CC Technologies Canada Track and Field Athlete – David Shanks

09/29/05

David Shanks Runs the Second Leg of the 4x400m

David Shanks, a Pipeline Integrity EIT from CC Technologies Canada LTD - Calgary office recently traveled to Turkey to compete in the 2005 Universiade (World University Games) in Izmir, Turkey from August 15-20. He was selected to this team to compete in the 4x400m relay based on his performances this season in the 400m and his 7th place finish in the 400m at the Canadian Track and Field Championships this past July.

David pulls double duty between his full time career in the Pipeline Integrity Division of CC Technologies Canada and, as he has done for 9 years, training 5 days a week for track and field. As he follows his passion for running, he is working towards larger goals, which he eventually hopes will take him to the Olympics. This season was full of personal bests in his two events: the 400m and 800m. During the season he set three personal bests in the 400m, culminating with a 48.01 clocking that saw him finish 7th in the country at the Canadian Track and Field Championships.

Opening Ceremonies

After Nationals David was selected to the Universiade 4x400m relay team and had a few stressful weeks; between completing his projects and handing others off to co-workers, David also needed to prepare for the competition and make travel arrangements for Turkey. Upon arriving in Turkey from one and a half days of travel, David was happy to see the smiling faces of the many volunteers. They helped him to find a meal in the cafeteria and his room for a much needed sleep before the Opening Ceremonies.

David Shanks and his 4x400m Team

After a week of meeting team members, training and seeing the sights of Izmir, David was eager to get to running in the 4x400m relay. The running order for the relay team was Nathan Vadeboncoeur, David, Ray Ardill and Neal Hurtubise. In the Preliminary round the team finished in 4th place with a time of 3 minutes 8.05 seconds which qualified them for the final.

In the 4x400m Final the Canadian relay team encountered some trouble right from the start. The officials started the race without noticing that the Canadian lead-off runner did not hear the “set” command. The race was not stopped and as a result the Canadian 4x400m relay team was not able to compete in the final.

Despite the disappointing finish to his competition in Izmir, David was very happy with his performance in the preliminary round. “It was my best relay performance ever and I’m happy to have been given the opportunity to run in this international competition.”

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