Do you know why runners are so darn happy? It’s because they set goals and whittle away at achieving their goals. Many have their next goal in mind even before achieving the original goal. The secret to happiness is a terribly simple formula; just ask a runner.

Set goal + achieve goal = happiness (repeat infinity).

I’m half-way to achieving my See Mike Hike CanU 204 Challenge goal to hike 204 miles in Winnipeg. I hike to a new location almost every day. My average distance per outing is 5 miles. My average pace is between 14 and 15 m/m which is pretty good considering my running pace typically hovered around 9 and 10 m/m.

Occasionally we must adapt our goals to meet changing conditions. For instance, my original goal was to hike Garbage Hill’s Thump Trail 204 times but, after a nasty dog bite on my 85th loop, I was scared off my beloved Garbage Hill, perhaps forever. So, what to do?

We adapt.

We pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off. We lick our wounds. We have a Haagen Daz ice-cream bar (true fact) and lay low for a few days. We then continue forward movement. We continue our pursuit of the holiest of Holy Grails, happiness. Thus the formula may change, but the outcome is equally true, perhaps even sweeter.

Set goal + 1st attempt to achieve goal (- set-back) + adapt + 2nd attempt to achieve goal = happiness (repeat infinity)

All money raised through this challenge will help eliminate the cycle of childhood poverty, an audacious goal indeed! I encourage you to make a small donation to this cause. You will feel good about yourself, money back guarantee!

Please visit See Mike Hike or send me an e-transfer. Either way you will receive a tax receipt.

It’s a good day to be alive.

Mike

After much deliberation we announce the cancellation of Ted’s Run for Literacy 2020.

This was to be our much anticipated 10th event so it is particularly vexing to our race committee. As difficult as this decision is, we feel it is in the best interest of public safety, and indeed a wise decision in uncertain times.

Even if we were green lighted by the province to proceed, we feel the risk to our volunteers and participants exceeds any possible advantage of moving forward.

We remain committed to providing a ‘gold standard’ event; unfortunately, this is simply not possible in 2020.

BUT, that doesn’t mean we’ll stop moving our mission forward. Stay tuned for some exciting news in the coming weeks.

Ted’s Run for Literacy is no different than all other running events; planning is suspended until officials tell us otherwise.

Are we hoping for the biggest, grandest 10th annual celebration on September 27?

A resounding YES!

Are we preparing for cancelation, the worst case scenario?

Sadly, yes.

We remain cautiously optimistic, however we sit tight with fingers crossed. We have no option but wait and see where this terrible pandemic leads us.

We send support and love to the many race directors and crews who have cancelled their events due to Coronavirus.  Months of anticipation and planning have fallen wayside through no fault. Know that we understand your situation and we will be back supporting you in spades next year.

To our running family -and we are family- we encourage you to be safe, practice social distancing, and run. Run lone wolf and discover trails, discover yourself, discover nature, discover time, discover solitude, discover prayer.

Reach out to those shuttered. Reach out to children in need. Reach out to the elderly. Reach out to those you love.

And for heavens sake, don’t hoard!

It is a good day to be alive.

Mike

Race Director, Ted’s Run for Literacy

If all else fails… view this.

That got your attention.

Ted’s Run for Literacy would love to offer free registrations but alas, we cannot.  We remain committed to our mission of eliminating the cycle of childhood poverty and our goal of hosting a Class A+ running experience for all levels of competitiveness. This costs money.

Free doesn’t purchase running shoes, tee-shirts, shorts, and hygiene kits for under resourced children attending CanU. Free doesn’t buy a laptop computer and state of the art, early literacy programming opportunities for the grassroots inner-city Learn and Play program.  Free doesn’t teach intergenerational traumatized adults how to interact with their children in ways that build hope and promote resilience.

TRL offers competitive registration fees. The average adult early bird registrations fee for 10 km events in Winnipeg is $43.25. We charge $40. The average for 5km events is $29.57 while we charge $30. We offer MRA membership discounts, teacher packages, senior and youth discounts, extremely generous school discounts, and when asked, we happily gift free registrations for community raffles.

