Kelsy Trigg has been Race Director since 2005, but the race has been part of the Trigg family since 2000 - the entire 21st century!
Kelsy's husband, Jeff, ran in 2000, Jeff & Kelsy both ran in 2001, & Jeff, Brad (Jeff's brother) & Kelsy ran in 2002 :) proof it's contagious... Kelsy volunteered as a marshall in 2000, ran from 2001 -> 2004, Jeff & Kelsy joined the committee in 2003 & then Kelsy was RD from 2005 -> 2008.
Now in Kelsy's own words:
Knee Knacker gets in your blood. I warn new runners that it is truly addictive. Pushing ourselves to our limits & then more. I love the rawness, the genuine human nature that it exposes & the way it tends to bring out the best in all of us. The passion around the race is contagious & the word that comes to my mind when I think about my opportunity to be involved is "honoured". Our volunteers are amazing. And our committee is a truly dedicated crew... a really diverse group that comes together for the love of the race. Knee Knacker wouldn't be what it is today without Enzo's constant influence. His passion & love of the race is evident through the 20 years... he has been a great mentor.
And great athletes in the race too. One of the most humble, talented people I've seen over the years is Peter Findlay. Peter is a legend & also one of the most thoughtful runners. I remember distinctly the year we changed the start & Peter had never been on that stretch of trail & as he came into Cypress aid station (tied for first with Mark Bates at the time), he ran past with a completely relaxed demeanour & smiled, looked me in the eye & said something like "love the new stretch of trail, Kelsy"...
... another fun moment was when Suzanne & Lisa were vying for top women's spot & racing incredibly strong... they looked like they were going to give Peter & Mark a run for their money. They were closing the gap at the 1/2 way point, and I had visions of them surprising Findlay & Bates & making an even more interesting finish! :) what amazing finishes at 3rd & 4th overall!
The morning of the race is one of my favourite times. Driving through the city at 4:30 in the morning with the music cranked. Last year I pulled into the start with a bit of a skid & had to laugh at my race-car antics :) That and being at the finish line to share in each person's moments - the highs & lows... much more intense and special than I had expected.
Jeff & I have been thinking about some of the most rewarding times & we agree that staying until the very last runner comes in & seeing what a huge accomplishment that is. Hoping that people make the cutoff & seeing that determination. Being there to applaud the last 5-10 people who have been out for up to 10 (+) hrs... knowing the effort that it takes. Seeing the blood, sweat & tears & knowing how special a day it is.
Remembering the small moments on the trail, being encouraged & encouraging others. Feeling intense pain one moment & then strong & like we can conquer the world the next. Challenging our perceived limits & finding out what we're all really made of.
The comments that we get from people are absolutely heartwarming... if you want details, there are some at http://www.kneeknacker.com/RaceInfo/2007/CommunityThanks.htm & http://www.kneeknacker.com/RaceInfo/2006/Update13_0715.htm. I think my all-time favourite quote is
“Every runner on the planet should be so lucky as to run the Knee Knacker.” – Kevin Kramps, 2006 Finisher
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Friday, July 11, 2008
Kelsy Trigg - KK gets into your blood
Some thoughts from Ean Jackson
Have a look at Ean's recollection of the formative years of the Knee Knacker in his blog post at http://www.clubfatass.com/news/holy-smokes-honey-knee-knacker-20 .
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Wednesday, July 09, 2008
1996-1998 - Ken gets the race to ten (years)!
The last 3 years of the first decade saw a new Race Director steering the good ship Knee Knacker. I met Ken Greenaway at the YMCA Marathon Clinic in the early 90's, and I managed to talk him int helping out as volunteer at first, and then on the Race Committee. Ken also ran in the race in 1993 and 1994.
Now hear from Ken himself, as he describes those 3 years directing the race as it became more and more popular. And, yes I know we skipped a few years of the race (1993-1995). We'll get back to those years later!
What do I remember of my Race Directing duties of 1996 thru 1998? A lot of impressions, but very little detail!
At one of our race committee meetings post-1995, Enzo made mention of handing off the Race Directing duties. I think the next step was a case of volunteers being asked to step forward, and everyone but me stepping back. <sigh>. I was excited about my new responsibility but nervous at the same time. We had a great group of folks organizing though and things worked out very well.
The runup to race day in 1996 was a blur of training for my first 100 miler (Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run, also celebrating 20 years in 2008), trying to gather volunteers, and fielding a surprisingly large number of calls from runners trying to get in, asking for directions on the course, and telling me about lost runners on training runs! Thankfully, no one got seriously lost, the volunteers cheerfully offered their help prior to and on race day, and we started with a full complement of runners.
