Needlework Tuesday - T-Shirt Quilt

 I am back from my trip,  though i did plan this post ahead of time.

This is the quilt that was given away after the Laurier Loop race during the Wilfrid Laurier University  Homecoming weekend.  It is made with t-shirts from a variety of races organized by Run Waterloo.  The border colours are that of the university.

I can't take credit for making it.  There is a lovely lady in Elmira, Ontario who makes all the race quilts.  Most of the races offer a quilt prize which is usually given by a random drawing.

Needlework Tuesday is a regular weekly post where I share the progress of my various needlework projects over the past week. I enjoy the encouragement that I receive from my readers and in return visit their blogs and cheer them on with theirs. You are welcome to grab the cute little mouse and create your own Needlework Tuesday post. Leave a comment with a link and I'll be sure to visit with you.

My mom will soon be making a t-shirt quilt for a friend. Since neither of us have any experience making one, i am turning to my readers for any suggestions.  Please leave a comment or a link to  post showing a t-shirt quilt that you own or have made.

 

The Santa PurSuit - the Second Year

Saturday was perfect for the second annual Santa PurSuit in Waterloo, Ontario in support of the YMCA.   A wee bit of snow greeted the over 700  runners Santas as they waited for the start time. As usual, I had a fun time co-ordinating the volunteers responsible for feeding all those hungry Santa's after their warming run.

 

A few late arriving Santa's are seeking the starting line even as others are on their way.

No race can be run without a whole team of elves.  Shown here are some of the React team who are on hand for security and communications.

 

Thanks to RunWaterloo for another fun event.  Drop by their site for a post-race roundup with links to thousands of free race photos.  For those who didn't get enough, next weekend is the inaugural Santa PurSuit Toronto on December 15,2013, still time to register online.

 

 

Weekend Cooking : In Baking Colour

At the end of August, daughter and I participated in the inaugural 'In Running Colour' foot race.  What a blast.  There are lots of photos available at the race site. Wanting to continue with that theme, I knew the perfect cake to make for the Race Director Lloyd Schmidt when his birthday rolled around the other week.  A colourful cake of course.

 

Aside from the pretty sprinkles, what could make this a colour cake?

 

 

I started with a basic white cake mix.

In three bowls I put about 2 tablespoons of batter and added lots of drops of colours.

 

Drop these coloured batters into the rest of the plain batter.

 

It really doesn't matter how neat and tidy you are.

 

Swirl with a knife or tooth pick

 

And swirl a little bit more

 

Bake.  The only thing I would change, would be to get the colours closer to the edge of the pan.

 

Frost.

The following photos are by Julie Schmidt, official RunWaterloo photographer.

 

 

Enjoy.

 

For more foodie fun, be sure to visit Beth Fish Reads for her Weekend Cooking post.  She invites you to add a link to your recent food related post.

 

 

It's Race Week: My week of volunteering and making hummus

It's the week where I volunteer at the Endurrun a series of running races.  The runners cover 160 km over 8 days with 7 races.

 I help feed these runners, and they sure do get hungry.  I'm trying a bunch of new recipes this year from at least three cook books that I have barely used.  As usual, I have been making hummus each day, and even managed to find some new flavours to add to the mix.  The raw zucchini version went over quite well.  I'll have some photos and details for you in  future post.   Until then, check out this post from last year with a summary of the eleven types of hummus I made last year.

In Running Colour - a fun new roadrace

There's a new running race coming to Waterloo, Ontario in just four weeks: In Running Colour.  It's a brand new fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters.  Today, my children got a trial run through of what this race is going to be like.  At five stations along the course, the runners will be subject to a cascade of coloured powder (very safe corn starch).  by the end of the race, their previously white shirts will be much more interesting.

 

The following video features a short demonstration, though only one colour will be used at each station in the actual race.

