New Footbridge in Edmonton

The best, most interesting places to run in Edmonton are along the river valley trails.  Some great news along this front, apparently there is a major expansion of river valley trails planned for the next three years that will add (or rehab) 74 km of trails.  The new footbridge is what I am most excited about, it looks like it will be between Terwillegar Park and the flat area underneath the Edmonton Country Club, where they will be building some more new trails to connect to the other new footbridge (to Fort Edmonton).  Sounds like there will definitely be some nice new loops to run.  A map with the details is here.

While checking this out I also noticed there is an Android app for The River Valley Alliance.  It basically provides routes and information on all sorts of walks along the river valley, and could be a pretty good tool to plan some runs, I think.

Best Kids Triathlon in Edmonton?

My 6 year old son, Cameron, made a New Years resolution to complete a triathlon this year.  He is pretty young, so he has more spirit and energy than experience, so we wanted to find one with a pool swim and a fun atmosphere.  It appears most of the Kids of Steel (KOS) races for 6 year olds consist of 50 meters swimming, 1.5  km biking, and 500 m running.  We have heard kids can use life jackets for the swim and training wheels for the bike so it should be appropriate for any 6 year old.

These are the main races we found that looked best:

• St. Albert Kids of Steel
• on June 9th, 2013
• Triathlon AB info link here
• hosted at Fountain Park Recreation Centre
• this event is just for kids, so it is guaranteed to not be an after though for an adults triathlon 
• Beaumont KOS Triathlon
• on July 1st, 2013
• hosted at the S&D AquaFit Centre
• Beaumont on Canada Day must be fun
• Triathlon Festival KOS
• on June 22nd, 2013
• official web page is here
• hosted at the Royal Glenora Club
• here is a link to an article about it
• Canadian Derby Edmonton Marathon ABC Run for Kids Run/Walk
• on August 17th, 2013
• this one is just a 1 km run, but it might be fun too

Please vote on our poll at the side of the page, Cameron will appreciate the feedback!

Airfare and Hotel Booked for Vancouver Half!

We booked our air and hotel package early this year since West Jet had a sale.  Last year we waited until late March and paid $600 per person for the Georgian Court.  This year we paid $630 to stay at the Renaissance Vancouver Harbourside Hotel, but we could have gotten $600 for some slightly less convenient flights.  Both hotels have very good locations, right downtown but this year we are closer to the Expo, which might be cool?  We arrive Friday morning to allow us an extra day in the city and fly out Monday morning to avoid flying out right after the race, the same as last year.

We booked travelocity this year since they beat expedia's price.  Looks like so far booking early has paid off, as the current price is up to $700 with way worse flights.


View Larger Map

Update

Jan 16 - looks like the same package we booked is available for $603 on expedia now, I guess we booked too soon...
Feb 4 - still $603 bitter, though the flights are worse now
Feb 13 - super bitter, down to $585, return flight has a stopover though
Feb 20 - hanging in at $596
Feb 27 - up to $623, and the flights are atrocious!
March 6 - up to $664, terrible flights, early booking finally looks like a good idea
March 14 - $672
March 20 - $634
March 27 - $596
April 3 - $596
April 10 - $610
April 17 - $717
May 1 - $771