June 25th dawned grey and cool in Edmonton, but around 500 tough
trail runners were undaunted. These rugged, hill-loving,
souls braved the prospect of rain, mud, and puddles at Sundridge
this past Saturday for the second Salomon 5 Peaks Trail Race
(presented by Mountain Equipment Co-op) of the regular Northern
Alberta season.
Rain through the previous two weeks had seen the trail crew
extremely busy cutting new trail sections to replace flooded-out
single track and the 5Peakers put that new trail to the test!
And what a test it was! The 7.5km (Sport Course) or 15km
(Enduro Course) of single track, double track, technical grassy
sections, extreme downhills, even more extreme uphills thrilled
every runner - all in all a wild good time!
Overall Enduro race winner
David Corbett set a
new course record at 1:04.40, holding off Yves Gagnon and Cameron
Mang (who each won their respective age divisions) with a
rocket-like start and a gutsy hold on the pace. Ladies showed
extremely well in the Enduro with overall winner and new course
record holder
Megan Hodges coming in at 1:18.02,
staying a few steps ahead of sisters Savanna Boutin and Rozlyn
Boutin who's neck-and-neck race to the line was a highlight for
spectators.
The field was dazzled by some incredible speed in the Sport
Course, with overall Sport winner and new course record holder
Emma Neigel coming in at 36.52 followed by top
male finisher
Brian Stewart at 37.19 who was
chased in by youngster Tate MacDonald (under 14!) and Roch Labelle
just ahead of 2nd and 3rd place ladies Laura Estey and Coral
Weibe.
Strong finishes through the whole field were the story of the day,
despite the 200m (per lap!) of elevation change and a mentally
challenging up and downhill chicane in the last 2.5km to the
finish.
The day started out with the ScotiaBank Children's challenge that
saw around 30 of the newest generation of trail runners test their
endurance on a deceptively hilly 1km course - and an exciting creek
jump in the last 200 meters starting the sprint to the
finish! All the kids did great and are already looking
forward to their next race, three weeks from now:
5Peaks Camrose! Saturday July 16
Yes! 5Peaks brings you ANOTHER brand-new course, complete
with all the usual thrills - there are sure to be some surprises
too! For more information or to register, head to
www.5Peaks.com
See you on the trails!
