compromise with 10K. The long distance walkers might want to start at 7:30; with those going less starting at 8 am. Sign in to state your preference.

Monday: Detroit Full, 13K; Toad, 10K; Detroit Half, 8K; KW, 6K.

Wednesday: Toad, 10K; Detroit Full and Detroit Half, 8K; KW, 5K. We're back to Occasions for hills: Detroit Full, 12 hills. The rest of us, fit in as many hills you can.

Next, some requests:

Photographs! If you have any shots of this year's events, please send them along in the highest possible resolution (aka, largest size). I'm doing the book and calendar now. One special request is for an un-blurry photo of our huge Resolution 5K team, if you have one.

Party & volunteers! Lou-Ann has reserved the room at her church for our party on November 10. We'll need one more volunteer to join Jan and Bob on our Awards Committee. We'll need set-up people and (hopefully not the same) clean-up people for the night. And, also, start dusting off your pot luck recipes. Please email me a) if you're attending, and with how many, and b) if you can help.

Orders! Let me know if you want a calendar this year (approx. $20), and especially if you'd like a yearbook. Knowing who wants a book (usually just a few) helps me organize the pictures.

Finally, good wishes:

We're in the thick of the September birthday season now, so very happy birthdays to Margy, Denise, Debbie and Fiona. We hope it brings each of you exactly what you want.

And hearty congratulations to Olwyn, whose all-women-of-a-certain-age Flaming Dragons took silver in last Saturday's dragon boat regatta, in the teeming rain, against some very tough (younger, mixed gender) competition. Great going, gals!

Walks: Sat-Wed, Sept. 8 to 12

When not acing races, they're training for El Camino

Okay, Detroit Marathoners, this Saturday is when the shoe leather (or synthetic version thereof) really hits the pavement: 27K. The marathon trainees I've spoken to think a 6:30 am start will be quite early enough, thank you. Rain is predicted, but I see only a 40% chance of isolated showers totalling < 1 mm. That might actually help rather than hinder the long slog. Dress for a little rain. However, if the forecast changes and Sunday seems better, sign in to say whether you want to switch.

That's the marathoners out of the way. For the other trainees, Saturday brings: KW 18K; Detroit Half 16K; Toad 13K. Motivated by some grumbling from the masses, let's move this start time to 7:30 am. Please sign in and come out if you're doing a shorter distance. There will likely be company for you.

Monday, 7 pm: Detroit Full 11K; KW and Toad 10K; Detroit Half 8K.

Wednesday, 7 pm: Let's meet outside Occasions on Eastwood Rd. for hill training and a walk (or, a walk and hill training; or, heck, just a walk if you don't have a race in your near future). It's 9 hills this week. Detroit Full 8K; everyone else 10K. Afterwards, beer optional.

This week, we send a very special birthday-cum-get-well wish to Alexis, the first of our many September birthday gals. Let's hope the year ahead brings healing, health and happiness. Happy birthday to you, too, Julaine, wherever you may be.

Dawn also forwards this heads-up about some community engagement sessions on planning for the future of Toronto's natural trails. If you're interested in attending and providing input, bring your two cents to these meetings:

As part of our ongoing community engagement strategy we want to hear from you! We will be hosting the following information and planning sessions:
Don and Highland Creek Watersheds Tuesday-  September 18th at 6:30pm at the Papermill Theatre and Gallery at Todmorden Mills, 67 Pottery Rd (http://www.toronto.ca/culture/museums/todmorden.htm)
Etobicoke and Mimico Creeks and the Humber River Watersheds Wednesday-  September 19th at 6:30pm at the Swansea Town Hall, 95 Lavinia Ave (http://www.swanseatownhall.ca/).
Please contact us to register for either or both of these events.
For more information on the City of Toronto's Natural Environment Trail Strategy please visit our website atwww.toronto.ca/nets or email trails@toronto.ca.
Natural Environment Trails Program
www.toronto.ca/trails