Last Tune-Up

The Team went on the road last weekend to Canada for a final tune-up before Nationals.  We went to the Sun Parlour Curling Club in Lemington, Ont., by Windsor.  They had a 4-sheet club.  The ice was fast but had a lot of runs and falls.  It was tough predicting the ice.  We played two games on Saturday and recorded wins.  We played in the final event on Sunday.  We had a close game and were tied going into the 8th end.  We didn't have hammer and had a chance for a steal but the other team's skip made a nice last shot for the win.

We got to watch a lot of curling on TV since the Olympics were in full swing.  Of course, the Canadians focused on the Canadian teams so really fun to watch.  Those Canadian Olympic teams were fantastic!

Magic in New York

Me, Leslie, Laurel and Courtney with 1st Place trophy!

This past weekend, my Mayfield team headed to the USWCA National Bon Spiel in Schenecktady, NY.  The theme of the Bon Spiel was "The Magic of Curling," and that theme proved to be a winner for us.  We played teams from the following clubs: Nutmeg (Connecticut), Nashua (New Hampshire), Granite (Seattle), Madison and Arizona.  We were able to win all of our games and emerged the winner of the entire Bon Spiel.  The ice was a bit challenging as there were crazy curls and major falls on two of the sheets but we were able to figure it out and stay on our game.

A second Mayfield team was able to win the B event so our Club was able to take home two huge trophies.  A very fun weekend!

Kudos to USATF

We just received official word that the USATF will be providing funding for the US 24-Hour Team.  Here is the press release:

In a landmark decision that shows support for the sport of U.S. Ultrarunning, USA Track & Field will provide funding for the 2010 Team USA Ultra teams competing at the 100 km and 24-Hour World Championship events.

Previously the two annual national ultra teams were self-funded, relying on temporary sponsorships and donations, and team members' personal funds. The recent decision by USATF will underwrite a significant portion of the two teams' travel expenses, and will provide opportunities for grants from the championship host events and other organizations to cover the remaining costs.

"It's an historic decision and a welcome statement of support for our world-class American athletes from USA Track & Field," said American Ultrarunning Association President Roy Pirrung, the 24-Hour Run national team manager, who is also a former national champion, national record holder, and 7-time national team member in the 24 Hour event. "We're grateful to USATF and its new leadership for taking this huge step to enable our best ultra athletes to represent their country on the world stage."

As Roy Pirrung said, this is wonderful news for the ultra community.  USATF has really stepped up to help ultra athletes, not just shorter distance Olympic athletes.  Hopefully, USAFT's commitment will continue into the future and the ultra-running community will continue to improve and gain more runners and supporters.

Ninth End Defeat

Else, Bob, me and Roger

We spent the past weekend at the Cleveland Skating Club curling in their mixed bon spiel. Our team returned with the same line-up as last year: Roger at lead, me playing second, Bob at vice and Else as skip. Last year we lost our first game, dropped to the 2nd event and then won the remainder of our games. This year, we would reverse that order. We won our first 4 games. For the last game, which was the championship game or First Event, we ended up tying after 8 ends. This was somewhat of a miracle as we had not been playing very well at all. We were down 3 with the hammer in the 8th end and got 3 points for the tie. In the 9th end, without the hammer, we were trying to force the opposing skip to draw. Else's final rock was a bit heavy and it ended up just floating by the other team's shot rock so that was the end of the game. An exciting game in any event. Our wins were against Roseland (Windsor), Skating Club (Cleveland) and two Annandale (Ontario) teams. Our only loss was to Ridgetown (Ontario).