Race day itself was a blur as I was working with some sleep deprivation by that time. Thankfully Enzo and others provided thinking on my behalf. Johan Kruus from Rossland BC raced his first and only KneeKnacker and came away with the overall victory in 5:11:30, while Nicola Hastings won the women’s side with a 5:45:41, still a top 10 all-time result.
1997 was another terrific year for the run. Frank Wolf, from North Vancouver won on the men’s side, while Nicky Hastings repeated her victory of 1996 for the women.
During 1997 and 1998 I had made a lot of changes in my life and felt that it would be a great time to pass on the RD duties after the 10th running of the race in 1998. Paul Quinn, indispensable as an organizer in many past years graciously offered his services, so I knew the race would continue and continue to improve.
Our 10th anniversary champion was Derek Reed in a time of 4:55:44. Derek was truly a worthy champion; he had set the record for fastest ascent of the Grouse Grind in the year prior, in 27:18! Tracy Lavin of Vancouver won on the women’s side, in a time of 5:59:25
What do I remember, and what made the most lasting impression on me? I loved the race, still do actually, even though I haven’t run it for the last 10 years. I made some incredible friends, and met some exceptional people. The Kneeknacker was my introduction to both trail running and to ultra running, which has become integral to my life since then. For that I owe Enzo and the Kneeknacker family a huge amount of gratitude.
The race itself can’t go without dedicated volunteers and organizers. I worked with the likes of Greg Dines, Wendy Woodfield, Amanda Barlow, Jim Helten, Maureen Fitzgerald, Paul Quinn, Paul Truelove, Greg Horner, Rod Hatfull, and of course Enzo and Francine.
Part of the legacy I am most proud of is the fact that many of the people who came onboard with me when I was around are still there volunteering to make your day that much more enjoyable – Doug Turnbull, Maureen Macpherson and team up on Black Mountain, Rick and Barry of R&B Brewing to name just a few. Thank them, and all of the other great helpers when you see them along the way.
Ken Greenaway
RD 1996-1998
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Sunday, July 06, 2008
1992 - Enzo gets to race again
1992 was to provide me with my first opportunity to participate in the Knee Knacker since our inaugural group run in 1989. Co-founder Shane Collins took over the organizing reins and left me free to see how all our efforts the past couple of years had manifested themselves on race day. You'll probably also notice other names that have distinguished themselves not only as athletes, but also as builders of the sport - Neil Wakelin, Ean Jackson, Ron Nicholl, ... Now on to the 1992 race. Once again, I'll rely mostly on a post-race report I produced for Ultrarunning magazine. Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run - July 11, 1992 The fourth edition of the Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run was once again the source for some dramatic moments as the race drew to a conclusion in the mountains which grace the north shore of the city of Vancouver. In past years, most of the drama had been provided by the athletes themselves, as they battled one another and the clock to achieve their own personal victories. While these elements were still present within the race itself, they were somewhat overshadowed by events which transpired during the closing hours of the event, in the immediate vicinity of the Baden-Powell trail. Of the 99 runners toeing the line at the start in Horseshoe Bay, all but 7 made it to the finish in Deep Cove within the 10 hour cut-off. This represented the highest number of finishers, and the highest finishing percentage, in race history. The percentage of runners getting into the race, however, reached an all-time low, as Shane had to turn away at least as many runners once the race limit of 100 was reached at the end of April. His advice for next year is to enter early, as Canada's largest ultramarathon will likely fill up even sooner.
Before I go on, I just want to point out some of the entrants that were drawn to our race in 1990 and 1991. Have a look at some of the names in the 1990 results and 1991 results. For many of these, the Knee Knacker was an introduction to the sport of ultrarunning. With very few events to choose from in the local area, these "pioneers" took it upon themselves to start their own events over the next few years. They included:
With the race cut-off time of 10 hours less than 2 hours away, I was basking in the warm sunshine on the beach in Deep Cove, next to the finish area of the race, sipping refreshments and swapping lies with fellow competitors. With Shane Collins taking over race director duties this year, I had the good fortune to partake in this year's event with no responsibilities. All I had to do on race day was run 30 miles, gaining 8,000 feet in the process, and descending another 8,300 feet! As I'm sure all race directors out there already know, this really is a piece of cake compared to the worries and headaches an R.D. experiences in the days leading up to, and including, race day itself.
The months of preparation and planning put in by Shane and his race committee were quite evident throughout the weekend's activities, and especially during the race itself. Of course, no race director could ever be expected to plan for the possibility of an armed gunman with hostages appearing near the trail during the race. This extremely unlikely event turned into a bizarre reality with about an hour-and-a-half to go in the race. The phone call Shane received from the police was rather vague, but the concern showed on his face, as about a dozen runners were still on the trail. He immediately called a pow-wow with the race committee members present and myself. While there was a sense of urgency in getting more information and ensuring the safety of our runners, Shane remained calm in getting us all organized to deal with the situation. The minutes on the clock seemed like hours as we waited for the remaining runners to come down the trail. You could feel a collective sigh of relief as each one arrived in Deep Cove unscathed. Finally, with 13 minutes to spare, the last runner made his way to the beach escorted by the posse of runners put together to head back up the trail and try to help everyone get out safely.
