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Gearjammer pushes limits

Whistler riders top B.C. Provincial Championships

With an extra 5 km of singletrack, the second annual Gearjammer B.C. Provincial Championships in Squamish gave riders a run for their money on Saturday, Aug. 20. Dozens of riders were forced to pull out before the finish, due to a combination of crashes, mechanicals and exhaustion.

Whistler riders made the most of the course, and several found their way onto the podium.

Thirteen-year-old Tyler Allison won the Under 15 Men’s category with a time of two hours, 23 minutes and 46 seconds on a slightly shorter course, more than 25 minutes faster than the second place rider.

In the Elite Men’s category, Whistler’s Matt Ryan finished fifth in a time of 2:36:25, less than 10 minutes back of winner Matt Martindill.

The top Sea to Sky rider was Ryan Edwards in third place, just over seven minutes back of Martindill.

Other Whistler riders in that category include Dave Burch in 11 th with a time of 2:40:46, and Sho Okumara in 21 st with a time of 3:00:58.

Squamish’s own Meghan Kindree took the Elite Women’s race in 3:07:15, almost nine minutes ahead of Victoria’s Linda Robichaud.

Chris McCrum of Squamish won the Senior Sport Men’s group in 2:57:54, while Whistler’s Mark Knight was third in 3:15:34.

Dustin Gordon of Pemberton took the Senior Expert Men’s race in 2:52:42.

Whistler’s Keith Ray finished second in the Master 30-39 Expert Men’s race in 2:49:56. Trevor Hopkins of Pemberton was 13 th in 3:13:04 and Kevin Hellier of Whistler 14 th in 3:16:54.

In the Master 40-Plus Expert Men, Whistler’s Tony Routley was fifth in 2:53:45, less than six minutes back of first place. Mak Charuk was sixth in 2:55:49 and Bob Allison ninth in 3:01:32. Whistler riders Daniel Curry and Joe Maika were DNF’s in the same category.

In the Master 40-Plus Men’s group, Whistler’s Todd Carter finished first in 3:10:32. Joern Rohde was eighth in 3:48:47, while Ged Hague was ninth in 3:51:14.

In the Citizen Men 30 to 39, Richard Potter was seventh in 3:16:46, Jason Simpson was 12 th in 3:32:56, Alan MacConnachie 27 th in 3:47:28, and John Minton 35 th in 3:59:45.

Whistler’s Angela Shoniker won the Citizen Women 30 to 39 group in 3:42:46, over seven minutes ahead of the next competitor.

In the Citizen Men 19 to 29, Whistler’s Jonny Lloyd finished first in 3:34:08, almost six minutes ahead of the next competitor. Yojiro Hiki was fifth in 4:04:27, while Tomoyuki Sakai was 11 th in 5:22:59.

In addition to being the B.C. Championships, the Gearjammer was also the fourth out of five events on the B.C. Cup Marathon Series.

The final event of the series is the Cheakamus Challenge on Sept. 24, after which the overall series winners will be crowned. For more information on the Cheakamus Challenge, visit www.cheakamuschallenge.ca .