Final Salut

Final Salut:

Hope you all arrived safe and sound after your
journey.

Folks, seldom have I been called
a self-promoter and such is not the intention with the attached
photo. But I could not resist the chance to send along this photo
that Aiden snapped of me as I rounded the turn atop Racer's Edge in yesterday's
marathon. Now if Aiden can make me look "half-descent" (thats a pun
... "decent" ... "descent" ... get it ... I am about to descend Racer's Edge ...
sorta sick really), then just think what he can do for you. Aiden
Mahoney has photos of the entire Coleman's Marathon Day... just go
into www.whaleback.ca and find the link under Marathon
'08 and you too may find yourself, or a friend in all
their glory. Aiden is selling the CD postage paid to you for
$12.00 ... just send him a cheque and he will send you the CD ... it is an
incredible souvenir of Marathon '08.

So the toe-boards have been picked up
and stories have been told of careening into the heavy timber coming
down the Rollercoaster, to the food you ate at the banquet, to the
friends you met and have not seen for years. The "marathon" is
my favourite event and while you may have enjoyed it, I and myy friends at
Whaleback enjoyed it even more. In case you haven't observed,
marathons are about the people ... the Dudley Wheeler's you say "Hi" to as you
pant your way up Heartrate Hill, the St. Anthony Gang whot tell you stories
of happenings in their club, the Avalon crowd who constantly kid us about taking
home ALL the hardware, the young Taylor boy (Jake) who tours the course
with his granddad Keith, the many BMD friends who come in to support and
play with us on a sunny afternoon, the ladies who come in from Port aux
Basques and spend the day with us, the parents of Natalie Chambers who
spend the afternoon in the chalet while Natalie scoots around the course
and come to the Kitchen Party, the Outfitter's Gang who have a
sleepover at the Whaleback chalet and are so appreciative of the
accommodation, the Kitchen Party players who play all night for nothing but the
enthusiasm shown by the crowd, the gals from Clarenville and their pals Pete and
Gary who were so spirited on the trail and at the Kitchen Partyt, the 73
year-old Earl Hunt who toooook charrrrge of the course and delivered it in
fine style ... amazing grooming from earl and Kenny, the timers and
Duke students who donated their time, the committees at Whaleback that
organized banquets, trail work and looked after all the details, the
crowd who came to tour the course recreationally and yes, the crowd of frsh
horses who came to race it. Although Whaleback was
indeed the host and were therefore required to work, we thoroughly enjoyed
it and it was a blast putting it on ... a pure joy ... the marathon rallies
our club together and the payoff both financially and socially is when 169
skiers come visit us and smile ... biiiiiiiiggggggg smmmmmmmillllllessssss ....
that last the entire day. So thank you all for coming ... Drop by
Whaleback anytime and ski the course for free if you are a member of any
CCNL club. As I said it's about the people ..... and You are one of those
people.

Thank you and I am sure we will cross lide
paths again another day.

Graham and the Happy Gang at
Whaleback



Question for the record book:

Who was the courageous soul who strategically
crashed between two huge birch trees after descending the small hill with the
turn at the bottom near the top of Hayes Hump? Who ever it was
deserves the Medal of Valour. The crater you left between the
trees took Kenny and the BR250 35 minutes to fill this morning and we would like
to send the bill for the extra diesel fuel consumed.
(Not)