Walks: Sat. Jan. 7 to Wed. Jan. 11

A happy bunch on our last walk of 2016

Happy New Year, everyone! Join us for our first walk of 2017 this Saturday, 8 am at Tim's. Libby has posted both a training schedule for the two long races so far on our Interests List, and training doesn't really kick in till February. Let's try to do 6, 8, or 10K – whatever makes sense to you.

We're back to post-holiday schedules, which means evening walks on Monday (Loblaws) and Wednesday (Occasions). No one has yet complained about our 6:30 pm start, so let's keep it up. Maintenance walks of 6K or so would be great, always dependent on weather.

Note that some of our Wednesday-night regulars will be away at Doc Soup this week.

As Libby is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, please send your race interests to Helen. Jan has also created a tracker spreadsheet for the Wow 150-in-150 Challenge (150km/month = 1800/year). Email Helen if you're doing this or any other challenge and if you want a copy of Jan's tracker.

A race report from Rainer – and a picture at the end of the post:

January 1 was a perfect day for the Hair of the Dog race. We had 4 Shore Things as well as 3 WOW walkers in the 9km PowerWalk. It was sunny and as the boardwalk was dry we had good traction. The Shore Things did very well in a competitive field. The finishers were: Female: 1st Diane, 2nd Ruth, 3rd Lee, 4th Norma, and for the Male: 1st Greg, 2nd Rainer, 3rd David. The chilli and salad was especially tasty. 

And a personal invitation for a very walker-friendly June race that some of us did last year:

Hello Walkers,
This is Ben Kong.  A sincere Happy New Year to all of you!
I wanted to personally invite you to register for the 2017 Brandon Hill Alumni 5km and 10km Run/Walk for Education, Saturday, June 17, 2017 at Ajax Rotary Park.   

Earlybird registration prices end on Jan. 31, so register now to avoid the fee increase!
Visit the link below to register:
https://raceroster.com/events/2017/11102/brandon-hill-alumni-5km-10km-run-walk-for-education

Big Announcement for the 10km Power Walking Race:
This year, the 10km Power Walking Race will have its own start time at 9am, while all other events start at 9:30am. That's right - 10km Power Walkers will be the first race to start and have the entire start line to themselves!  
This means that:

• All eyes will be on the walkers at 9am. 
• No runners to line up behind at the start. 
• The "no-running" rule will be enforced again this year. 
• Walkers will finish the race a half hour earlier than in 2016, avoiding hotter temperatures and getting ahead in line for post-race food (which will apparently include Jerk Chicken!)  

My goal for this race is simple. Hold a competitive race for walkers of all abilities, where walking is equally part of the main event. The organizing team of the Brandon Hill Alumni has put everything in place to ensure this will happen in 2017.  

All we need now is for the walking community to show up in big numbers to support this event. If you like what you are reading, please register and join us on June 17, 2017! Please also spread the word to anyone you know in the walking community. Thank you!

For all those traveling or away for other reasons, have fun, be safe, hope to see you soon!

And our Shore Things join Wow walkers at the first race of 2017