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Alpine race draws a crowd

325 racers for Whistler 5 Peaks Running Series

Runners were greeted by grey skies and a smattering of rain at the start line for the Whistler stop of the 5 Peaks Trail Running Series on Saturday, Aug. 20 – it was probably for the best, because with two high-altitude courses composed of mainly black diamond hiking trails, the last thing the runners needed was a hot day.

There were two options for runners, a 5 km sport course and an 11 km enduro route, both starting and finishing at the Roundhouse Lodge on Whistler Mountain.

In the 5 km race, Pemberton’s John Teitzel took an early lead and never looked back, finishing the course in 31 minutes and 51 seconds. Whistler’s Duncan Munro chased Teitzel out of the gate, but pulled back after rolling his ankle in the first hundred metres. Munro finished second in 33:54.

"I’m happy with that. I’ve been ramping down my running training recently, doing short, fast runs instead of going for hours at a time. I’ve also been focusing a lot more on biking," said Munro.

Both runners were in the men’s 30 to 39 age category.

Third place overall in the 5 km went to D.J. Zalit of Surrey, who also won the men’s Under 20 race in 34:59.

Whistler’s David Shaw won the Men’s 20 to 29 race in 39:16.

Dan MacLellan was ninth in the men’s 30 to 39 race in 43:31.

The top woman was Vancouver’s Meghan McCollum in fifth overall, first in the 20 to 29 group with a time of 35:36. Lisa Brougham of Bowen Island was second among women in 39:14, as well as first in the 30 to 39 category. Devon Mihalyi of Langley was the third woman in 39:24, as well as second in the 20 to 29 group.

Talya Shore was third in the women’s 30 to 39 race in 47:17. Tracy Jackson was sixth in the women’s 40 to 49 group in 16:22.

Shannon Susko was 17 th out of 28 runners in the women’s 30 to 39 group, while Maridee Fitch was 17 th in the women’s 40 to 49 race.

The top time on the 10 km Enduro course and the men’s 30 to 39 title went to Mark Bomba of Coquitlam with a 46:26.

Bomba is a competitive track runner, and back in June won the national title in the 10,000-metre. He is currently training for the half marathon world championships in October, as well as the Commonwealth Games marathon in March of 2006.

This was Bomba’s first trail run. Ever.

"It was a lot harder than I thought, I didn’t expect to be hiking steep sections and the downhill running was crazy. It’s totally night and day to what I’m used to," he said. "I’m used to being inside on a nice little oval track, where you could run with your eyes closed if you wanted to."

Bomba says he still prefers track running, but would consider running another trail run in the future.

"I can see why people get into it, the scenery was amazing you have to think 10 steps ahead so it doesn’t feel like you’re running. It’s fun," he said.

Dustin Heidt of Port Coquitlam came closest to Bomba with a time of 47:04, while winning the 20 to 29 category.

Third place overall and the Under 20 title went to Shaun Stephens-Whale of Roberts Creek in 47:42.

The top local runner was Mount Currie’s Sean Wolfe, who finished in 51:34 to win the men’s 40 to 49 group.

"It was a good course, it was a lot more rolling than last year. You still had to hike a few sections, but you could run most of it, which was nice," said Wolfe. "The downhill was a little scary, it was a bit loose so you really had to slow down and take smaller steps."

Wolfe typically runs alone or with his brothers, and prefers long distance epics to shorter 10 km routes. Although he’s technically taking a year off from ultra running, he is starting to train for a full 42.2 km off-road marathon this fall.

The top woman was Lisa Polizzi, an Australian marathoner who is based in Vancouver. Polizzi was the top woman in Whistler’s Comfortably Numb race in June, and on Aug. 13 set a course record on the 64 km STORMY ultra trail running race in Squamish. She completed the 5 Peaks course in 56:05, 15 th overall, while winning the women’s 30 to 39 group.

The second woman across the line was Klara Vosahlo of Richmond in 57:48, also first in the 20 to 29 group, while Vancouver’s Heidi Collins was third overall and second in the 20 to 29 race in 58:27.

Whistler’s Catharine O’Neill was 50 th overall out of 180 starters, as well as sixth in the women’s 20 to 29 category in 1:03:02.

She was followed closely by Michelle Kaminski in 1:03:11, who was seventh in the same category. Like Polizzi, Kaminski also took part in the STORMY run the previous weekend.

Hamish Yoshida was 69 th overall and 16 th in the men’s 20 to 29 group in 1:06:23.

Robert Tan was 103 rd overall and 24 th in the 40 to 49 group in 1:11:40.

Brenda Davison was 120 th overall and seventh in the women’s 40 to 49 category in 1:14:07.

Doug Janjen of Whistler was 29 th in the men’s 30 to 39 race in 1:17:27.

Heather Abernathy was 17 th in the women’s 30 to 39 group in 1:18:40.

Grace Milne was 23 rd in the same group in 1:24:41.

Complete results are available online at www.5peaks.com