Winnipeg Free Press Newspaper Archives Jul 12 2015, Page 3

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 12, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A3 winnipegfreepress. com MANITOBA WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2015 A 3 35 Melnick Road, Winnipeg MB www. guertinequipment. com ph: 204- 255- 0260 * for 240 months @ 5.50% OAC or buy for $ 38,900 150 Mercury 4- stroke, Mooring Cover, Ski Tow, Vinyl Floor with snap in carpet and much more 200 Cabana Triple Toon ONLY $ 125 B/ W ( plus tax)* A super- size Slurpee set a world record in Winnipeg on Saturday. As part of 7- Eleven Canada’s 46th anniversary celebrations, its convenience store at 119 Salter St. mixed a 711- litre cherry Slurpee, which stood about 10- feet tall in one of its characteristic cups. But its straw was just for show. “ It was for the photo- op, to celebrate and to set a new world record. This has never been done before, 711 litres,” said Paula Araya- Alvarez, 7- Eleven’s regional marketing manager. Because they wouldn’t be able to maintain the quality of the Slurpee for the day, no one would be sipping on the giant drink, she said. Free Slurpees were being given out from 11 a. m. to 7 p. m. at all 7- Eleven locations while quantities lasted. Most everyone’s Slurpees on Salter were turning into puddles of liquid in mere minutes, as temperatures hovered around 30 C. Brothers Braxton, 7, and Chay, 3, didn’t mind the heat. “ They taste good. There’s lots of flavours. I like orange, Coke and vanilla,” Braxton said of the frosty drinks. “ It’s yummy,” Chay added between slurps. 7- Eleven Canada’s anniversary party was especially festive in Winnipeg, as the city was named the Slurpee capital of the world for the 16th consecutive year in June. On Saturday, Mr. Slurpee, the brand’s mascot, presented Winnipeggers with a bronze trophy in honour of its lofty title. Araya- Alvarez wouldn’t say how many Slurpees people in Winnipeg have consumed in the last year or in the last 16 years. That information is confidential, she said. 7- Eleven chose the Salter location for its massive Slurpee party to show off one of its newest stores. “ We wanted to give the neighbourhood a great party. They’ve welcomed us with open arms. We opened at the end of May, and we haven’t looked back. And as you can see, we’ve got a lot of Slurpee fans already,” Araya- Alvarez said as a queue of about 50 people wound out the door, waiting for their free drinks. Face- painting and craft stations, paired with live music, made for quite a block- party atmosphere. Missing from the party was Scott Burton, an ultra- marathoner who planned to run to all 45 7- Eleven locations in Winnipeg Saturday with a group of friends. He started at 12 a. m. and hoped to reach every store by the stroke of midnight the following night. “ I thought about how long would it take to hit every single 7- Eleven, and honestly, it took weeks to plot them all out to find the most efficient route possible,” Burton said. “ It’s a care- free, fun thing, and it’s a little bit goofy. It’s got a quirky, Manitoba feel to it.” The course he charted runs a very appropriate 71.1 miles ( 114.4 kilometres). Burton said he didn’t plan to drink a Slurpee at every location, but would stop for a photo- op at each store — and maybe toss back a few Slurpees here and there. He expected his group of runners to stop and re- fuel with food and water or get first aid at about 50 per cent of the 7- Eleven stores. Burton planned to take a lot more breaks Saturday than he would during an ultra- marathon because of the high humidity. “ It’s safety first, really. This isn’t an ego thing; we’re not breaking a world record for speed or anything,” he said. “ It’s just a fun thing to do. This year we’re going to do the ultimate run, and nobody’s going to be able to top this baby.” jessica. botelho- urbanski@ freepress. mb. ca 7- Eleven celebrates 46th with giant Slurpee By Jessica Botelho- Urbanski G RUNTHAL — As if it wasn’t hot enough already. Athletes taking part in Manitoba’s first Spartan Race on Saturday hopped over flames to make it to the finish line. Starting at 8 a. m., waves of 250 people — adults, teens and kids — manoeuvred through a five- kilometre course packed with 22 obstacles at a gravelly Grunthal