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Three Whistler teams in Haney to Harrison

‘I Really Don’t Wanna Run’ top local team
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Wet Out Craig Johnson runs the third leg of the Haney to Harrison.

The annual Haney to Harrison Road Relay took place this past Saturday with close to 250 teams of eight taking on a 100 km course from the Maple Ridge area to Harrison Hot Springs. Times ranged for 5:42:12 for the Vancouver-based Peninsula Runners, to more than 11 hours.

There were three Whistler teams in the race this year, as well as local runners competing with other teams.

The top Whistler team was I Really Don’t Wanna Run, which completed the race in 7:32:19. They placed third in the Open Mixed category and 18 th overall.

Bob Deeks ran the first leg, 9.42 km, where he placed seventh in a time of 39:22. Christine Suter took on the hilly second leg of 13.51 km, finishing in 1:04:55.

The third leg was the longest at 15.12 km, and started off with a brutal climb from the Stave Falls Dam. Kevin Titus took that leg, placing sixth in 57:07. His son Morgan, running for the Vancouver Beaver Buzz Racing Team, was third on that leg in 50:01.

The fourth leg was the second-longest at 14.42 km, and included a knee-punishing downhill into the Fraser Valley. It was also completely unsupported because of race vehicle restrictions, and runners had to bring their own water. Liz Cullen did the honours for the team in 1:13:35.

Jonathan Silcock ran the 13.12 km fifth leg in 1:00:44, 44 th best time.

Jennifer Keefer was 30 th in the 13.08 sixth leg with a time of 58:50.

The seventh leg is just 13.31 km, but is one of the hardest with a long climb at the start and a steep grade back down to the Fraser Valley.

John Blok handled the leg for the team, placing 19 th in 56:22.

Aaron Heidt of Squamish, who has won several off-road races in the Sea to Sky Trail Running Series, was third on the leg in 46:51 while racing for the winning team.

The final stage was 8.03 km, finishing in Harrison Hot Springs. Grace Blok finished in 41:08.

Next up for Whistler was I Don’t Wanna Run, with a cumulative time of 7:48:43 to place 34 th .

Georgina Titus raced the first leg in 49:16, for 59 th place. The second leg was handled by Marie Anne Prevost, who was 53 rd in 1:02:01. Up third was David Higgins, who was the 15 th runner on the longest leg in 1:00:58. Christine Cogger finished the fourth leg in 1:10:33, 73 rd overall. Paul Suter ran the fifth leg in 58:06, ranking 29 th . Greg Sandkuhl made the sixth leg in 1:06:03. Scott Young was 56 th on the seventh leg in 1:01:09. Paul Nicholas ran the last leg in 40:40.

Racers in I Don’t Want To Run, and I Really Don’t Want To Run represented the Whistler Triathlon Club for the most part, but also recruited a few local runners.

Also racing for Whistler was The Chafed Taints, finishing 85 th in 8:31:31.

Jason Wright was 64 th on the first leg for the Taints, finishing in 50 minutes. Second up for the Taints was Erin Welk, who finished in 1:23:02. Craig Johnson ran the longest leg, finishing in 1:08:32. Andrew Mitchell (the author) ran the leg in 1:19:37. Up fifth was Stuart Carmichael, who finished his leg in 1:07:36, 98 th place. Alison Carmichael ran sixth in 1:10:47. Duncan Munro was 15 th overall on the seventh leg in 55:48, as well as first in the Corporate Open category. Scott Whelan was 52 nd overall and fourth in Corporate Open in 36:12.

The lone Squamish team in the race was Hand Picked, which placed 69 th in 8:17:19.

Scott Taber of Whistler ran with Got Lact-Eight?, handling the fourth leg. He finished 14 th in 58:05, as his team went on to place ninth overall and sixth among Open Men.

This year 33 runners attempted the entire 100 km course, and all but six finished in weather conditions that were cold, wet and often windy. The top male was Surrey’s Darin Bentley in 7:39:44, more than half an hour faster than the next runner.

The top female in the race was Tania Whelan, who completed the course in 10:15:22.

Wendy Montgomery of Brackendale was one of the runners to attempt the full course who pulled out.

Complete results are online at www.raceheadquarters.com.