Penguin World Conference IV Toronto, Canada May 24 to 27, 2002 The first international Penguin encounter and the first encounter outside of the United States

Penguin World Conference IV Weekend Report

By Glenn Gabriel, Toronto Penguins Running Club
 
 

INTRODUCTION It was the first major Penguin encounter outside the United States and the first international encounter. The Toronto Penguins Running Club hosted the fourth annual Penguin World Conference from May 24 to 27, 2002.   FRIDAY, MAY 24 REGISTRATION AND OPENING CEREMONIES After years of “convincing” and months of planning and preparation, the conference began on Friday, May 24, with registration at the host hotel: The Courtyard by Marriott — Downtown Toronto on Yonge Street. One by one, Penguins made their way to the basement level where the Toronto Penguins had everything prepared: race packets, great conference goody bags, bibs and ChampionChips. Kelly Ambrose, Maureen Pecknold and Natasha Lemire-Blair (aka “Tash”) ably manned the registration table. A whole table full of name badges. Another table full of race flyers and tourist brochures. It looked like a conference. But, as John Bingham pointed out, it was more like a family reunion. Penguins from across North America: Toronto Penguins like David Gegear, Carlene Paquette and Tracy Cross; American Penguins like Bruce Kochman, Rick Cooley, Pam Bashian and Patti Hamill. And new faces like Marcella Ruscio, Marie-Claude Lajoie and Cathy Pasternak. While Penguins waited for the official festivities to begin, they signed two conference t-shirts. The logo on the front was designed by Mau P and the Penguin credo appeared on the back of the black cotton shirts. More than 60 gathered in the University Room of the Courtyard for the opening ceremonies. On the wall facing the audience was a Canadian flag and a Canada Penguin Sugoi t-shirt draped the podium. Wearing my Maple Leafs jersey, I had the honour of saying words that I’d dreamed of saying for a long time: “Welcome to Toronto, Canada. And welcome to the fourth annual Penguin World Conference!” I asked everyone to stand for a “very special guest.” The Penguins rose from their seats while founding Toronto Penguin Tracy Gillam brought Becky Buckeye down the aisle. It was truly an awe-inspiring moment! But Beckeye soon began her shenanigans! [Click here to read her PWC4 weekend report!] John Bingham officially opened the conference and led the introductions around the room (a PWC tradition). Harriet Kang explained that she was the origin of the phrase “pulling a Kang.” That is, skipping the run and going straight to the meal! Harriet also waved Canadian and American mini-flags, a nice patriotic touch. Judy Conway wore a Carolina Hurricanes sweater, which brought an immediate (but not hostile!) reaction from the pro-Maple Leafs crowd. ETHNIC DINNER NIGHT After the formalities, we split into smaller groups in order to enjoy the ethnic restaurants of Toronto. In groups of 8 to 10 people, we tasted Hungarian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Mexican, Ethiopian and Greek food! The Hungarian and Korean groups eventually met at a Korean dessert store, where some of the more courageous Penguins tried the “red bean sherbet”: shaved ice topped with red beans, evaporated milk, fruit cocktail, malt powder and a cherry. You should have seen the look in the Korean storekeeper’s eyes when we took over the back of her store!   SATURDAY, MAY 25 MORNING RUN AT THE RUNNING ROOM The next day, Saturday, started bright and early at 7:00 a.m. Penguins gathered in the main lobby of the Courtyard and ran to a local Running Room store for a “friendship run.” The Running Room is the biggest running store chain in Canada and the Commerce Court location is one of its flagship stores. After a short run along Front Street (passing by the famous Union Station and Royal York Hotel), the Penguins returned to the store for coffee and bagels. RUNNING WORKSHOPS While Penguins were running, others were setting up at the Metro Central YMCA, which was on the opposite side of Yonge Street from the Courtyard. Tracy Cross had managed to garner donations of both Starbucks coffee and Krispy Kreme donuts. Talk about a Penguin conference! Penguins were treated to a great breakfast spread that included fruit and dessert platters, juice