Things Are Really Happening!

Right. So let's get this out of the way. I am in no way qualified to write this blog. But, it's true that I am the "Official" blogger of the Outrigger (or Va'a) World Sprints being held in Calgary, Canada.  I like to put quotation marks around "Official" because it sort of lets me off the hook if I say something wrong. However, it does actually say BLOGGER on my volunteer card. So yes, it's my job. No, I'm not getting paid for it. Yes, I love it. No, I will probably not get everyone's names right. Are we good?  OK. Then let's get at it!

Here's the thing... We are SUPER excited to be holding the World Sprints here in Calgary.  It's been in the planning for a very long time. A lot of people have been working very hard.  A lot of people have been paddling very hard.  One of the hardest working people I know is this woman:

This is Lynda Roberts, Race Director.  At first I was a little disappointed that the picture turned out blurry, then I realized that this is pretty much what Lynda has looked like for a while now - a blur. Maybe don't ask her a lot of questions this week unless it's, "Hey Lynda, my leg is literally on fire. What should I do?"  She will probably calmly point at the Glenmore Reservoir & tell you to hop on in.  Just kidding.... you can't swim in the Reservoir!  No, you can ask her questions. Really.

Here's another guy who's been super busy:

This is Dave Arthurs, Totally Amazing Technology Guy.  He's  a volunteer & is responsible for making sure you have cameras on the finish line and that we're hooked up to computers and an awful lot of other tech stuff that's beyond me. It's amazing I can do this blog. (Clearly - do you see the template background I'm using right now?  It has water on it, but it is not Calgary... Sigh, I'll figure it out, I promise.)  We are lucky to have Dave and his awesome crew of Totally Amazing Tech Wizards.  But really, everyone's been busy.  Like these folks:

Wait a sec... they don't look that busy at all!  Well, I can tell you they were, in fact, busy just before and after this photo, but we do let them have breaks to stand in the shade once in a while.  It was a hot day here in Calgary - somewhere over 30 degrees and probably the nicest day of the summer.  A perfect day to stand on hot pavement unloading and rigging boats!  These guys didn't mind a bit.  (That's Wendy, Laura, Jonn, Ren, Colette and Alex, by the way.)

Here's a "Before" picture of the Canoe Club hall, which is going to be set up for merchandise & whatnot (that's the technical term.... "whatnot"):

Since I don't have an "After" photo just yet, you'll have to remember this one.  And know that there's lots of cool stuff in those boxes for you to buy.  I've already got my eyes on a toque. That's a warm winter hat if you're not Canadian... And yes, it has happened before that we've needed them in August, but I don't think you will this year.  (Again, see disclaimer at the top re: stuff I say that might be wrong.)

It was this guy's 40th birthday today & he spent a good deal of it lugging boxes, setting up stuff and helping out with some technical wizardry:

That's Neil Penner.  He's a volunteer.  (Yes, paddlers, we'll get to you yet!) He's also married to our lovely Volunteer Director, Tracey MacNeil. He has to volunteer in order to see his wife. Also, she may have told him he is a volunteer.  Good man.

I don't know what is going on here:

I do know that this is Dean, a paddler from BC, and Jonn Malmqvist from Calgary in some sort of pose-off for Joelle Lamontagne (who is a Calgary paddler too, and at-the-ready to use her French skills if needed. Mais oui!) It's possible that it's a test of 'Canadianness' by checking the colour of one's belly (note how it does not match the arm).  If you know what is going on here, do write in!

Included in today's work was something really, really cool.  We raised a bona fide tipi right in North Glenmore Park!! An honour, really, and a pretty great thing for most of us who have, well, seen tipis but never actually seen how one goes up. 

We were lucky to have Brent Scout & his wife, Bonnie Healy to show us the ropes - literally. They are from the Blood Tribe, which is one of the Treaty 7 First Nations. And, they are super nice & were super patient with the outrigger paddlers as we tried to help as much as possible. This meant listening to directions and sometimes staying out of Brent &/or Bonnie's way.  Eventually, even with our help, things started coming together:

That's Bonnie in the middle of the tipi holding things together. Again, literally.  Those poles are quite heavy and as you can see, they're as tall as telephone poles. (Do we still have those?) Anyway, it was amazing that a handful of people could get this structure up in little time without, you know, breaking anything.  But we did it!  Here are some more shots of the tipi going up:

The cover is on, and Brent is adjusting the top.  The best part of this photo is that he's standing on a wobbly ladder being held by... oh, you can't quite see her....

There she is!  That's Calgary paddler and ladder-holder extraordinaire, Colette Barnstable. She's really very excited to be holding that ladder. I'm telling you, exciting things are happening around here! 

One of the most exciting things that's going on is that people are arriving from other places to our fair city, Calgary.  We're expecting over 1,300 participants from 18 different countries!  So far, I've seen a lot of Australians & New Zealanders (that'll be 'Aussies' and 'Kiwis' from now on to you) as well as one paddler from the UK:

That's Siobhan Thomas, who's from Canada originally but is living in and paddling for England now.  She's hanging out here with fellow paddler and the Calgary Canoe Club Commodore (say that five times fast, I dare you!), Mike Leach.  Mike is demonstrating the whip technique he'll be using in his boat.  "It's just like a chuckwagon race,"  he said.

And then there's the lovely Ryn, who's from Maui, Hawaii.  Her strategy is to use this smile on the other paddlers and distract them during their turns:

So that's about it for today.  I promise more actual stories and other interesting facts n' stuff to come. Also, I'll post the results and you know, actual information you might find useful.  If you have an idea for a good story, post a comment or come & find me.  I'll be the one in the volunteer shirt with BLOGGER written on the back of my ID.  If I get your name a bit wrong, please forgive.  If you have questions about Calgary or the event, I can try to answer them. If your leg is on fire, ask Lynda.  In the meantime, welcome to Calgary if you're a visitor, good luck in your races if you're a paddler, thank you if you're a volunteer.  Enjoy the event, have fun and I'll leave you today with a picture of these volunteers.  They are "officially" supervising the whole thing.  Don't make them mad.