It’s impossibly difficult to compete against free registrations, but that’s exactly what we’re facing.  lululemon athletica  recently announced -out of the blue- they are hosting a 5km running event on September 29, the same day as TRL.  They offer free registrations, free breakfasts, free medals, and other free perks.  They will cap their event at about 540 registrants. This event is not sanctioned by MRA nor was it on anyone’s radar until mid-July.

Yup, it’s hard to compete with free.

In fairness, lululemon has come clean. They have apologized to the TRL Board claiming their inexperience in hosting running event is the reason for the conflict. lululemon has promised not to hold their event on the same day as TRL in 2020 and they will consult with MRA for future events. We respect lululemon for owning their blunder and their commit to positive action.

We at Ted’s Run for Literacy hope we have won your respect in our nine years of providing a Gold Standard running event for all abilities. We hope you will continue to support the little race that could in our mission to make the world a better place for children living in poverty.

It’s been said ‘the big print giveth and the small print taketh away’. Free is a mighty big word. I encourage you to be sceptical of the big print and wary of the small print. Sometimes the small print is so small it’s not even visible to the human eye.

You’ll find the true cost of free buried tightly within the small print.

(and don’t forget…we have cake, free cake)

It’s a good day to be alive.

Mike

Thousands and thousands of you – umm well, actually two of you, but we expect more – have asked if Ted’s Run for Literacy offers a discount for MRA Members.  The answer is, of course we do!

If you are a current MRA member in good standing (that means you have to stand good, straight and tall, no slouching please) you are entitled to a $5.00 discount for either the 5 km or 10 km event. The discount does not apply to our 2 km event because it’s run it at a loss or near loss already and we really do need to make a profit, however tiny, to keep our mission alive.

To redeem your $5.00 MRA discount while registering online simply type the highly top-secret code when prompted. The highly top-secret code is ‘MRA’ (duh). Through the magic of the inner-net the discount will be applied at check out.

If you’re a luddite you can redeem the discount the old fashioned way; with ink, quill and paper. Simply print (cursive preferred) the highly top-secret code (see above if you have memory retention issues) and, using your abacus, subtract $5.00 from the registration fee.

Ezy pzy, right?

There is absolutely NO discount of any kind if you register on race day!  In fact you will pay a significant premium on race day and we will require your first born as collateral. Race day is crazy enough so please be reasonable in your expectations.  Why not skip the stress of late registration and save a few dollars by registering now… go… I still see you… what are you waiting for?

We will do our due diligence by crossing referencing the names of people requesting the discount with the current MRA membership list. Remember, just because you took out an MRA registration 5 years ago doesn’t mean you are still a member. If in doubt, call the good folks at MRA.

This is just one more reason to register -NOW- for the little race that could aka the sleep in race.

As per usual, we expect our 5 km to sell out, so don’t dilly dally, register now.

It’s a good day to be alive.

Michael

"It's just one straw" said eight billion people.

Sayan Basak, Times of India

Ted’s Run for Literacy is committed to reducing our carbon footprint. We’ve always aspired to be Green, but this year we’re stepping up our game considerably! We like to think we are leaders in the running community.

Going Green is complicated business and costly. It means rethinking our event from top to bottom and making tough decisions.  It means risking inconveniencing our dear patrons.  It means extra work for our small volunteer base. It means reducing our carbon footprint as much as possible within our limited means.

Most of all it means getting the word out…

GO YELL IT FROM THE MOUNTAINS!

TED’S RUN FOR LITERACY IS GREEN!

In no particular order, Ted’s Run for Literacy is committed to the following actions:

• We will significantly reduce all single use plastic including straws and plastic water bottles from our 2019 event.
• We will purchase compostable cups for our water stations. The cups are gathered at the end of the event for professional composting.
• Our cake will be served on paper napkins (i.e. not paper plates).
• We will not provide plastic cutlery (cake tastes best when eaten with fingers, duh).
• We will significantly reduce our paper brochures and other paper media.
• The cups provided by Tim Hortons, MacDonalds, and Starbucks are not recyclable. For this reason we encourage patrons to bring their own cup for hot beverages.
• We encourage patrons to bring their own refillable water bottle.
• Our medals are handmade by a local artist, Natalie Ferguson, thus reducing our carbon footprint and supporting a local artist.
• We will continue to separate waste generated at our event into three categories: landfill, compost, and recyclable.
• We will collect unwanted used bibs and give them to MRA who will collect them for the Youth Series events.