Motocross Park. Crawling through muddy trenches covered in barbed wire, scaling wooden walls, swimming through a creek and throwing spears at haybale targets were just some of the signature challenges. What sets Spartan Race apart from typical mud runs is its communal feel, many athletes and organizers said Saturday. Three sisters from Steinbach — Regina, 18, Caitlyn, 16, and Alanna Harder, 14 — and their friend, Mylène Gagné, 17, went into the adult race somewhat worried about keeping up. But they finished together, smiling and flexing their biceps atop the podium. “ It was kind of intimidating coming up to start, and there was all these buff people coming,” said Caitlyn Harder. “ I’m glad we stuck together, because there’s eight- foot walls and stuff, and it was good to jump over,” Regina Harder said. “ And I’m really surprised about the amount of people we didn’t know who helped us over the walls and stuff. It was great.” Spartan Races have become a worldwide phenomenon since they began in Vermont in 2010. Now organized in 22 countries, the courses have three difficulty levels — sprints, supers and beasts. Dean Stanton, Western Canada’s regional director for Spartan Race, said watching kids get active — off the couch and away from their video games — and keeping course designs creative are among his favourite aspects of overseeing six courses in western Canada. “ Really, for us, it’s about just challenging people and keeping it fresh. Even if you come back here… it’ll be a different course. We add in new obstacles,” he said. “ People are kind of getting tired of the stale, same- old- same- old ( races). And this is really a fun way to keep fit because it works your upper and lower body.” The former triathlete isn’t in the business of making brutal courses for no reason, he said. ( Although every time someone makes a mistake on an obstacle, they have to do a set of 30 burpees, as per Spartan Race tradition.) In the end, running a clean race with no burpees feels oh- so- sweet, as was the case for Mikhail Gerylo, who came in first during the elite heat Saturday. Gerylo is a physical education teacher and a world- class Spartan Race runner, who only started competing last year. In his first race — a 30- km stretch in Ottawa — he placed third. He ran a large section of the race with at least five obstacles between him and his closest competitors. His dislocated shoulder — injured from playing Ultimate nine days before the race — wasn’t much of a deterrent. “ I really haven’t done anything training- wise after that. I’ve just been resting it,” Gerylo said. “ I really try to make everything I do functional training. You take basic exercises and you make combos of them. I never use machines at the gym. I do a lot of athletic movements and circuit training,” he said of his normal workouts, which include lots of running. “ I need to train for mountains, but how do you do that in Manitoba? You just have to run hills at Garbage Hill.” Gerylo will be competing at the 2015 Spartan Race World Championship in Lake Tahoe, Nev., in October. He cherished the opportunity to run on home turf before then. “ I’m from Manitoba, but I’ve gone and done a few races out of the province, so it was nice to race in my hometown,” he said. Gerylo encouraged his students — some of whom were racing Saturday — and anyone who might be mildly interested in obstacle- course running to sign up for a Spartan Race. “ A lot of people are nervous, but when you try it out, when you sign up, it gives you a real purpose to do your training. You’ll see your attitude change towards going to the gym,” he said. Stanton said he is planning another Spartan Race for Manitoba next year. jessica. botelho- urbanski@ freepress. mb. ca Course no match for Spartans Inaugural race attracts 250 By Jessica Botelho- Urbanski PHOTOS BY TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Three- year- old Mya Hotomani checks out the 711- litre slush drink Saturday. Six- month- old Gregory Murdoch McKay with the huge cherry Slurpee. PHOTOS BY TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ABOVE: Frankie Scribe gets down and dirty at the Spartan Race in Grunthal on Saturday. BELOW: Another competitor tackles the obstacle course. A_ 03_ Jul- 12- 15_ FP_ 01. indd A3 7/ 11/ 15 10: 21: 41 PM