NF100 Photos - on facebook.

Feel free to check the photos out on Facebook. Select the link in the title above. Blogspot was far too slow to upload these.
Video is proving more difficult as my camera records in HD and so the file extension isn't recognised by facebook or youtube. I'll get something sorted.

I'm going to throw some suggestions out into the ether about BMMC.
As BMMC is building a fair bit of momentum in terms of recognition amongst the local and wider running community and with the fantastic results of a few key members (whether they were aware they were members or not is beside the point) in recent races, some thought needs to go into the future direction of the group.

Following the fantastic night of pizza, beer and a film presentation from North Face 100 that was held at Victoria's Italian Restaurant in celebration of the phenomenal results achieved by BMMC members, Andrew Lee and Branden Haywood, some suggestions have been made that these sorts of nights could become somewhat of a regular event. It may even be adopted as the BMMC clubhouse if Sean is OK with that. Thanks again to Sean Greenhill and his generosity in opening up his Restaurant to the BMMC crew.

This got me thinking about getting some shirts screen printed, and looking forward to future races where we can get involved and either compete or support those guys who are competing. A lot has to be said about the kindness and generosity of the BMMC support crew at NF100 who were patient enough to wait for the stragglers to waddle on in at the end of their race. Heads up to Sleep Train and Scam for getting out there.
I have been approached by a local media outlet to perhaps do a feature article on the BMMC and its successes on the Australian Trail Running Calendar.

So, to those silent supporters of BMMC, remain silent no longer. Raise your voices and declare yourself a BMMC member (pending approval). I know that on paper, the BMMC looks a lot like an elite society of established runners, and whilst this is indeed the case it is also much more. For me, the group is about friends and training partners enjoying the satisfaction that comes from being able to run the best trails in Australia just outside our back doors. There is a wide range of ability represented by the BMMCs membership, yet an acceptance of each other for where they are in their running journey (pardon the cliche) , which makes for an incredibly positive and encouraging atmosphere on the regular runs.

So far, the group has expanded simply by word of mouth alone. Where different circles of friends and training partners have merged into one loose association of runners from the same geographical location. I am conscious that this can sometimes appear to be exclusive for those people who just may not know someone in the group. The question is how do we open the BMMC up for anyone and everyone who would benefit from joining? How do we promote the group?

Scams challenge laid down following the Wild Endurance title being claimed by the Sydney Striders, to take out the trifecta in 2010 has provided some long-term goals for BMMC. The plan is to have as many members as we can compete in the Six Foot Track (we would have to get 1, 2 and 3 to improve on 2009); to follow it up with a relay team in the Wild Endurance and smash the course record and reclaim the title from the low-landers and then back it up 2 weeks later with as many entrants in the NF100 and improve upon this years 1st and 3rd. As for the rest of the year, we have the Woodford to Glenbrook, the Hunter Valley Marathon, the M7 Marathon, Fitzroy Falls Marathon just to name a few.

But, the BMMC isn't just about running (a little misleading, we apologise). Quite a few members (in fact almost all) are into multisport, including Triathlons and Adventure Racing. With success at the last National Geographic event, the skinny-Kiwi is looking to put in a good performance at this years GeoQuest in under two weeks time. Animal has his sights set on Port Maquarie Ironman 2010, and may manage to drag a few other BMMC members along with him. Aside from recognised events, there has also been talk of a 12hour attack on Kedumba. Adapting the very popular endurance moutainbike concept to the trail running domain. This could become a BMMC-sponsored low-key fatass-esque event where other running clubs are invited to come and train and test themselves on the premiere trails of the Blue Mountains.

I'm going to throw it out there to see if people are interested in perhaps setting up a website. Somewhere to post photos, put up course descriptions for popular runs, notify the wider community about planned runs, brag about past achievements, taunt other "marathon clinics" about who is better, etc, etc. I do have some webspace available through my ISP. I'm not all that crash hot with html, but there are some easy programs that you dont need to know html for. I also probably dont have much time to give to the idea but thought I would offer it if anyone else did and felt like they wanted to do it.