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Crawford cracks five minutes at Peak to Valley

Kent's 2000 record remains safe
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Jack Crawford completes his run at the Peak to Valley Race on Feb. 21. Photo by Dan Falloon

Chris Kent was hanging out at the Creekside finish of the Peak to Valley Race on Friday afternoon, checking in to see if his course record, set in 2000, was still safe.

It was close, but no one passed the four minutes, 52.03 (4:52.03) seconds that Kent threw down 20 years ago on the course that has a 1,443-metre vertical drop, 180 gates and five-km length.

However, current national team member and Whistler Mountain Ski Club alumnus Jack Crawford put his best foot forward, coming down in 4:53.62 for Friday's best time.

Crawford opted to do the race fairly last minute when the Titus team needed a sub. The team ended up with quite the ringer.

"They asked me and it's something I've always wanted to try," Crawford said. "It wasn't the smartest thing to do midseason, but I'm kind of surprised that I still went a little bit easy and I'm not quite as tired as I was expecting, but it's still the most tired I've been on a pair of skis."

Crawford said that he didn't get the chance to get a handle on the course before dropping, so he might be able to trim the necessary time to take another run at Kent's record in the future.

"I didn't inspect, so [with] all the blind rolls, I almost missed a couple gates," he said.

Even though he put down one of the best times in the race's 36-year history, Crawford acknowledged that he was still hoping for a greater margin (25 seconds) on one of his competitors.

"I was hoping to beat my friend by a little more than I did so he would owe us all a beer, but sadly, that didn't happen," Crawford said.

The second and final day of the Peak to Valley runs Saturday beginning at 11 a.m.

"There are some pretty powerhouse teams out there, so I don't know if we'll win, but we're in a good position to get it tomorrow," Crawford said.

For more information, check out https://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/explore-the-resort/activities-and-events/event-detail-page.aspx?id=%7B168a6b2c-eb8a-4a71-8bc1-52e56c924622%7D.