Ottawa Pacers Book of Achievement
Al Rose

Pacer Member

Category

Elected

Al Rose volunteered to resurrect and update this Pacers' Book of Achievement, which had been allowed to lapse after a brave beginning in 1989.  This entailed identifying and finding Pacers from the past twenty years who deserved recognition for their accomplishments on behalf of the club.

Al joined the Pacers in 1989 at the age of 60, hoping to improve his skating for the annual Winterlude Triathlon.  Speed skating became his prime interest and he qualified that year as a CASSA level one Finish Line Judge.  In his first provincial long track meet on the 400m Brewer Park oval, he set records for the 60 - 69 age group in three distances; 500m, 1000m and 1500m.  In 1991 Al was the Ontario Cup Champion in the Masters Men 4 category.  In 1992 Al also set CASSA short track records i the 500m, 777m and 1000m distances.  He participated in many meets as timer and judge, and in 1995 became a certified Level 1 coach.

In 1990 Al and his wife Margaret moved from Ottawa on his retirement from AECL to Deep River, Ontario where he attempted to establish a speed skating club, which unfortunately failed after three years.  He and Margaret continued to keep a 400m oval cleared on the Ottawa River where Al trained and continued to promote the sport.

At the Ontario Provincial Championships in Sault Ste Marie in 2001, Al set three provincial long track records for Masters Men 70+ in the 500m, 1000m and 1500m distances.  In March 2001 he participated in his last long track meet, the 10th Seniors International Speed Skating Games in Sainte-Foy, Quebec.

In spite of progressively limiting arthritis of the right knee, Al continued to skate the Inline Marathon each May in Ottawa.  Knee surgery in February 2005 was successful enough to permit a continuation of Al's speed skating, inline skating and downhill skiing tradition.