It was great to get back on the track and take photos again.  Work is important – but photography is a great way to relax.  The downside is I took way too many photos!  So that means work again.  Below you will see the first batch from Wednesday night. We are also trying the voting thing, if it works we will keep using it, if not … you get the idea.  More photos will come, but I was feeling guilty not getting them up quicker.  So here they are:

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It was good to be at the track again after what seemed like a long winter.  The new layout is extremely technical and will probably take the racers a few weeks to get the hang of it.  The goal however, is to prepare our racers for the world stage.

Here are the photos:

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Here is the next batch of photos. Oceanside is an amazing community and just sitting on the beach was a truly relaxing experience. I will go back again.

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Below you will see the first batch of the my first surfing photos.  They took awhile to post – why?  Not sure really.  All I know is that I would love to go and practice some more.

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Well, let’s face it …. it’s getting really close to winter and the light at 7:30 is not perfect. Well not to put pressure on the light – I guess it is perfect for this time of the year. lol. Anyway lets just say it makes it a little more challenging to get the photos I want. Good news though – if you are motionless in front of the camera you are a perfect photo. The low light also gives us some very creative motion shots and this can be quite interesting. Well enough of my ramblings and yes posting the day after the event has probably caught most of you by surprise. Here the are:

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Paramotoring adventurers take charity fund raising to new heights with a new Guinness World
Record

Parajet expedition pilots, Mark Jennings-Bates and Glenn Derouin from Canada, set off earlier this year
on a daring adventure to cross Australia’s famed Nullarbor desert in an attempt to set a new paramotor
world record.
Parajet expedition pilots, Mark Jennings-Bates and Glenn Derouin from Canada, set off earlier this year on
a daring adventure to cross Australia’s famed Nullarbor desert in an attempt to set a new paramotor world
record and raise money and awareness for Canadian Charitable Foundation, Rally4Life (http://
www.rally4life.org)
Flying Dudek Nucleon reflex wings, the duo, with an Australian/Canadian support team departed
Woodstock in Northern Queensland in early February on an epic journey through Australia’s rugged
outback, finishing after 8,215 kilometres in Newdegate WA in early April.
Enduring some of the worst weather conditions in Australia’s history, the team were challenged with
immensely strong winds, ravaging floods, intense humidity, swarms of fly’s and vast expanses of
unpopulated territory.
For The Flight4Life (http://theflight4life.com) expedition leader, and philanthropic adventurer, Mark
Jennings-Bates (http://www.markjenningsbates.com) from Kelowna, British Columbia the project was a
bittersweet experience. “After almost 800kms, I had two failed launches resulting in broken propellors on
the motor I was using. Sadly, we had no other spares and while the while team decided to wait for a few
days to see if we could get parts shipped in, the logistics became overwhelming” said Jennings-Bates who
subsequently fell into a support role as he led the team through the harsh terrain in Australia’s outback.
Derouin, a very experienced Canadian pilot, was left to fly solo for the rest of the trip and battled with
challenging weather, for the duration.
“It was a remarkable effort by Glenn. Turbulence and paramotors are not a good mix, even though we had
a very stable wing from Dudek, it was important to get everyone to the end of the trip safely for it to be a
success. Glenn flew in some very frightening conditions and the magnitude of the effort took it’s toll, not
only on Glenn, but the rest of the team. At one time, the team felt overwhelmed with challenges and
considered abandoning the attempt, but were encouraged to continue by friends, supporters and the thought
of desperate children around the world waiting for water wells to be drilled with our support” added
Jennings-Bates.
Budd Stanley, another Kelowna resident and Craig Greenwell from Australia, provided ground support for
the team, patiently driving more than 12,000 kilometres in their decrepit trustworthy Nissan Patrol, aptly
named Sasquatch.
As World Record holder Derouin continues to run his Paragliding business in Coldstream, BC,
Jennings-Bates is preparing for his next adventures, including a 100km ultramarathon run in Guatemala and
a climb and paraglider flight from the “Roof of Africa”, Mount Kilimanjaro in the new year.

Monday Night Video 1:

JOSH ABRAHAMS – TAKE 2C from STRATEGIC – Digital Media on Vimeo.

First GOPRO Video – Live and Unedited.

JOSH ABRAHAMS AT THE KELOWNA BMX TRACK from STRATEGIC – Digital Media on Vimeo.

Quebec’s Amelie Kretz and Manitoba’s Tyler Mislawchuk crowned Junior Canadian Triathlon Gold Medal Winners

KELOWNA, B.C.—

Two young Canadians captured new national titles in this weekend’s triathlon, as Amelie Kretz a favorite to win and Tyler Mislawchuk ranked 2nd coming into this weekend’s race, won the junior women’s and men’s races at the Canadian Championships in Kelowna, B.C. on Saturday.

Blainville, Quebec resident, Amelie Kretz, is one of the rising young stars in the sport having snagged gold recently in Edmonton, AB and Huatulco Mexico added another national title with Saturday’s win, clocking in a winning time of 61 minutes, 22 seconds over the 750-metre swim, 20-kilometre bike and five-kilometre run.

“The bike course was really technical and I had to work hard to catch up,” said Kretz, who finished 6th last year. “The race was really excellent with lots of energy from all the people. I am so happy to win.

Once foot hit pavement, Kretz held off two of the most talented junior triathletes in the country to win the gold. Gabriel Edwards of Saskatewan, who claimed the silver medal with a time of 1:02:37 and Karol-Ann Roy of Quebec, rounding out the women’s podium in third place with a time of 1:03:53.

All three girls will form a dynamic women’s squad that will represent Canada at next years Junior Triathlon World Championships.

The triathlon future also looks bright for Canada in men’s racing as a group of young Canucks put on a stellar show in Kelowna while vying for the title win. When the dust finally settled, it was Tyler Mislawchuk, of Manitoba coming out on top. Mislawchuk ran past the finish line with a gold-medal winning time of 56:11.

“It was a very good race and my team helped me a lot,” said Lefebvre at the finish line. “Working with my coach, our strategy was to stay together as a group on the bike, and to move strongly into the run with some spare time. My team worked really hard and it’s because of them that I won today. ”

Mislawchuk was joined on the podium by two Quebec natives Alexis Lepage, who ran to the silver medal with a time of 56:20 and Xavier Grenier-Talavera who skillfully completed his race in a time of 56:33. Unfortunately, a favorite to win, Tristan Woodfine, had a flat tire in his final leg of the bike portion and didnt complete his race. An emotional upset for the young athlete, Tristen and his mother held eachother and wept at the disappointed ending to this weekends events. While his teammate and friend also came over to console him with an embrace.

The Canadian Championships continue on Sunday with the elite races in Kelowna, as well as the age group sprint and Olympic distances and the always entertaining corporate relay race.

Triathlon Canada is the governing body for triathlon in the country. Recognized as an Olympic medal sport since

2000, Triathlon Canada’s mandate is to promote, foster, organize and develop the sport of triathlon, and its related disciplines, in Canada. For more information on Triathlon Canada, please visit us at www.triathloncanada.com on the Internet.

For more information on the Canadian Championships, please visit www.raceheadquarters.com/results/rhqResultsMulti.php?nYear=2011#aug.

For complete results at the ITU Sprint World Championships, please visit www.triathlon.org.

Thanks for your support in helping to promote the sport of Triathlon and Open Water Swimming in Canada!

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Special thanks to Darryl Malcaba for submitting these photos from Saturday’s racing!

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