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Lanthier Nadeau third, Melamed eighth at EWS

Sports briefs: Fourth-annual Brandywine Boogie a success; Westside Wheel-up defies wet weather
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SUCCESSFUL IN SPAIN Andréane Lanthier Nadeau finished the seventh round of the Enduro World Series in third place. She currently sits 11th in the overall rankings, heading into the final round of the EWS this weekend. File photo by Dan Falloon

It was a successful weekend for the Canadians at the seventh round of this year's Enduro World Series (EWS), held in Ainsa-Sobrarbe, Spain Sept. 22 and 23.

In the women's race, Whistler rider Andréane Lanthier Nadeau landed herself on the podium with her third-place finish. She completed the seven-stage race in 45 minutes, 2.86 seconds (45:02.86), one minute and 37.87 seconds behind the winner, France's Cecile Ravanel. In her first EWS race of the year, Miranda Miller snuck into seventh place with her time of 46:36.91, while fellow Canadian Casey Brown took 15th.

In the season's penultimate men's event, Whistler's Jesse Melamed took eighth place with a total time of 38 minutes, 58.7 seconds (38:58.70), one minute and 40.74 seconds behind the leader, American Richie Rude. The race marked Melamed's return to EWS action since breaking his right hand in training for the Canadian Open Enduro at Crankworx Whistler in August. Squamish's Remi Gauvin followed closely behind in 12th position, while Whistler resident Yoann Barelli, representing France, rode into 41st after snapping his bike's derailleur during Stage 6.

Heading into the eighth and final race of the season, Melamed sits in ninth place in the overall standings after completing five of the seven rounds.

Brandywine Boogie raISES $5,300 for local organizations

Local runners took to the Sea to Sky Trail on Saturday, Sept. 22 for the fourth annual Brandywine Boogie trail run organized by the Rotary Club of Whistler Millennium.

The 10-kilometre trail race took runners from Cheakamus Crossing to the Cal-Cheak Campground, and raised $5,300 for local initiatives. Half of each runner's race fee goes directly to Rotary youth programs, while participants can choose to direct the other half to either the Whistler Off-Road Cycling Association or the Zero Ceiling Society.

"The race has gone from strength to strength in terms of participants and learning curves. What hasn't faltered is the support from our generous community and our key sponsor Helly Hansen," wrote Shannon Kirkwood, president of the Rotary Club of Whistler Millennium in an email following the race. "Driven by pure volunteer passion, 100 per cent of proceeds go back to into our community."

Despite drawing runners from Richmond, throughout the Sea to Sky Corridor, the U.K., Germany and the Czech Republic, the race proved local runners can't be beat. Whistler's own Michael Murdoch took first place, while Chris Bowen followed in second. Kyle Leitch finished third and Joe Davies took the Youth medal.

In the women's division, Czech visitor Renata Vocaskova took first, Karen North finished second and Claire Thomas placed third.

Westside Wheel-Up a wet success

The 26th annual West Side Wheel Up mountain bike race went well, "but the weather was crappy," said race director Benoit Reneault, who took over organizing duties for the first time this year.

The forecast was so challenging, in fact, that organizers made the call to move the race from its scheduled date on Saturday, Sept. 22.

"We were thinking of Sunday or moving it until next week, (but) we couldn't do it ... We had three permits—food, beer and a race course permit—and we couldn't do a last-minute change like that," Reneault explained. While the race director feared the weather meant turnout might be low, it seems, "There's troopers in town. We were hoping for at least 50 (racers) and then we had close to 60. That's better than my worst case scenario," he said.

Chris Clark took the top spot, followed by Mike Vine and David Burch.

Racers, family and friends stuck around afterward for the après—held, thankfully, under the cover of a tarp—to enjoy food from Nesters, beverages from Whistler Brewery and the chance to win raffle prizes donated by local bike shops.

Since accepting the torch from longtime Westside Wheel-Up race director Phil Chew, Reneault plans to keep the beloved race going in the future. "We'll definitely be doing this again next year and hoping for better weather and more participation, but as long as there's a handful of people who enjoy and do it, we're happy to do it," he said.

For full results, head to webscorer.com.