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The Whistler Valley Trail Run closed out Family Week by drawing a big crowd on a beautiful day, with about 170 runners coming out to take a turn through the Lost Lake trails on Sunday (May 24).
The 18th edition of the annual event proved to be another hit, offering plenty of climbs and splendidly scenic 10- and five-kilometre races to start the season for the Sea to Sky Trail Running Series.
Whistler’s Glen Scutt, who took on the five-kilometre course for his first local trail race at that distance, said the route was great, but challenging.
“The uphills were hard. The first two-thirds of that course is uphill, and it kills you if you’re not training for it properly. But once you plane out and get going, it’s fun, you get going on ’er,” he said.
Both races began with a spin around one of the baseball fields at Spruce Grove, before the courses took a turn for the uphill. The 10-kilometre course sent the runners along the Lower Panorama, Old Mill Road, Molly Hogan and Lost Lake Loop trails before finishing with Vimy Ridge and Tin Pants.
The five-kilometre course hit up Lower Panorama, Molly Hogan and the Lost Lake Loop before wrapping up with Old Mill Road back to Lower Panorama and then the Spruce Grove finish line.
Scutt called the event a great way to start both a Sunday and a season of racing. He tackled the event along with other members of the running group he trains with, headed by John Blok at The Core, and ended up happy with his time of 30 minutes, 20 seconds.
“More people should come out and do it,” he said.
Whistler’s Munro (Munny) Duncan ran the 10-kilometre event despite having thrown everything he had at Saturday’s (May 23) 57-kilometre Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race in Squamish. He said he loves running in the Whistler trail race because the volunteers foster a good grassroots feel, and the fun event offers another chance to test yourself.
“They put in a good climb at the start,” Duncan said of the course and its scenic trails. “Those are feel-good trails. It finished on a little bit of a downhill.”
American triathlete Tim Naylor loped to a winning time of 37:23 in the 10-kilometre race, followed by John Davies in 39:21 and Roger Shirt in 39:34.
Young B.C. biathlete Matt Neumann posted a time of 40:24 to finish fourth overall and first in the men’s 19 and under age group, followed by Callum Symonds in 47:29 and Grant Iles in 55:51.
Duncan’s time of 42:16 placed him second in the men’s 30 to 39 group, behind Naylor and ahead of Peter Drysdale’s 42:58. Kevin Mair won the men’s 20 to 29 category, followed by Jonathan VanDrunen and Keil Wretham.
Blok won the men’s 50-plus category, after running much of the race with Duncan, who passed him on the final downhill. Barry McClure finished second and Robin Arbuthnot third in the age group.
On the women’s side, the top three runners in each age group were: Care Wakely, Sarah Olner and Catherine O’Neill in 20 to 29; Marie-Anne Prevost, Christine Cogger and Birgitte Marthinsen in 30 to 39; Cathy Jenkins, Susan Copland and Maribeth Callahan in 40 to 40; and Yoko Ishiguro, Andrea Westcott and Del MacCumber in 50 plus.
Mason Fulton blew across the line first after completing the five-kilometre race in a time of 21:14. Bob Deeks wasn’t far behind with his time of 22:24, followed by Laura Henderson in 25:53.
In the co-ed age groups, the top three runners were: Austin Reith, Jennifer McTavish and Sarah Ford in 15 and under; Fulton, Henderson and Alex Bunting in 20 to 29; and Deeks, Michelle Marsh and Craig Hubert in 40 plus.
For more information and full results, visit www.whistlervalleytrailrun.org. Event proceeds are donated to the Community Foundation of Whistler’s youth fund.
The next trail race in the Sea to Sky series is the ultimate challenge of Comfortably Numb on June 27.
