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On the Catwalk Again

Last week, my wife Peggy and I both modeled in a fashion show fundraiser for Sofia House, a second stage shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence that Peggy used to be the Executive Director of (she now works for the United Way as Director of Community Investment). It was her first time, so she was a little nervous. Fortunately, I’d done it before.

We were both in four sets, although only one together, showing casual, business casual, and business outfits from local shops. Most of the models this year were inexperienced, so we had several practices in the weeks before the show. Things were a little rough even in the dress rehearsal the night before the show, but everyone magically pulled together on the actual night and it went without a hitch. It was likely the beer and wine we had backstage that settled the nerves.

This year’s theme was “Mamma Mia”, so all of the sets were done to ABBA tunes (I still have several running through my head). We could tell the 500 women (and a few men) in attendance were having fun because of all the smiles and singing along to the familiar songs.

Here’s the first set Peggy and I were in; she’s on the left. Everyone had to wear glasses for this set (which I normally do, so I didn’t need a fake pair like she did); I guess it made us look more business-like. I also have a wad of (fake) $50 bills in my coat pocket because the ABBA song playing was “It’s a Rich Man’s World”.

I had to do another set where I wasn’t actually modeling clothes. In case you can’t tell, we’re all wearing flippers. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know why. In addition to doing muscle poses, we also had to do the can-can together. I think this skit got the loudest reaction from the audience.

I’m not sure how much money the fashion show raised this year, but it’s was likely as least $15,000. Since Sofia House gets no government funding, everything they make comes from private donations, organizations like the United Way, and fundraising efforts from the dedicated board, making this a very worthy cause. Plus it was a ton of fun to be involved in.

Another Fund Raiser

Last month, we were at another fund raiser for Sofia House, a second stage shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence. This was a little more sedate than last year's fashion show, but my son Nick and I did have to get dressed up so we could be ushers. He was considerably more popular with the ladies than I.

This year's show raised over $10,000 for Sophia House. Since the organization gets no government funding (which is a crime considering that our provincial government is wallowing in cash right now due to high commodity and oil prices), everything they make comes from private donations, organizations like the United Way, and fund-raising efforts.

Another Day at the Races

On Saturday, I competed in my second Echo Challenge, a fund raiser for our local YMCA to help disadvantaged kids go to summer camp and many other important programs run by the Y. Our team finished much better this year, placing 11th of 19 teams. That's not bad, considering we finished last in 2007 and many of the teams are comprised of 20 year old athletes.

Conditions were ideal this year: warm (about 24 C or 75 F) and little wind. The lake was like glass, which was much easier on the swimmers (last year, swimmers had a hard time catching a breath in the meter-high waves). Our swimmer finished ahead of last year's pace, in 13th. Our hill runner did great, finishing in the fastest time, which was tough considering both the competition and the fact that the leg was lengthened by about a kilometer this year.

I was a little nervous about this year's bike ride. On Wednesday, I was doing some hills to train for the event and a combination of new shoes and pedals (the click-in kind, which I've only used once before) and someone in a truck cutting me off on a gravel road up a hill resulted in a nasty crash. I had a lot of gravel-embedded road rash on my right forearm, leg, and back, but the worst part was my shoulder; I landed on my right shoulder and although it didn't hurt much then, by the time I got home it was agony. I got x-rays Thursday morning and fortunately nothing was broken or separated, so it was just soft tissue damage. It was a little better by Saturday morning but still very sore and tight. Fortunately, cycling is all lower body, so I was hoping it wouldn't be too much of a factor. I also have a dark purple bruise the size of a football on my right hip, but there's no pain, so I wasn't worried about it.

This year, I decided to use a road bike rather than a mountain bike and it made a huge difference. It wasn't a very fancy bike -- a $149 no-name brand -- but the lighter frame and much smaller tires really helped. (I did not, however, use the new shoes and pedals.) The other big difference was no head-wind this year. As a result, I felt like I was flying through the race. I passed three other cyclists like they were standing still and felt so strong I didn't even shift down on most of the hills. As they did last year, Peggy, Nick, and friends cheered me on at the start of my leg, drove ahead and cheered me on again, but couldn't beat me to the finish line because of traffic on the narrow, hilly road.

Here's a shot of me just starting off, with my son Nick chasing me:

I finished the 9.45 km race in 16:29, an average of over 34 kph, which I figured was pretty good for an old banged-up guy. It turns out that was the second fastest time of the day, which I was extremely happy about, considering the number of 20 year olds in the race. The only humbling thing was the fastest cyclist finished over a minute ahead of me, and he was in his 60s! He's a serious cyclist, though, with an $8,000 carbon fibre bike and a body that looks like he's made of steel, but he's in my sights for next year.

Here's Nick and I after the race:

Our swimmer from last year was our runner in the 6 km run this year, and he fared much better in this event, finishing 14th. Our canoeists also did much better this year (considering they swamped the canoe last year, they couldn't have done worse), also finishing 14th for their leg.

Echo Challenge raised over $25,000 for the YMCA this year, up significantly from last year. It felt great to have fun, engage my competitive side, and do something worthwhile for the community. I can't wait for next year!