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Sports Briefs: Locals in Victoria Marathon

There was a huge turnout as always for the GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon, one of the last big events of the 2012 season for road runners with a fast, flat course.
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There was a huge turnout as always for the GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon, one of the last big events of the 2012 season for road runners with a fast, flat course.

From Whistler, David Moloney placed 44th overall out of 1,616 participants, as well as 12th out of 139 in the men's 30 to 34 age group in 3:00:40 (chip time).

Suzan Lemmers broke the four-hour mark with her time of 3:57:14, placing 21st out of 112 women in the 45 to 59 group.

Russell Boyd was just over four hours in 4:05:13, placing 49th in the male 25 to 29 race.

From Squamish, Edgar Mujica was 39th in the male 20 to 24 race in 4:27:37. Tracey Kliesch was 70th in female 35 to 39 in 4:31:13. Brian Rohl was 104th in male 35 to 39 in 4:31:58. Monica Rohl was 104th in female 35 to 39 in 5:08:43. Jin Yew Loh was 124th in 30 to 34 in 5:47:50.

Complete results are posted online at www.sportstats.ca.

Soccer teams tops in tournaments

Thanksgiving weekend is a busy one for soccer tournaments, and six Whistler teams made the most of it with a number of strong performances.

The Whistler Avalanche U13 Boys won second place in gold level at the Richmond Thanksgiving Tournament. They finished the round robin with a record of 2-0-1, then went on to face North Van Fury for first place. Whistler was first on the board with Noam Steele scoring nine minutes in, but the Fury answered back with two unanswered goals to take the lead. The Avalanche put the pressure on in the second half, but couldn't come up with a goal to tie up the match.

In the Boys U18 tournament the team won its first two games with 14 goals for and none against, despite the fact that the team included lots of 15 and 16 years-olds. They followed up with a gold medal performance in the finals.

In the North Shore Girls Soccer tournament, 80 Whistler girls played in U11, U12, U13, U14, U16 and U18 divisions. Both the U13 and U16 teams came away with gold medals.

The U13 team's win was all the more impressive as they had never played together before and won four games including a 3-1 win in the finals.

As well, the Whistler U12 team earned a silver medal, while the U14 team took bronze.

The U12 team started its tournament with a pair of 2-2 draws, then won the next game 3-1 to advance to the finals, where they lost 2-0 to SurDel Force.

In U14, the team started out with a 3-0 loss, then lost a close game to a U15 team. With a bit of momentum the team won 2-0, making the small final where five different players scored six goals for Whistler to earn the bronze.

In U16, the team won all three pool games to make the finals, which they won to take the gold medal.

The U11 and U18 girls did well on short notice, but the U11 teams were combined with U12 and the team was too young to have an impact. In U18, the team was also on the young side and came away with a greater appreciation of what it means to compete at that level.

Pee Wee Titans open for B.C. Lions

The Sea to Sky Titans, a peewee level football team, had the opportunity to play an exhibition game at BC Place Stadium on the weekend as the warm-up before the B.C. Lions game against Calgary. The team edged the Westside Warriors 6-0 in condensed play, with Jhett Vernor scoring on the opening drive.

The Sea to Sky Titans minor football team is still winless after facing the North Vancouver Seahawks on Sunday. The Titans were first on the board but lost 27-14, with Nolan Welch and Hunter Vernor scoring touchdowns.

The Whistler Saints flag football team had a bye week.

WCSS hosts fitness, lifestyle program

Physical fitness is one thing, but mental and spiritual fitness are also important to being happy and healthy. To support people looking to improve their overall fitness, Whistler Community Services Society has enlisted coach and trainer Christine Suter of C2Sky Multisport to lead an eight-week program out of the WCSS headquarters at 1519 Spring Creek Drive.

The cost is $64 for the entire program, which runs every Thursday starting Oct. 18 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Called "Get Out and Live Fit!" the program will focus on different life goals each week, as well as the participants' strengths and weaknesses. Learning to hold yourself accountable is a key component of the program, helping people to write down their goals for fitness and life, make a plan to get there and track their progress.

If you have any questions about the program, contact Christine Suter at Christine@c2skymultisport.com. You can register online at http://www.mywcss.org/products/goal-fit-program, or at Whistler Community Services Society.

Lumpy's Epic returns Oct. 21

The last trail run of the season, the annual Lumpy's Epic Run in Pemberton, is set for Sunday, Oct. 21 this year. Details are the same as past years, with runners meeting at One Mile Lake beach and running a selection of trails around Signal Hill including the very technical Lumpy's Epic Trail. The cost will be the same as last year at $15 per person, with proceeds going towards the Spud Valley Nordics and Whistler Nordics clubs. Registration is at 9 a.m. and the run starts at 10 a.m.

The route and distance will be confirmed next week, but dress for the weather and wear good trail shoes — some of the rocks can be slippery. In terms of difficulty, the first part of the run has a lot of steep climbing, and then the singletrack gets technical. The highlight is the view of the Green River and Pemberton Valley from the high point of the trail, and the run back to the finish along the side of lake.

Food Bank Run on Oct. 27

Fall is one of the busiest times for the Whistler Food Bank with everyone waiting for the snow to fall and for work to start. To help out, Christine Suter of C2Sky Multisport has organized a fun food drive with the support of the Whistler Golf Club and municipality. The run takes place on Saturday, Oct. 27 with registration outside the golf club at 8 a.m. The run follows the Valley Trail around the golf course and then a little further to make it an even 5km.

To participate, bring some non-perishable food items for the food bank or make a donation to the Whistler Community Services Society, which operates the food bank in Spring Creek.

Dave Clark from the North Face Whistler Half Marathon is helping to run and promote the event this year with a goal of getting a bigger turnout.

Walkers, cyclists, skateboarders, strollers, families and dogs on leashes are welcome to take part.

Sorge takes Red Bull Rampage, Semenuk tops FMB series

After a two-year hiatus, the Red Bull Rampage returned to Utah on Oct. 7, with the top freeride mountain bikers in the world facing off on a course that replicates the wide open feeling of big mountain skiing with steeps drops and chutes off the rocky ridge, and a few man-made obstacles thrown in on the way to the bottom.

Nelson's Kurt Sorge won the overall title with the best top-to-bottom run of the day, arguably the best result of his career so far. He pulled a no-hander on one of the steepest drops of the day, and followed up with a superman grab and backflip.

Second went to Antoine Bizet of France and third to Logan Binggeli of the U.S.

Whistler's Brandon Semenuk was 14th on the day, which was good enough to move into first place in the Freeride Mountain Bike Tour rankings ahead of Martin Soderstrom, and take the title for the second straight year.