While these events were going on, the race was not a priority in anyone's mind, but since this is a running publication, let's look at what happened in the race itself. Being a middle-of-the-pack participant in the race, I did not get a first-hand look at the front-runners in either the of the men's or women's divisions. After crossing the finish line, however, I donned my investigative journalist's hat to sniff out the facts, and this is my story.
With the defending champions returning in all divisions, and excellent conditions on the trail, everyone was expecting some great competition on race day, and we weren't disappointed. Course records were lowered in all but the open mens division, and overall times were lower than in previous years, with 40% of the runners finishing in under 7 hours.
To nobody's surprise, the first person to reach the finish line was Peter Findlay for the third consecutive year. While his time was slightly off his course record from last year, he still squeaked in under 5 hours, and now owns the 3 fastest times ever on the course. His strategy was quite different from last year, as he was content to have others set the pace for the first half, before blowing everyone away in the last 15 miles. His winning margin turned out to be over 23 minutes by the end. Once again, his victory was achieved a mere 2 weeks after competing in the Western States 100. Unfortunately, he was not as successful at WS this year, with a DNF at 80 miles after last year's third place finish. However, there were 3 other runners who had fairly successful results at WS this year, followed up with excellent results at Knee Knackering 2 weeks later. It makes us think that Western States appears to be a great training run for our event, and we'd like to thank Norm Klein for continuing to schedule his excellent event 2 weeks before the Knee Knackering race.
Over on the women's side, Debbie Findlay (related to Peter, only because she married him) came back with a strong performance after a DNF last year. She was surprised to find herself in the lead early on, as defending champion and course record holder, Mary Nicell, called it a day at the 7.5 mile aid station. With a strong race right to the finish, Debbie claimed third place overall this year, 10 minutes behind co-champions Nola Patterson and Marcia Winger, who crossed the finish line together in 6:32:45. Nola and Marcia are both long-time members of the very strong Chilliwack "Y" Running Club, and ran the entire race together to establish new course records in both the open and masters divisions. They are both relative newcomers to the ultra scene, and we can expect to see a lot more of them at the top of the results in years to come. Defending masters champion Gail Bazeley finished second this year, but managed to knock off over 2 hours from her time of last year.
The final course record was set in the mens masters division, as Neil Wakelin prevailed for the third consecutive year. His winning time of 5:37:58 was a minute faster than last year. Neil finished sixth overall, but obviously had his sights set much higher, as he was in the lead for most of the first half of the race. He hung in pretty tough at the end, though, as he may have heard the footsteps of second-place finisher Brian Patterson (yes, he's Nola's husband - one of 5 husband/wife teams to complete the race this year).
There were many other highlights this year. On a personal note, I got a great deal of satisfaction out of being able to compete in an event which Shane and I created just three short years ago. I was able to experience just what the runners had been raving about the last couple of years - a tough, challenging run with some of the best aid stations and volunteers you could hope for. Shane managed to talk Murray Carpenter and Blair Maclean into serving on the race committee this year. Both were consistently high finishers in previous years, but sacrificed their entry this year to help out with the race, and their efforts were greatly appreciated by all. Murray managed to set a new standard for marking the trail. He even made it a family affair by getting his kids, Ryan, Matthew, and even 5-year-old Brady, involved in putting up and taking down ribbons as well as clearing fallen logs.
There were a couple of new features introduced this year. First were the handsome finishers buckles awarded to all finishers under 10 hours. Secondly, there were 2 new awards to recognize outstanding contributions and efforts made by both a volunteer and a competitor. Chris Scholermann has co-ordinated and cooked up a tremendous pasta feed for each of the last 3 years, and won the volunteer award. Chris has also distinguished himself on the Knee Knackering battlefield, however, as he was a finisher in the race 2 years ago.
The competitors award also went to another Chris - Chris (short for Christina) Ralph from the state of Washington. Chris has provided inspiration for many a runner as she has made her way into the running scene in the Pacific Northwest over the last few years. Last year she came up to do our race, and was quite apprehensive as it was her first really tough trail ultra. It was a rough day for her, but she gamely made it to the half-way checkpoint. This year she came back, and I don't think anything or anybody was going to stop her from seeing the second-half of the trail, and especially the finish line in Deep Cove. Congratulations, Chris, and thanks for being a part of our event. Shane and I hope that you and all the other runners and volunteers will join us once again on July 10, 1993 for the Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run.
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