THURSDAY
EARTH DAY
SPORTS
April 18, 2013 Vol. 28 • No. 32 ••• $1.25 inc. G.S.T.
All sorts of Comox Valley activities are planned to celebrate Earth Day. pages A12, 13
Comox Valley golfer Riley Wheeldon earns an exemption into the Web. com Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am. page B11
Peace Begins At Home April 14-28
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Crew chief at home
Runner returning to Boston
Erin Haluschak Record Staff
Earle Couper Record Staff
Her 17th Boston Marathon is one she will never forget, but Dr. Janet Green is already looking forward to her 18th. Green was the only Comox Valley runner in Monday’s epic 26.2-mile race, which was cancelled when two explosions went off near the finish line. She had finished the race just 10 minutes prior to the explosions. “I was having a slow day, but I’m glad I wasn’t having a slower day,” said Green, who was four blocks away from the explosions. “I was in the baggage pickup area when I saw and heard the explosions. We didn’t really know what was going on. I didn’t have a cellphone with me. When I exited the baggage area I talked to a fellow who told me what happened. We just got out of there.” Green said it was not possible for her to return to the finish line to lend her medical expertise, but she heard a Surrey, B.C. doctor say in an interview that the rehydration tent had been turned into a triage area. After the race, Green joined some friends she had pre-arranged to meet at a pub and they
SECOND
DR. JANET GREEN is back in the Comox Valley after escaping harm when two explosions happened near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. watched coverage of the events on the big screen TV. “We didn’t really know … there was just the same coverage over and over again. “We knew they’d stopped the race. We knew there were people hurt. That was about it. There was some rumours about traumatic amputations and that sort of thing, and there were. “A lot of people had their legs blown off. We learned about that later.” While Logan airport and the subway was closed down for about an hour following the explosions, Green said she felt authorities handled things as well as they
could. After arriving at the airport early Tuesday, Green said border patrol authorities asked “some minimal questions” but “it wasn’t a big hassle.” Green arrived back in the Comox Valley on Tuesday morning as planned, and was appreciative of the hugs she received from people at the airport who knew her. She said she was also grateful for all the concern she received from the running community and other friends here at home. And she said she will be on the starting line for the 2014 Boston. sports@comoxvalleyrecord.com
For nearly every member of the squadron, training in Comox means the start of a new season, but for Trevor Llewellyn, it means coming home. Llewellyn is the aviation technician crew chief for the Snowbirds Demonstration Team. As the only member from Comox, he considers the annual twoweek training trek to the Valley a chance to come back to the area he knows very well. “I put down deep roots — I have so many good friends in Comox. I own a home here … I started my military career here,” he said near the runway at 19 Wing Tuesday, shortly after takeoff for the afternoon practice. As a self-titled military brat, Llewellyn began as an aviation systems technician, with his first posting in 1998 to the 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron in Comox, where he worked on Labrador and Buffalo aircrafts. He was promoted to sergeant and posted to the 2 Canadian Air Division in Winnipeg prior to being offered a position with the Snowbirds. Llewellyn was trained as a servicing/snags supervisor, and appointed as crew chief this year. He said there is always a learning curve with a new aircraft fleet, but now has a better appreciation and understanding of the demo team. “I spent 12 years (in Comox) and I would always
A TECHNICIAN CROSSES the runway shortly after the nine Snowbirds takeoff on their afternoon practice Tuesday at 19 Wing Comox. PHOTO BY ERIN HALUSCHAK see the team coming every year to train when I was at 442. I didn’t quite understand the work that’s involved, and what it’s like to take the team on the road,” he noted.
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