London!?!

So, we're here... London, UK that is. After checking in online, getting boarding passes all the way through and getting up at 3am to get to the airport way early - we got stopped dead in our tracks. The aircraft had some problems, they had to change a part so we got delayed. Big time delayed. Delayed enough to not being nowhere near the planned arrival time in London. So when we finally got on the plane and they took us to London, it was way to late to even think about getting the connection to Bahrein. Nice thing was that the pilot actually mentioned our group in his initial speech at take off. Very cool! We were like, oh, that's us he's talking about... How cool. But we missed the opportunity to go around and collect donations from fellow passengers. Once arrived in London, we all got tucked in into some hotel somewhat close to the airport. And we will be seperated. 4 of us will fly out in the morning to Kathar (or so) with a stopover there for 6 hours and then on to Kathmandu. Arriving there in the morning on Thursday. The rest of us will get to go sightseeing in London and then leave for Delhi in the late afternoon. 6hrs stopover in Delhi and then on to Kathmandu, to arrive sometime mid-afternoon. A few
Nothing a few drinks at the bar can't fix. The adventure has begun...

Posted from my BlackBerry ... Mads

getting nervous?

I am getting nervous for sure. Excited. And nervous. And excited.

The show on Sunday was quite the success. Caesar Martinis was busy for a Sunday night. Our very own celebritiy Dave and his buddy put on a great show and we are all hoping that we'll find a lonely guitar somewhere along the trek in Nepal, so Dave can sing for us.

We will have a last 'getting ready' meeting on this coming Friday night at Ethel's, one of my favourite joints in the uptown - well, no wonder, I live 2 minutes walking distance away... and they don't have a million TVs.

I'm printing off the bibs as we speak, safety pins will arrive tomorrow, last things are being shopped, lists are written and re-written.

Getting nervous.
Mads

we're in the news!

Hey everybody,

the start date for our trip is getting closer and closer, we're getting more and more excited and realize that - all of a sudden - there isnt' much time left to get organized. Eeeek.

Judy arrived in Kathmandy on Sunday with her group of students. They are having a great time after getting there was a bit of drama with tight connections, seats not being confirmed, parts of the group on stand-by. The group is off to the mountains now, the weather has been dry, no snow. Looks like things are going smoothly.

The 8x12 foot banners and posters for the race are being printed. Thanks to Tshering, Race preparations in Kathmandu are in full swing. It's all very exciting.

And we made it in the local paper! check it out here: http://news.therecord.com/Life/article/505815

That's it for now.
Mads

upcoming show

As mentioned in the article in The Record, there will be a show on this Sunday night at Ceasar's Martini:

See you all there!

Simultaneous...Run ON the Hills EH!

Okay, it started off with an innocent conversation during the last guilt-free, post-run breakfast. Cheryl says: "I wish I could run with you guys!" Then, it happened...her eyes lit and up and before you could take that next bagel bite she had it all organized! Here it is:

Run ON the Hills EH? will be a simultaneous support run by our crazy, yet committed (should be committed) running pals! Yup, a 15km run on Saturday April 18th starting at 1:15am to correspond with our run and the 10-hour and 15 minute time difference. Bring your head lamps, reflective vests, cameras, water and contact Cheryl if you'd like to join in at brent_cheryl643@yahoo.ca

Now that is amazing! You go guys.... let us know who's running with you!

News Flash! Nepal's Olympian will Run with us!

Unbelievable news arrived early this morning from Kathmandu. Tshering and his coach have been working hard at their end to ensure that our Run for the Hills will be an event for all to remember. When Tshering, who trains with the Nepali running team, promised to bring his elite "buddies" to the race we had no idea that he was this serious!

