The Bantam Titans chalked up their first win of the season and they did it on one of the biggest stages in Alberta, McMahon Stadium.
    The Titans squared up against Rocky Mountain House on Saturday, September 21 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary. Coach Thomas Laffin said it was a great experience for the team.
    “It is always great to play in McMahon Stadium,” said Laffin. “It’s a great experience for the kids to play on the same turf as the Dinos and the Stampeders and all the CFL teams that play there. You could see their nervousness before the game is about to start and the excitement when they run out onto the field. It’s a totally different experience than playing in a schoolyard field.”
    The Titans were pumped and it showed in their play. They jumped out early and their offense was firing. The Titans were up 28-8 by half time and they extended their lead to go on to a 46-8 win.
    “It felt really good to have the team come together on this win,” said Laffin.
    He said Rocky Mountain House was a good team, however, the Titans were firing on all cylinders.
    “We were on point on every block and every tackle. The guys were pumped and ready to play. They came to win and we did that,” said Laffin.
    The difference in this game for the Titans was they were able to get into a rhythm.
    “In the other games  we were very tight and well-matched, and we were getting bad penalties, every time we gained some momentum, it would get called back,” said Laffin. ”Everything kept going our way and we just kept going with it.”
    Next up for the Titans is Ponoka this coming weekend on the road.
    “We saw them at the spring jamboree and they were missing a few players there. So this will be a little bit different of a game,” said Laffin. “They did really well in the spring so it will be a good game.”

This Saturday about 200 athletes will be taking on some of the toughest, and most beautiful terrain in the valley at the first-ever X- Ultramarathon.

The cross country run, made of four legs totaling 50 kilometres goes Saturday morning  September 21 from the Dinosaur Trail Golf and Country Club. Organizer Darcy Chalifoux of X- Warrior Challenge is excited about the race.

“The run itself, I can’t say there is a more beautiful course in Western Canada, if not Canada,” said Chalifoux. “It is going to be incredible.”

In less than two months, organizers have filled the race. About half the runners are taking on the course as solo runners. The rest are tackling it in teams of two or four.

He says while the event is sold out there is a waitlist that runners can sign up if spaces open up.

“It is an even split which is really nice,” said Chalifoux, adding he expects about 50-60 percent to be staying overnight before the race.

“This is really nice because the goal is to look after our partners as much as possible and fill hotel rooms and having people spend their money in town, so it is very positive to see those numbers,” he said.

“If we pull it off and everyone is happy we will definitely look at making things bigger and better next year.”

It will be a busy weekend, and the centre of the action will be Dinosaur Trail Golf and Country Club. Base camp will be at the overflow parking area of the golf course and the race will start on the site. Participants and spectators will need to park at the Royal Tyrrell Museum and there will be a shuttle to the site.

Racers can set up at base camp on Friday afternoon and there will be a pre-race briefing on Friday evening a 5 p.m. as well as a pasta dinner.

On Saturday Base Camp opens at 7 a.m., and the soloists hit the course at 8 a.m. The relay races start at 8:30 a.m.

The first leg of the race will be a standard loop, while the three remaining loops will be in the tradition of a Barkley Book Loop.

Chalifoux explains this is modeled after the Barkley Marathons where runners tear a page out of a book, that matches your bib number at the midway point to prove their distance.

Runners will have 10 hours to complete the course.

Part of the event is that it hopes to raise some funds for the Drumheller Rotary club to support the work they do in the community. There will be a kids 1K fun run at 1 p.m., and the proceeds of this will go towards the Rotary. They are also hosting a longest drive contest.

“The way the course is set, all the runners leave the base camp through the same path, underneath the highway, and then run right beside the driving range. So we thought it would be cool to sell tickets and run the longest drive contest all day,” he said. “This will include spectators or participants, and when they are running their leg, maybe they can hit the ball a few times.”

Chalifoux invites anyone who wants to support the runners to come out. They can play a round of golf or participate in the long drive challenge and the kitchen will be open while they wait for the runners. Awards are at 2 p.m.

More event information is available at

www.xwarriorchallenge.com