Whistler’s Morgan Titus placed second in the Grouse Grind Mountain Run this past Sunday, Sept. 23, climbing 853 metres over just 2.9 km of trail in just 27 minutes and 33 seconds.
The winner was once again Michael Simpson of West Vancouver in 26:19, who shaved more than 40 seconds off his time from 2006.
Morgan was also second last year, but managed to shave 24 seconds off his time in this year’s race.
Simpson earned $1,000 for his personal best time, while Titus took home $500.
Jesse Heckrodt of Squamish placed third in 28:56, winning $250.
Also racing from Whistler was John Muzzillo, who placed fifth in the men’s 40 to 49 category in 36:51.
Leanne Johnston of North Vancouver set a new women’s record in 31:04.
This year more than 500 people took part in the race.
Local women ride with Lance Armstrong
Whistler’s Leslie Weir and Carol Fevang were among the hundreds of cyclists that had an opportunity to ride beside seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong in the B.C. Cancer Foundation Tour of Courage this past weekend in Vancouver. Armstrong is a cancer survivor, and has raised millions towards cancer charities through his LiveStrong program and participation in fundraisers.
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell also took part, and used the event to promote healthy living by pointing out that regular physical activity can reduce your risk of developing cancer by up to 50 per cent.
Other legendary riders in the group included Phil Liggett, Johan Bruyneel, Steve Bauer, and Axel Merckx.
All adult participants had to raise at least $1,000 to take part in the Tour of Courage, and Leslie Weir and Carol Fevang helped to raise $3,500. In total the event raised over $2 million for the B.C. Cancer Foundation.
Dates set for Crankworx 2008
Whistler-Blackcomb has announced dates for the 2008 Crankworx freeride mountain bike festival, pushing the start of the nine-day festival back about two weeks, to Aug. 9-17.
This will be the fifth year of the festival, as well as the 10 th anniversary of the Whistler Mountain Bike Park.
According to event director Jeremy Roche, planning is already underway.
“The 2007 event exceeded our expectations on all accounts,” he said. “Kokanee Crankworx drew hundreds of thousands of spectators from across the globe who were able to experience the world’s best talent over an action-packed nine-day festival.
“Planning has begun for Kokanee Crankworx 2008 and while we haven’t finalized all of the details, I think I can safely say that next year will be off the hook, both on the mountain and in the village.”
Details will be posted online at www.crankworx.com.
Lumpy’s the last of the epics
While the trails will be open for running until the snow falls, the last event on the Sea to Sky competition calendar is fast-approaching.
The Lumpy’s Epic trail run will take place on Saturday, Oct. 13 on the singletrack trails surrounding One Mile Lake in Pemberton. The trail climbs through an old growth forest onto a rocky plateau with stunning views of Mount Currie and the Green River.
The total distance is in the neighbourhood of 10 km.
More details will be available soon.
Thieves steal Team Canada bikes
The Canadian road team got off to a rough start at the championships in Germany last weekend when thieves broke into the team truck and stole nine bikes — all of the Under 23 team’s road and time trial bikes, and two of the team’s spare bikes.
The thieves removed a window from the truck to get to the bikes, which had a combined value between $40,000 and $50,000.
Among the victims was B.C.’s Christian Meier, who races on the Symmetrics team.
When word got out about the theft, the Gerolsteiner German team loaned their bikes to the riders.
None of the dozens of other teams in Germany had their bikes stolen, leaving the Canadians to wonder why they were targeted. It could be a compliment — seven out of the nine lost bikes were made in Canada.
Canada’s top prospects in the road race are Symmetrics rider Svein Tuft, his teammates Cam Evans and Meier, and former mountain biker turned road racer Ryder Hesjedal.
