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Clements wins cross-country marathon

Morland fastest in downhill as Whistler riders top North Shore Bike Fest

Several local riders headed to the North Shore Bike Fest this past weekend to take part in the marathon cross-country race and the Specialized Smackdown Downhill. It's been a few years since these events were held, but they brought out a huge field of racers.

The cross-country marathon took place on Saturday, dedicated to the memory of local bike advocate Richard Juryn. The course featured close to 1,000 metres of climbing over 40 km, with all of the descents on singletrack.

In the Elite Men's race, Whistler's Matt Bodkin and Dave Burch placed seventh and eighth respectively with times of 1:47:59 and 1:50:01 respectively.

Martin Lazarski, fresh from a win at the Ore Crusher, placed first in 1:41:15, a minute and a half faster than runner-up Matthew Green.

Whistler's Lesley Clements won the Elite Women's category in 2:17:26, followed closed by Annie Gornall of Comox.

In 19 to 29 Citizen Men, Dylan Wolsky and Seb Kempt were first and second, with times of 1:57:01 and 2:08:34 respectively. Jonny Llody was fourth in 2:20:07.

In 30-plus Citizen Men freeride legend Andrew Shandro was the man to beat in 1:56:44, followed by Matt Shandro in 1:58:15. Carl Goldstraw and Daniel Gazdik of Squamish were a close third and fourth, while Stuart Kerr of Pemberton placed sixth in 2:05:58.

Other locals were Mark Knight in 12 th place, Todd Hellinga 13 th , Peter O'Loughlin 23 rd , Dave Johnson 35 th and Terry Evans 51 st out of 99 starters.

Robin O'Neill followed up her category win in the Ore Crusher with a fifth place finish in Citizen Women 30-plus, finishing the course in 2:35:38.

In Master 30 to 39 Men Trevor Hopkins was the top local rider in 1:59:55.

The Smackdown DH took place on Neds Atomic Dustin, one of the best known and most ridden trails on Seymour.

Whistler's Tyler Morland won the Elite category by almost four seconds, finishing in 2:40.39. Jean-Sebastien Therrien of Squamish was sixth in 2:47.35, Reuben Miller eighth in 2:49.38 and Scott Halvorson 14 th in 3:01.66.

Seana Wright of Port Alberni won the women's Elite race in 3:28.62.

In 30-plus Citizen Men Whistler's Ben Ferguson was fourth in 3:09.62.

In 30-plus Women Squamish's Meghan Illingworth was second in 3:48.90.

In Senior Women 19 to 29 Jaime Hill of Pemberton was second in 3:47.29.

In Under 17 Men Squamish's Owen Scully placed sixth in 3:16.71, Kip Shortreed was ninth in 3:24.03, and Dixon Black was 15 th in 3:40.03.

In Master 30 to 39 men Clark Lewis of Squamish was second in 3:02.70.

In Senior Men 19 to 29 Whistler's James McSkimming was first by three seconds with a time of 2:46.49, which would have placed him fifth in the Elite category - where he's going when he earns enough points.

David Du Plessis was eighth in 3:05.85 and Paul Stevens 14 th in 3:09.81.

In Junior Women 15 to 18 Lauren Rosser of Squamish was first in 3:45.90.

In Junior Men 17 to 18 Connor Macdougall of Squamish was seventh in 3:06.11, Jesse Ballhausen of Pemberton was 11 th in 3:10.18, and Kyle Quesnel of Squamish was 16th in 3:15.81.