 

 

 

In Running Colour is an all ages event with 4km or 1km distances for runners and walkers.  Would be a terrific outing with your family.  August 24, 2013 at Columbia Lake (Brubaker House) on the grounds of the University of Waterloo.  Visit the RunWaterloo website for further details and to register.  From the same site you can click to sponsor any of the runners.  Should you wish to sponsor my daughter, follow this link.

 



Breakfast for 1000 Santas

Yesterday was the inaugural Santa Pur Suit.  It was hosted by RunWaterloo and the Stork Family YMCA.   Over one thousand Santas, ranging from two years old and up, arrived for the chilly event.   The Santas had to choice of running 1, 3, or 5 kilometres.  The Santa suits were part of the registration and all parts of the suit had  be worn including the beard. (yes, the runner who had a self grown long white beard also had to wear the fake beard) .

 I was on hand as a volunteer to witness this historic event. Never has this area witnessed so many Santas and Santas-in-training in one location.  At left and immediately below are the front of back images of the volunteer t-shirts.  I wonder, since we were helping the Santas, did that make us elves?

 

Santas keeping warm before the race. 
This is the slimmest group of Santa, so no belly fat for warmth.

I had parental permission to snap this photo of some Santas in training.
 The youngest Santa on the course was two years old.

Ten minutes till race start

Heading to the starting line

Waiting for that final count down, no not that one, still 23 days till then.

And they;re off and running, or rolling as it might be.

And running....

And still running...

Great beard on this rolling Santa.

Santas eat an aweful lot, it took ages to cook over 1000 hotdogs.

Several boxes of banana...

Dozens of cut oranges.

Mounds of seedless grapes, easier on the clean-up crew.

Just a few of the 1000 hotdogs

Five flavours of tasty Pizza was supplied by Panago Pizza

A great time was had by all the Santas and over $10 000. was raised for the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign of Kitchener-Waterloo.

As I was leaving, a young child, also walking  out the door, commented that "Santas all gone, where'd the Santas go?"  Her parent didn't miss a beat and replied, "They're all back at the North Pole of course."

For more foodie fun, be sure to visit Beth Fish Reads for her Weekend Cooking post.  You are invited to add a link to your recent food related post.

Endurrun 2011 - Street Party or Race

Don't you just love a great street party.  My neighbours throw the best there is.  Well, if I am to be truthful, it was the sixth race of the series.  It was held on Saturday morning and started ten kilometres away in Elmira, Ontario, which is most famous for it huge one day Maple Syrup Festival in April. You can read more about the festival in my earlier post.

While this stage is a common distance of 10 km, it is run as a time trial, slowest runner starts first, each minute another runner starts , until the  fastest runner who starts last.  Best part of this race is that it ends right in front of my house.  Oh wait, it ends in front of the race director's house, which is across the street from my house. 

That is the finish line.

Yep, that's my house in the background.

After finishing up marshalling a stop light(the runners didn't have to stop for the light, but quite a number of drives had to wait even on a green for the runners to pass by) at the 1km mark, I raced home to work on food, but since the finish line and the crowd blocked my driveway, I safely parked on the next street.

I liked this image of a few of the 20 or so Gatorade jugs that my neighbour uses in his many races.

This is my lonely water station, I had a volunteer Kyle helping me, just short of the 3km mark in today's marathon.  This later became the 24 km water station as the course was a loop they ran twice.  It was also metres away from the 120 km mark for the cumulative mileage of the week.  Remember, these runners are covering 160 km in seven days of racing, many of them composed of extreme hills.

Tomorrow I'll be back with an update to the Great Hummus Challenge.  You might be surprised by the results, but I have photographic evidence and it speaks for itself.

I'll also summarize the wide variety of food that I prepared, including telling you that I used 200 ounces of pre-cooked chickpeas to make all that hummus.   Recipes and links to previously posted recipes will be included.  While you're sitting there dreaming of your favourite post exercise meal, leave a comment and tell me your favourite race distance and what sport (running, walking, biking, swimming etc).