General News

By Corporal Marie Laska
Photo by Pte Andrew McNeill, 408 THS

For anyone working at Canadian Forces Base Edmonton over the past few months, morning physical training must have seemed a bit strange. Some might have wondered, "Is that the Air Force running with rucksacks on their backs? That can't be! Only the Army trains like that every morning!"

But for five members of 1 Wing's 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron (THS), rucksack runs were just another part of training for the 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade's Mountain Man race.

Since May, the squadron's team - comprised of Corporal Marie Laska (Team Lead), Sergeant Trevor Friesen (Team 2 I/C), Master Corporal Silvio Mancin, Master Corporal Jamie Lahey and Captain David Wray - had been training hard and burning up the trails around Edmonton. MCpl Mancin even took his training to Belgium while he was on summer leave as his definition of "R&R" seemed to include more running than relaxing.

The annual race, held this year on August 31, was made up of four different stages. Stage one was a 31.8 kilometre run along Edmonton's hilly river valley while carrying a 15-kilogram rucksack. Stage two was a sandbag carry with each individual adding two 17-kilogram sandbags to their load, carrying a combined total of almost 110 pounds for 3.2 km.

At the end of this stage, the sandbags were dropped (much to the competitors' joy) and paddles were picked up to complete the third stage: 10 kilometres of canoeing down the North Saskatchewan River. For the final stage, the competitors again hoisted their rucksacks and ran another 5.6 kilometres to the finish line.

Thanks to the electronic timing chips that each competitor wore, individual times for finishing were provided quickly and accurately. Overall 408 THS did very well and earned the gold medal in the Minor Unit team category, where the team's time was comprised of the top four finishers of 1 Senior Non-Commissioned Officer/Officer and 3 Privates-Master Corporals. As well, Top Female went to Cpl Laska, while Capt Wray took the bronze medal in the Masters (over 40) category.

Some members from this year's squadron team are already looking at competing again in next year's race, though some individual thoughts at this point range from "I'm glad it's over" to "The sandbag-carry almost made me cry. Why would I want to do it again?"

There is also a huge training commitment required to train for the race as a minimum of three months are needed. A lot of personal time after hours is eaten up as well. Many weekend mornings, the team could be found doing long-distance runs in the river valley, climbing stairs at Victoria Park, or trying to find the quickest way to row 10 kilometres. Individuals also spent a lot of money on shoes, gel-packs, race-day shirts, and gasoline driving back and forth to different training locations.

Thankfully, the team members' sections were very supportive of the training that needed to be done during the workweek, as without that support, there was no way that the team would have had enough time to prepare for the race. Hopefully, with the team's success and great showing at Mountain Man this year, there will be interest at the squadron in participating in next year's competition, and defending our gold medals from any challengers.

Corporal Marie Laska is the 408 THS Team Captain.

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Golden Moment: The training by five members from 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron paid off after the team won the gold in the Minor Unit Division in the 2006 1 CMBG Mountain Man Challenge in Edmonton on Aug 31.

The team also had individual wins with Top Female going to Cpl Laska and Capt Wray placing third in the Masters Division.

*Capt David Wray	21st overall (3rd in Masters)	5:58:31
*MCpl Silvio Mancin	32nd overall	6:15:31
*Cpl Marie Laska	72nd overall (1st Female)	6:52:38
Sgt Trevor Friesen	73rd overall	6:53:04
*MCpl Jamie Lahey	84th overall	7:05:18
Team Time Average	1st Place Minor Unit	6:33:00
* Denotes team members whose time comprised the avg team time calculation (Out of a field of approximately 150 competitors)