and bottled water. By 9:45 a.m., we started the Penguin workshops. Kelly introduced Ken Myers, who led a marathon training forum, while John Bingham led an effort-based training forum (like a mini-Flight School). I had the pleasure of introducing John B and we showed his recent clip from NBC Nightly News. Tash introduced Karen Bingham, moderator of the Women’s Forum. The panel included Carlene Paquette of Kanata, Ont., and Maureen Pecknold of Toronto, who provided the Canadian content, while Harriet Kang of Hartsdale, N.Y., and Julia Kim of Quincy, Mass., were the American half of the panel. Quite a high-powered lineup! Carlene made a Penguin quilt for the conference. Money raised from the raffle would be donated to the Achilles Track Club of Canada. She invited us to sign the quilt. For more information about Achilles Canada, please visit their Web site at: www.achillestrackclub.ca/ Even more Penguins arrived on Saturday, including Carol and Birgit from Germany, Sid Chapnick from Manitoba and June Reedman of British Columbia. FREE TIME (BLUE JAYS GAME/CASA LOMA VISIT) Officially, Saturday afternoon was “free time.” However, two optional events were planned. Toronto Penguin Julie Wobbe led a group to Casa Loma, Toronto’s famous castle, and the place where Julie got married! Another group visited the SkyDome to watch the Blue Jays play the Cleveland Indians. Unfortunately, the Jays lost 3-0 due to a Travis Fryman home run in the eighth inning. But the best part (for me) was when we sang the Okay Blue Jays! song during the seventh inning stretch! The Americans were reallyfreaked out! Fortunately, we followed it with Take Me Out To the Ballgame. PRE-RACE PASTA DINNER AT JOE BADALI’S After an afternoon of shopping and sightseeing, we gathered again at Joe Badali’s Italian restaurant on Front Street. We had a delicious meal (chicken parmesan and pasta) in a separate area with great atmosphere. To top it off, we had double chocolate cake with chocolate sauce and strawberries for dessert. John Bingham made a special presentation to Ken Myers, who was retiring after 26 years of service to the U.S. Marine Corps. John presented Ken with one of his columns (the one about the 2001 Marine Corps Marathon) framed and signed, while Ken received a well-earned standing ovation. FYI, Ken was on the original Penguin Brigade list (from those training for the ’96 Marine Corps Marathon) and has remained on the list to this day. He is also one of John Bingham’s closest advisors and friends. Throughout the night, copies of John’s latest book, No Need For Speed, were being signed. Unfortunately, Penguins had bought every copy of that book in the downtown core and there was a desperate shortage! Game 5 of the Maple Leafs-Hurricanes series was playing that night, so many of us sneaked away to the bar to keep track of the score. I found Ken Fargnoli scanning the TV, which wasn’t surprising considering that at various times over the weekend, he was wearing a Carolina Hurricanes hat and a Hartford Whalers (!) jersey. (FYI, the ’Canes used to be the Whalers franchise.) And while many returned early to the hotel, it was difficult getting sleep as the celebrations from the Leafs 1-0 victory echoed on Yonge Street throughout the night!   SUNDAY, MAY 26 RACE SHUTTLE Sunday morning, 5:30 a.m. Penguins begin gathering in the Courtyard lobby, awaiting the arrival of the “Penguin bus,” a coach that we rented specifically to bring us to and from the race site in Burlington, Ontario. At times, Penguins can be notorious procrastinators, but this time I have to give them full credit: All 43 Penguins taking the bus were there five minutes early. We left the hotel at 5:55 a.m. and drove the Queen Elizabeth Way (aka the “Q.E.W.”) westbound to Burlington, about a 45-minute ride. The skies were overcast and the temperature cold. The forecast was “becoming sunny” with a low of 4ºC and a high of 21ºC (40ºF and 70ºF for the Celsius-challenged!) We arrived at Zellers Plaza in Burlington and it was a 10-minute walk to LaSalle Park. BURLINGTON ROCK ‘N’ ROLL CANADA RACES PENGUIN AID STATION The aid station volunteers who rode the bus headed straight for the volunteer bus and were whisked away to Plains Road West and King Road. A short walk later, we found our table and the tell-tale garbage bags filled with water and