Ok, I'll start with the race. I'm sure Paul will give the view from his half of the pack, I'll give it from mine :)

I was really happy to finally be racing, pretty nervous since I hadn't run a steeplechase with a pack since 2001, but overall just excited to finally be racing. Before the race I knew that there was a big gap in pb's - 9-10 guys below 9:25 and then 5-6 of us with times in the 9:50's or low 10's. My coach and I decided that I wanted to try to run with the top half of the pack, since I had run my pb alone in Saint John and we were hoping that running with guys faster than me would really pull me along for a 20-30 second pb or so. I went out with those guys for the first couple laps and felt good. They started to pick it up 800-1000m in and I started drifting further back. After Nick Walker and 2 or 3 other guys passed me I really tried to stick with them, but I was getting caught by the guys who went out more conservatively. Eventually Nick McBride and Matt Sinclair went by, and once they got clear of me didn't they seem to get a whole lot further ahead, they just sort of held their distance. Verne Cunningham got my splits and laps 4 and 5 really killed me, they were a good 4-5 seconds slower than any other lap, and even though I picked it up on the last two laps I had lost too much time. I usually have a strong kick so I tried to run down Nick and Sinclair but I didn't have it. I ran a 10:04 which is 6 seconds off my pb, dissapointing that I wasn't able to better it, and finished 13th overall, one spot below where I was ranked going in. It wasn't the ideal performance that I was hoping for, but it could have been a lot worse (I speak from experience after a LOT of DFL's in my legion nationals days). I was happy that I went for a good time and placing and died, rather than sitting back and aiming to move up one or two spots on my ranking without really knowing how well I could have done. After the race I had a strudle, two cinnamon buns, and two puddings to celebrate the end of a pretty good season.

Highlights from the week were seeing a lot of my friends from home, some of whom like Yves Robichaud and pretty much all the french girls from NB I hadn't really hung out with in years. There were a lot of great races to watch, and seeing volleyball and soccer was fun too, although I've always been more partial to women's volleyball... It was really nice to see my buddy Geoff Kerr get 3 medals, even if one was for running a 52 in the 4 x 400 heats then letting the real sprinters take the gold in the final :) It was probably my last time with so many of my old track friends from NB being in the same place, so that was nice but also kinda sad too. That might have been my last trip in NB colours (I'm still willing to get those vaccinations for Niger if you decide you need a versatile mid-distance guy, Yvan) so I'm glad that I'm able to be pretty happy with my race and with the time I was able to spend with everyone. I didn't get to say goodbye to Kellar, Tyler, Barry, Pierre, Gabe and several other people since I had to leave early with Team Alberta, but it was great seeing you guys and I'll try to meet up with you at races next summer. Thanks to the NB coaches and mission staff and the Games committee for putting on a good time :) Hope to see as many of you as possible in Halifax for CIS XC, Travis

Travis Saunders competing at the Canada Summer Games.

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