Kamloops Awarded the 4th WMA Indoor Championships in 2010

[Pogo Stick]

Not so fresh news, but it is for me.
Kamloops will host Indoor World Master Championship in March 1-6, 2010. Kamloops is located in Canada, British Columbia, some 300 miles from Seattle.
http://www.tourismkamloops.com/home_showSection_ID_480.html

[rainbowgirl28]

Oh very cool. Too bad I won't be old enough!

What can you tell me about their indoor track? Isn't it pretty new? It seems like for as long as I can remember, there were not any indoor pole vaulting facilities in BC.

[vaultmd]

Hard to get to, but a great town!

I was at the WAVA North American meet in 2000. Last time I jumped in a big meet.

[Pogo Stick]

Oh very cool. Too bad I won't be old enough!

What can you tell me about their indoor track? Isn't it pretty new? It seems like for as long as I can remember, there were not any indoor pole vaulting facilities in BC.

I can tell you nothing, I've never been in Kamloops. I moved in BC year and half ago.
I found some images here:
http://www.kamloopstrackandfield.ca/facilities.shtml

[KirkB]

Yes, this is the only indoor PV facility in BC.

Also, Gerard Dumas coaches the Victoria Track Club vaulters in the Oak Bay Secondary School gym. That's probably OK for high schoolers and some masters, but I wouldn't call it a "full-fledged" vaulting facility.

In Vancouver, they have built a new speed-skating oval in Richmond (near the Vancouver airport, where Pogo lives), and they will have an indoor track there when they convert it into a multi-sport facility after the 2010 Winter Olympics.

But sadly, they do not intend to have any pole vaulting facilities there. Something about not enough interest in the sport to justify it. Apparently for each event there's a certain weekly usage per athlete per square meter formula that you need to surpass, to justify the cost and space. Pogo and I will have to work on that!

If you look at the image of the Kamloops vaulting facility (third image down, on left side of thumbnails), the pit looks illegally small. But if that's the case, I wouldn't worry too much. They'll haul in a regulation size pit for the Masters. I was looking for mention of a PV coach on the site, but didn't see any coach mention it, so (as suspected) PV isn't big in Kamloops.

I'm a little envious, though, that Kamloops has such a nice indoor training facility, and Vancouver doesn't - even though the population of Greater Vancouver is about 25 times the pop of Kamloops!

On a side note, Kamloops is where Dylan Armstrong lives and trains. He's the shot putter that missed the Bronze in Bejing by one centimetre! He threw 21.04m. He's coached by Dr. Anatoly Bondarchuk, who has a very impressive resume. This is all on the Kamloops Track & Field website that Pogo posted above.

So Kamloops looks like a real throwers haven, with Armstrong and Bondarchuk there!

Kamloops is about a four hour drive from Vancouver, for anyone considering flying to Vancouver and renting a car. It's a very nice, scenic drive up the Fraser Canyon, in case you might be planning some sightseeing into your trip. Or you can take a quicker route on the Coquihalla Highway which will save you a half hour. The toll booths are gone on the Coquihalla now. I'd actually recommend going up one way and back the other, to see more of "Beautiful BC".

Kirk

[Pogo Stick]

I can tell you nothing, I've never been in Kamloops. I moved in BC year and half ago.

I need to correct myself. I passed Kamloops on my trip from Ontario to British Columbia:
http://www.panoramio.com/map/?user=562524#lt=50.234030&ln=-119.201660&z=6&k=0&a=1&tab=4

Honestly, I don't remember anything related with Kamloops. That was my fifth day of driving across the continent and I was so tired. Now I have a chance to fix that.

[vaultwest]

Actually it is a Gill National 663 pit, 21'6" X 24' X 32" so while not the largest of pits it is larger than the IAAF minimum requirements. It is as wide and deep as any pit now made, just a little shorter in the back and the front extensions don't extend out as far in the front. This pit was actually slated to be used on the warm up track for the Olympic trials this past summer here in Eugene, but the games committee decided that they wanted the warmup pit to be the same size as the competition pits so U of O's indoor pit was used instead, thus this pit has never been jumped on so it should be in great shape once we get up there in 2010 for that competition. Man, I can hardly wait, I will have just turned 55 so I will be the young guy, this really helps to get the old goal setting and workouts ramped up. Time to step it up a level, I just hope my stupid foot will be better by then.
Vault On

[Pogo Stick]

Not so fresh news, but it is for me.
Kamloops will host Indoor World Master Championship in March 1-6, 2010. Kamloops is located in Canada, British Columbia, some 300 miles from Seattle.
http://www.tourismkamloops.com/home_showSection_ID_480.html

The website for Indoor World Master Indoor Championship 2010 in Kamloops, BC, Canada is online:
http://www.kamloops2010masters.com/
I know the outdoor season just started, but it is never too early to start planning. Here is a tentative schedule for pole vault:
Mar 3 (Wednesday): W35+ and M35
Mar 4 (Thursday): M40-54
Mar 5 (Friday)): M55+

This indoor facility will be Will be available as a warm up area for the Canadian Masters Championship in July.

[Bubba PV]

How do you go about getting poles in and out of there? Bubba

[Pogo Stick]

How do you go about getting poles in and out of there? Bubba

It is just 3 hours driving from my place, so I will drive there.

[Bubba PV]

There isn't any info about flying on the travel provider's website. Do you fly into Vancouver and drive since poles won’t make it on the smaller planes? Sounds like a great trip and will be the closest they have this to the US so I'd like to go. Any logistical advice will be helpful. Thanks so much! Bubba

PS – for example, we flew into KC (200 miles away) for Drake because the flight was so much less than going directly into Des Moines that it paid for the rental car and then some. Don’t know how driving would be that time of year but I wouldn’t even mind flying into Seattle, and drove from there, if that made more sense. I just don’t know enough about it yet to decide. Thanks for the advice!! Bubba

[rainbowgirl28]

From: wilma.stonehocker2010@gmail.com

Good Day!

The 2010 World Masters Athletics Society is hosting the Kamloops World Masters Indoor Championships March 1 – 6, 2010.

Your support promoting this event would be sincerely appreciated. This is the first time this event has been held in North America and it is a significant step in the right direction for Track and Field.

Our website http://www.kamloops2010masters.com explains details of the meet and provides the schedule of specific events.

The Kamloops Local Organizing Committee sincerely appreciate any support you can provide: such as a link on your website, an opportunity to put an ad in your newsletter, allowing us to provide material for athlete’s packets, or offering suggestions of other organizations we can contact to spread the news.

We are committed to hosting a World Class event and with your help we can build Track and Field in North America.

Thanks for your help,

Wilma Stonehocker

Operations Manager, 2010 World Masters

250-372-1157