Now confirmed as a runner in our race is Baikuntha Manandhar - known as Nepal's own "Olympic Flame"! He has participated in 4 Olympic games and performed amazing results in each one. In 1976 in Montreal Baikuntha finished in an amazing 2:30:07, then in 1980 in Moscow an even more amazing 2:23:51, he continued to amaze in both 1984 in Los Angeles finishing in 2:22:51 and finally in 1988 in Seoul he finished in 2:25:57. Here we are in 2009 and he's still running! Now we're getting nervous...perhaps we should ramp up our training???

Tshering's coach has also agreed to take us on a "fun" run when we are there. I fear to think what that really means!

Gearing Up for the Race!

It's official now...the Run for the Hills has begun! With 213 runners now sponsored we are well on our way to reaching our goal of funding 300 runners! Thanks to the 33 schools of the St. Clair Catholic District School Board who has each taken on a runner to sponsor... as well to the many other individual classes and friends who have helped to put another runner in the race! We hope you take the time to become a follower of this blog and to make a comment to tell us why you'd like to help run for the hills.

Registration is now open on-line (if you happen to find yourself in Kathmandu on April 18th, with some time on your hands) and can be found at http://www.magicsuitcase.ca/.

With help from Cory Gillman, a Canadian runner himself, the poster seen here can be found throughout the streets of Kathmandu already. Cory, who is a teacher on leave from the Peel District School Board in Ontario, is presently teaching at the Samata School in Patan, just outside of Kathmandu. He took the time to walk the 15km course yesterday and his description is as f0llows:

Beginning in the quiet town of Nagarkot at 2175m, the hillside trail descends gradually through pine forests with perfect views of tree-covered hills and towns below. The gently winding route provides cooling breezes and patches of shade on a lightly travelled paved road. At the halfway mark, the route climbs steeply but shortly through thick pines after switching to a wide dirt track. At the top of the climb, the trail levels out on a ridgetop before gently descending again, passing serene villages and green fields of wheat and rice. With the only sound being your shoes hitting the track, the route continues down all the way to the finish line, ending at the beautiful village and temple of Changu Narayan.

Seeing as the race starts in Nargarkot we'll begin our day with a 2-hour bus ride to get to the start. Even though the distance from Kathmandu to Nargarkot is only 32 kilometers the condition of the roads makes travel slow. No doubt the bus ride will be entertaining...2 vehicles filled to the brim (and some riding on the roof) with excited, anxious (and many first-time) runners.

All this talk of climbing, running and bussing has got me a little worried about my training....so gotta run now...more to come later!

Meet Tshiring Lama

Thanks to the generosity of Geoff Todd and Barb Muise, from Runner's Choice in Waterloo, Ontario in 2001, Tshiring was on his way to becoming a world class marathoner! With only a rough sketch outline of Tshiring's feet Barb "fitted" him with 3 different pairs of shoes (to combat the challenging terrain of training in the Himalayas), socks, nutrition bars, recovery drink powder and a classic Runner's Choice singlet to wear around Kathmandu! We wereabsolutely smitten by this lovely young man whom we met as a boy in Nepal in 1999. We've followed him closely and have remained good friends. Here is a brief version of Tshiring's story:

We met Tshiring in his younger days when he attended Yangrima School, in a small mountain village located in the Helambu region of Nepal. He was only in class 8 but because of where he lived Tshiring was already on his way to being an athlete! Tshiring lived in Norku, a village located down near the river but he attended school in the village of Sermathang, a mere 1 500m higher. Each morning Tshiring would leave for school late, after having completed his chores of hauling water and feeding the animals on his parent's meagre farm. To keep his place in school however, Tshiring had to be on time so he took to running the entire way. It wasn't long before the school recognized his potential and entered him in the local inter-school running competition. To everyone's surprise Tshiring easily won the 5 km and shorter distance races! Tshiring graduated from class 10 in 2000 and passed his SLC (school leaving certificate) exams.

