DO YOU WANT TO OWN A FIGHTER JET? PAGE A7
TURTLES TOP MOVIE ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ sliced off $65M at the box office
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Red Deer Advocate MONDAY, AUG. 11, 2014
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Quake shakes Rocky STRONGEST TREMOR IN A DECADE KNOCKED OUT POWER BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Alberta’s strongest earthquake in a decade shook the ground near Rocky Mountain House early Saturday morning. A 4.3-magnitude earthquake struck at 9:28 a.m. about 27 km southwest of the town. It was initially reported as a 4.1 magnitude quake but later upgraded. While there were no reports of significant damage or injuries, there was a whole lot of shaking going on around. In Strachan, about 25 km southwest of Rocky, Pat Haupt, heard what she described as ‘a roar.’ “The house started shaking,” said Haupt. “The china in the cabinet started clattering and that lasted about six seconds and all of a sudden it felt like a bulldozer hit my house.” The power was knocked out for about 500 residents and businesses in Clearwater County from Caroline to Nordegg including the Strachan Gas Plant. The Keyara Corp. operated plant flared off excess gas when it lost power but there was no damage or reported injuries. A substation in the area locked out to prevent a surge or other damage to the system a couple hours later. Ted Hickey, Clearwater County’s director of community and protective services, said there was no risk to the public. He said the county also received many calls about the quake but there were no reported damages. Honn Kao, an earthquake seismologist with the Geological Survey of Canada, said an earthquake of this size typically is big enough to be detected by residents but does not cause significant damage. Kao said people do not typically feel an earthquake when a magnitude is below 2.5 unless they are right on top of the epicentre. “There are quite a few earthquakes in the region usually to the west in the Rocky Mountain area,” he said. “Most of these events are not really big enough to be felt. This one was certainly big enough to be felt.”
Please see QUAKE on Page A2
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Covered from head to toe in mud Tana Denty, left, and Carol Le Maistre-Matthys of Red Deer mug for their own selfie after completing the Mud Hero event at the Canyon Ski Resort east of Red Deer on Friday. Each day through the weekend saw thousands of participants slipping and sliding up and down the course, which included about 20 obstacles that tested their strength and skill to move while covered in mud.
Race is muddy good fun BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF I stood at the starting line at Mud Hero wondering what I had I gotten myself into. It was Friday afternoon and I graciously volunteered to “uncover” the muddy truth behind the popularity of these races. Surrounded by costumed participants with brightly coloured tutus, glittery headbands and fluorescent knee high socks, I felt slightly under accessorized in my black tank and shorts. The Mud Hero in Red Deer is a 6-km run with a bunch of obstacles thrown in the mix of mud and more mud played out during multiple heats at the Canyon Ski Resort. Now I will let you in on a little secret. Although I look good on paper — I run upwards of 70 (painstakingly slow) km every week and fake my way through Pure Fitness Crossfit classes – I am pretty much a big wimp. Not having the strength to finish any of the obstacles was my biggest fear. The obstacles boasted names like Demolition Derby, Frog Spa, Tadpole Trench and Kong, which I assure you did zip to calm my freaking nerves. My fears were somewhat alleviated thanks to a lively and entertaining DJ who pumped up the crowd by taking selfies with runners, cracking jokes,
inciting chants and blasting crowdpleasing music. I almost forgot I was at a race. As Mr. DJ began the countdown, I took my place near the back of the heat. I strapped a GoPro to my head and we were off. My goal was simply to complete all the obstacles without too many bruises, cuts and tears. Straight away I knew this wasn’t your typical running race. For one thing, people were walking within 150 metres of crossing the start line. Granted our route took us up a slight incline to start, but come on, this is a race. The filthy reality and common sense hit me smack in the face not too long after I passed judgement. Our route was one big muddy mess. Everyone around me was slipping, sliding and crawling their way up and down a slick slope. Some held onto tree branches while others trusted
gravity to send them on their way. Clearly they had found their happy place. And it was dirty, very dirty. Soon I was with them laughing, cursing and falling flat on my butt. I felt my anxiety quickly evaporating. Our first test was to run over a handful of old and beaten cars. Runners flew over the cars with little hesitation. I was more cautious because I am ... well ... a wuss. It had rained all morning and the night before so the course was very slick. At times I felt like I was wearing cement shoes in quicksand. I kept telling myself — don’t stop moving. I chatted with the fellow mud runners because, let’s face it, when you’re stuck in the mud there’s not much else you can do. We scaled walls, climbed a cargo net, slid down water slides, weaved our way through a spider’s web and nearly lost our sneakers crawling through a sloppy and soggy mud pit. My mental game was tested at the firepole obstacle. We had to scale a wall then slide down the pole on the other side. Somewhere in the mud I had lost my confidence and I completely froze on top. Others rallied around me with words of encouragement like “you can do it,” “you got it” and “pretend it’s a stripper pole.”
Please see MUD HERO on Page A2
Blood supply dips to five-year low BY MARY-ANN BARR ADVOCATE STAFF
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Making his 23rd donation of blood at the Canadian Blood Services office in Red Deer, Stephan Lyonnais of Red Deer uses his cellphone camera to capture the moment when the needle penetrates his arm.
WEATHER Mainly sunny. High 27. Low 13.
FORECAST ON A2
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The mostly beautiful weather being enjoyed this summer is having an unexpected negative impact on Canadian Blood Services. Across Canada, thousands of appointments to donate blood remain unfilled, resulting in the national inventory hitting a five-year low. Heather Rumbolt, local volunteer co-ordinator for CBS in Red Deer, said that they are experiencing fewer ap-
pointments being booked and an unusually high no-show rate of 20 per cent. For the remainder or August, Red Deer has 665 unfilled appointments available. For Northern Alberta, which includes Red Deer, the number is 4,200 unfilled bookings. It’s a similar experience across the country, with many places seeing even lower bookings than Red Deer, which aims for 250 appointments weekly to keep up with the local demand for blood.
Please see BLOOD on Page A2
Jays win longest game in franchise history Jose Bautista hit a single in the bottom of the 19th inning to give the Blue Jays a 6-5 comeback win over the Detroit Tigers. Story on PAGE B2
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