Epic Performance at Conquer the Canuck

Move over Lance! Here comes the Wanderer’s own Richard “Yichie” Takata. Lance Armstrong won the world’s toughest athlete for his performance in this year’s Tour de France. But that title only lasted for two weeks until Yichie (who also goes by the running name Crash) competed in the Conquer the Canuck ultra trail run on August 2 and 3 in Waterloo, Canada.

Yichie, who lives in Toronto, ran the 50k portion of the race on Saturday in a sterling 4:37:28 finishing in 8th place in a field of heavyweight Canadian ultra runners. But that was just the warmup. The next day, he ran the marathon portion of the event in 3:44:23 for a total elapsed time of 8:21:51 and 5th place overall. Yichie had distinguished himself last fall in the Wanderers’ inaugural Run for Revolution marathon along the Delaware River.

Irish Joe Cleary treated the combined race which was called the Ultimate Canuck like a morning stroll in the park finishing 35th in an elapsed time of 12:21:12.

Running in just the 50k event, Rock Steady and the Purple Piper renewed their rivalry with the Piper coming out on top finishing in 5:51:03. Rock staggered to the finish line in 6:14:32. UltraWoman, saving her strength for the St. John, New Brunswick marathon the next week, ran the 25k race in a time of 3:05:48, and placed 3rd in her age category.

Also distinguishing herself in the Ultime Canuck was Ruta Mazelis, who ran stride for stride with Irish Joe finishing in a time of 12:05:01. Ruta from Cleveland looked like a natural Wanderer. She did not let a lack of training get in her way running both the 50k and Marathon. The Wanderers Brain Trust was so impressed that it is considering Ruta for the unenviable, but long overdue, job of cleaning house at the Cleveland cell of the Wanderers, which has become a hotbed of malcontents, revolutionaries, anarcho-syndicalists, and underachievers.

The group of runners won a variety of honors with Yichie and Rua coming in second in their age categories and Irish Joe third. Even Rock Steady was awarded 3rd place in his age category for the 50k until the title was later stripped by race officials.

Yichie looks strong in the early stages of the marathon.
He is the buff runner in the middle of the pack.

Irish Joe, Ruta Mazelis and Maggie Hopewell
ease into the marathon portion of the Ultimate Canuck.

Yichie, Irish Joe, Ruta, Ultrawoman and the Purple Piper
pose for a group photo during the Conquer the Canuck races.

Yichie gets ready for action.

Yichie, Irish Joe and Ruta are still smiling after
almost 60 miles of running. Here they display
their winnings from the Ultimate Canuck.

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