With the encouragement from his teachers Tshiring set out for Kathmandu, a 2-day walk away, to meet with a coach of the Nepalese Police running team. He was put to the test and endured trials and timed runs that would qualify him the privilege of training with this group. Tshiring was thrilled to be able to put his talents to work and vowed to work extremely hard. What Tshiring didn't plan on was what life in the big city would really be like. Kathmandu is expensive, especially for a village farm boy. He lived with his auntie in Kathmandu, but it wasn't long before the pressure to contribute to the household income mounted. Meanwhile, Tshiring ran everyday and worked on a variety of new techniques introduced to him by his new coach (who himself was being trained as a coach by the German Athletic Association).

While visiting Nepal with our group of Canadian students in 2001, Tshiring played host to us as our guide. This gave him the chance to revisit his village family and the school that he loved so much. We trekked in the mountainous region for 7 days, stopping along the way to help with the construction of another village school, before reaching Sermathang. We crossed a pass at 3,640m, headed back down 1,000m to the river and back up 1,000m on the other side before calling a day. After guiding us through that gruelling walk Tshiring donned his running shoes and brightly chirped "Just going for a short run miss, I'll be back by dinnertime!" We watched him disappear over a crest of the mountain, wearing his red canvass runners, before falling into a restful slumber.

He had to leave our tour early for when we reached Sermathang, the only village in the region with a telephone, a message was waiting that he had qualified for an Inter Campus Championship race in Kathmandu the next day. He said his goodbyes and left us at 4:00 am to make it for the first bus leaving the road head village at 9:00. He went on to place first in this race, still in his red canvass runners! Upon our return to Kathmandu we, including another teacher from our group, took Tshiring to buy his first pair of "training" shoes! He hasn't looked back since!

The last 10 years has given Tshiring a lot to be proud of. He represented Nepal in the World University Games in Korea and also participated in the Singapore International Marathon as a hopeful for Nepal. In 2004, Tshiring placed 3rd in the Pokhara International Marathon with a time of 2:25:43 and in 2005 Tshiring placed first in the gruelling Everest Base Camp Marathon!

When Tshiring heard that we were returning, this time with a group of runners, he jumped at the opportunity to give back to his community. Tshiring's dream is to raise enough money to start sports programs for the children of the Helambu region and to possibily give other children the chance he had. The money raised for our run will go to buy shoes, sports equipment and potentially provide a "coach", hopefully Thiring himself, the means to deliver programs to schools.

Where are we going???

Namaste...is the greeting we use in Kathmandu upon meeting anyone - from strangers on the streets to family members. One places their hands, with the palms together, in front of the chest and bows their head slightly while saying "namaste" which literally means, "I bow to the divinity in you". As formal as this custom sounds it is widely used and can be heard echoing in the streets of Kathmandu as well as the hills of the Himalayas.

We'd like to welcome a number of schools who are supporting our run to our blog! We hope that you'll post some messages and ask us some questions.

Here is some background information on where we are going for those who may be interested. Nepal is a small country by comparison to its neighbours India and China. The country's population is nearing 30 million and although bulk of the population lives in the bigger cities of Kathmandu (the capital) and Pokhara, it seems as though every square cm is made into a habitable space. The Nepali people are very kind and resourceful. Ironically, the people of this very poor country have many lessons to teach us about happiness.

Having the Himalayan mountains within the country makes it a small but tall place! If you could "iron" out the mountains, Nepal would be quite huge! The Himalayas, which is home to Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, are young (for mountains) which is why they are so jagged and pointy. The older the mountain range, the more rounded the rocks. (Okay, that's it for my geography lesson.)

The flight to get to Nepal takes a long time. We'll fly from Toronto to London, England. Then, London to Baharain (which is a country in itself) and then finally from Baharain to Kathmandu!

I leave on March 14th, while the other runners continue to train and to fundraise. I'll be travelling to Nepal with Rob (my husband) and 16 students from St. John's Kilmarnock School in Breslau, Ontario. The students are in grades 11 and 12 and we are pumped to go!

Stay tuned to meet some of our Nepali friends and to be introduced to Tshering Lama, runner extraordinaire!