Gatorade. Our station was located in a residential neighbourhood about 3K from the finish at LaSalle Park. The aid station volunteers were: Tracy Gillam, Kelly Ambrose, Maureen Nicholls, Linda and Terry Owen, Marie-Claude Lajoie, Richard Braeken, Julie Wobbe, June Reedman, Gini Vance, Jim and Maggie Craven, Toni Hall and myself. We received a huge boost when Mary DeMattia arrived later that morning to help out! Some of us had volunteered before. Some of us were aid station “newbies.” But we were all focused on one goal: Making our station the best station on the course. While some of us filled water and Gatorade cups, others began stacking them onto the tables like a house of cards. Soon our cups rose three-high. Everyone learned quickly. The first runners (half-marathoners) came through our station after 9:00 a.m. Tracy G (who was doing this for the first time) had the honour of handing out the first cup of water. THE RACE Soon a steady stream of runners flew by. The first Penguin, not surprisingly, was Josh Saak. Josh would win his age group and place in the top 20 runners! We lined up along Townsend and called out “Gatorade!” and “Water!” The name of the event is the “Rock ‘n’ Roll Canada” races, so a band soon joined us. “Pailface Boogie” would provide our soundtrack throughout the day, including Doobie Brothers covers and a great version of the Fat Albert theme song “Na Na Na Gonna Have a Good Time! Hey Hey Hey!” where they replaced some lyrics with running-related words: “Gatorade!” When everyone was in position, I had the chance to ring the Penguin bell and warn the station of approaching Penguins. Cheryl Link, Julia and Carlene flew by one after the other. “Kecia from St. Louis!” “The Elders from Michigan!” “PENGUINS!!!” When my voice got hoarse, I handed the bell to many Penguins: Julie, Toni, Gini, Maggie. The bell is a Penguin tradition! We saw Tracy Cross and her sister, Lynn. Tracy was carrying Becky Buckeye for her first-ever race. We also saw Lauren Clark, Nancy Toby and Dave Gegear. And Bruce Kochman and Tash. Beth and Joe Terry. Gail Fargnoli. Pam Bashian. Dorothy Williams. Jane Fraytet. Maryanna Lewyckyj would win her Clydesdale age group! So many Penguins to keep track of! And they kept flying through the aid station! I’d like to make two honourable mentions regarding our aid station: First, Kelly Ambrose stayed until the final runners and acted as a mom to the runners in trouble, especially to one who was trying to qualify for Boston in his first marathon, with salt caking his face. At the awards banquet, Kelly accepted the award for Best Water Station on our behalf and it couldn’t have been a more appropriate choice. Kelly also had the foresight to bring salty items: pretzels and Ruffles potato chips, which were both in high demand. Another special mention must go to Jim Craven, who acted as our “traffic cop.” Our intersection was one of the busiest on the course, but we had no police officer for the first two-thirds of the race. Luckily, we had Jim, who is a volunteer firefighter in Scottsville, NY, and has experience with traffic control. He’s got the gift :-) The forecast turned out to be true. Although the cloudy skies made it cold, the grey skies burned away by 11 a.m. The first marathoner passed through after 10 a.m., but we realized that the runners would need more fluid as the weather became hotter. The Penguin marathoners started to come through. Ken Myers passed through first, on his way to a Boston-qualifying 3:24! Bryan Murray of Mississauga also arrived quickly. Mau P would run a sub-5:00 marathon. Todd Byers and Deb Meier would be the final Penguins that day. As we drove to LaSalle Park in Tracy G’s car, we noticed that there were many Penguin signs along the route. Apparently, a local elementary school had made these signs and posted them along the 5K route to celebrate John Bingham and the Penguins’ arrival in Burlington. It was a nice touch. We arrived at the park to see Deb and Todd finish their marathon in just under six hours. I also found out that our aid station had won the best water station award. I was very excited. This was, in fact, the first award I had ever won in my running career! Jim and Maggie Craven gave me and the Binghams a ride back to Toronto and after a quick shower and change of clothes, we were in a