Five Cruisers met at the Centre Monday, two to run, one to walk, two to hike over to Tim Horton’s for research purposes.  Debra and Laura ran to the IGA corner and returned, distance 9.8 km, time 1:06.  Edie with her two dogs Bella and April walked the Stoney Creek trail to North Road and returned.  Rod and Bobtoc hiked, well, walked, to Timmie’s near the Bay to test the coffee, hot chocolate and various baked goods.  Nobody was appointed to keep minutes, therefore no report of the meeting subject has been prepared.  The runners and walkers experienced a cool but dry eveningm but their quest for summer went unanswered.


Rachel, Laura and Libby ran down to Joe’s Trail and back, distance 7.5 km, time approximately 1 hour 15 minutes.  Rod and Larry psyched up for the Scotiabank Half Marathon by walking to Tim Horton’s at Lougheed Mall and having a snack, sticking to the traditional Cruiser pre-race protocol, and coincidentally resting their sore backs.  

Alex, Laura, Eoin and Rene met Saturday am at the Centre, the first three to run to Joe’s Trail and return, and Eoin to walk a route closer to the Centre.  The four enjoyed a cool, overcast but dry morning.  Larry, Rod and Bobtoc waved the four good bye and trekked to the North Road Tim Horton’s to fine-tune arrangements for the Sunday early, very early, morning, with Edie, journey downtown.

 
On Sunday Edie, Larry, Rod and Bobtoc met at the Centre at 5:15 am to motor to Stanley Park, cabbed out to the UBC Thunderbird Arena for the 7:30 am start of the Scotiabank Half Marathon.  The four, along with 3,834 other finishers, enoyed ideal weather conditions for the run; no precip, a mixture of blue sky and white clouds, a cool temperature, plus a great course with some minor changes at the first part and unchanged after the Marine Drive portion.  The preparations for the runs were excellent; ample water stations, cheerful and plentiful volunteers, port-a-potties along the route, gorgeous scenery enroute, well-organized start and finish lines, food at Ceperley Park.    Kudos big time to the Scotiabank organizers and to Edie for her organizing of transportation arrangements for the Cruisers.                                                                  
 
Edie, Larry and Bobtoc joined Bobtoc’s bride for brunch-lunch at the Eagle Creek Golf Course thereafter.  Bobtoc’s granddaughter and Larry’s niece, i.e. Taylor, along with a friend Shawna Pinay, ran the 5 k, a three generation appearance at the Scotiabank runs. 
 
Stats:                                                                                                   Gun time                                            Chip time
 
Half:
                                                                                                       
Larry                                                                                                      2:04:10                                               2:01:01
Rod                                                                                                        2:27:02                                               2:23:55
Edie                                                                                                       2:48:58                                                2:45:50
Bobtoc                                                                                                   3:07:12                                                3:04:05        Third place, of four, M75 to 79 age group.
 
Rod improved his chip time compared to 2011 by  3:58  minutes. 
Bobtoc;s chip time increased compared to 2011 by 8:11 minutes.  Oh well.
 
5K:
 
Shawna Pinay                                                                                          45:12                                                  43:31
Taylor Kuhn                                                                                              45:13                                                  43:32