We welcome your feedback.  Please let us know what you think of these initiatives. Will you be inconvenienced? Are we expecting too much by asking patrons to bring their own water bottle and cup?  Perhaps you have some ideas that we haven’t thought of, if so share them in the comment section below.

As always, it’s a good day to be alive.

Mike

Just wow!

The Manitoba Marathon is clearly the premier running event this side of Minneapolis.  Although I did not have the opportunity to run this year, I have run six and they just keep getting better.  I stood curb side in Wolseley at mile 11.5 and called out names as I could read them from the bibs.

And the names I couldn’t read were replaced with an endless chatter…

“Way to go Rocket Man”

“You’re rocking the course”

“You’ve got this”

“Smile if you peed a bit”

… and on and on.

But never once did I say the curse of all runners, the dreaded…

“You’re almost there”

Brrr, bad, never say that unless you can hear, smell, and see the finish line!

There are mostly smiles at this point, after all we’re 2 miles shy of the halfway point and the weather is gloriously cool.  There are a few grimaces from the first timers and one young woman appeared to be in distress. I cautioned her to hydrate and she managed a feeble smile.  I hope she makes it!

Mercifully, the fan support is growing, at least here in Wolseley. There was a time the fans would remain quiet, cheer like mad when their loved one crossed, and then pack up and leave.  There now appears to be block cheering parties taking shape.  There are kids entertaining the runners with cartwheels and funny signs while moms and dads cheer loudly and proudly for all runners. Keep it up Winnipeg!

I am proud of my community.  I am proud of The Manitoba Marathon.  Winnipeg is a world class city and The Manitoba Marathon, under the leadership of executive director, Rachel Munday, has risen to the occasion.

Just wow!

Mike

PS:  Don’t forget the little race that could on September 29, we may be small, but we have cake!

photo credit Blake Anderson

There was a time the 5 km event was seen as a fun little run, a literal jog in the park to work off last night’s pie and ice-cream or to warm up for more ‘serious’ endeavours.  Not so anymore; the popularity  of the 5 km distance is growing exponentially.

“Everyone thinks the marathon is the Holy Grail, when a lot of people should really be doing the 5K,” says Jason Karp, an exercise physiologist and running coach.

Blogger Christine Aschwanden  argues “Some people aren’t suited to long distances — their natural talents tend toward power and speed rather than endurance.And if you’re exercising for health and fitness, several studies suggest that moderate mileage, which is typical in a training plan for 5Ks, might provide a better way to get there”.

This race director adds with humility “… if you’re aging or if you’re injured, or if you’re injured and old (like me), if you’re overwhelmed with life and work and family, if you’re wanting to do something positive but are swimming in a choppy sea of self-deprecation and self-doubt, and if you pine for the glory days, if you pine for success and gratitude, if you pine for happiness and well-being, the 5 km distance might be just for you”.

Why not give it a try?

Ted’s Run for Literacy first added the 5 km event to their race roster in 2015. Forty-seven registered and their times ranged from 17:55 to 54:07. In 2018 ninety-eight registered and the times ranged from 20:43 and 56:14.  That’s a 100% increase in registrants in three years. Indeed, the new black.

We have always considered our 10 km event to be our premiere event when, in fact, the numbers suggest a shift to the 5 km event.

In 2016, 2017, and 2018 our race crew scrambled to fill the demand for the 5 km event.  You need to understand we pre-chip our bibs at a cost of about $3.00 each, so it’s important we estimate judiciously. We have under-estimated the demand for two consecutive years and sadly, we’ve had to decline some registrants due to a sell-out. This hurts us financially and leaves the runner feeling bummed.

In preparation for another sell out, Ted’s Run for Literacy will chip 150 5 km bibs and 150 10 km bibs. Don’t leave us hanging, we pay $3 for unused bibs so please spread the word and click, click, click here to register.

The little race that could…

Mike