taxi to the Queen’s Quay Terminal on the lakeshore. PENGUIN AWARDS BANQUET The Penguin Awards Banquet is an annual PWC tradition. For this special event, we wanted a special location. But where? One person was responsible for securing the Queen City Yacht Club on the Toronto Islands: Kathryn Lye. Kathryn wasn’t able to attend the event due to illness, but this was definitely her event. In appreciation, we gave her a cell phone call during the evening and we gave her a conference t-shirt signed by the attendees. What made it special? First, you have to take the Algonquin Queen water taxi to the Club and back to the mainland. Second, the QCYC probably has the best view of Toronto’s skyline. And, third, the weather couldn’t have been better. It was a beautiful sunny spring day. There were many more reasons why this was the highlight of the weekend. The theme of the banquet was the “Black and White Affair,” which meant that Penguins had to be dressed in black and white. Some wore jeans and a t-shirt. Others dressed formally. Still others brought a pink feather boa! And, of course, Mary D wore a Detroit Red Wings jersey! Before dinner, we gathered (nearly 70 strong) for a group photo with the Toronto skyline in the background. Trevor Black and Frank Lemire (Tash’s friend and husband, respectively) patiently took the photos, which included up to 20 separate Penguin cameras! The room was beautifully decorated with black and white balloons, streamers and even penguin table centrepieces. At each table setting were Penguin glycerin soaps made by Sara Kochman and donated by the Kochman family. Sara has made something for each conference since the first one in 1999; in appreciation, we gave her a conference t-shirt signed by all the attendees. We started with a great meal, including butter tarts for dessert and an amazing vegetarian lasagna that had some of the meat-eaters among us drooling. Throughout the evening, we gave away many door prizes, and some people even won three items that night! The biggest giveaway was the Penguin quilt. Carlene had sold $350 worth of tickets and even ran out of slips of paper for tickets! The quilt was won by Virginia “Gini” Vance of Kentucky. In June 2002, the Toronto Penguins presented a cheque to the Achilles Track Club of Canada. John Bingham gave the keynote address and Karen Bingham read aloud the Penguin “mission statement” which was started at last year’s conference and will eventually appear on the Waddle On Web site. I also had the opportunity to give a thank-you speech, one that I’d rehearsed in my mind many, many times. We gave two “Penguin Spirit Awards” to Debra Meier of Buffalo, N.Y., and Todd Byers of Long Beach, Calif. In a touching impromptu speech, Todd gave his award to Tonya “Little Lulu” Fischer of Cincinnati, Ohio, who had DNF’d (i.e., did not finish) on race day, but showed courage and smarts in doing so. In my most embarrassing moment of the conference weekend, I confused Carol Hoepfner of Germany with Carol Schobert of Indiana when I said that Carol S was pregnant when it should’ve been Carol H!!! That’s why you’re seeing occasional references to “Carol, the not pregnant one” on the e-mail lists. I tried to explain: Our Toronto group has two Maureens, two Tracys and two Kathryns. No wonder I’m confused! :-) Tracy Cross gave Becky Buckeye to Mary DeMattia of Novi, Mich., who will bring Becky to Africa. The site of PWC5 was revealed: Chicago, Ill., from August 1 to 4, 2003. The Toronto organizers also presented an engraved relay baton to John B so he can “hand it off” to the next organizing team. The banquet ended just after 8:30 p.m., but many Penguins stayed around the Club enjoying the mild May evening. The remaining Penguins returned to the mainland on the 10 p.m. water taxi with a great nighttime view of a brightly lit Toronto skyline.   SUNDAY, MAY 27 GOODBYE BREAKFAST On Monday morning, we said our goodbyes over breakfast at the Courtyard. But we knew that we would meet again in Chicago or sooner. I spent the rest of the day mailing the PWC4 postcards and taking John and Karen B as well as Ken Myers to Pearson International Airport. When I got home, I could finally give that huge sigh of relief that I promised myself since Day One of this project! :-)

 
 

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