Despite heavy rain the night before and heavy skies on Saturday morning a crew of 38 hardcore trail runners turned out to the 12 th annual Lumpy's Epic in Pemberton to take on an almost 10 km course.
Whistler's Seamus Frew took the lead and left Ben Biswell - back in action just two weeks after running the Victoria Marathon - in a sprint against trail running newcomer Matt Bodkin. Bodkin would usually be more comfortable tackling Lumpy's Epic on his mountain bike but injured his hand biking earlier in the season and took up trail running to stay in shape. It turns out that he's just as fast on his feet as he is in the saddle.
The race for the top-five was also quite close with Peter Drysdale crossing the line in 44:06 and Rich Rawling coming in at 44:25.
Rounding out the top 10 were Guy Patterson in 45:04, Jan Pichler in 45:16, Barry McClure in 45:58, Darren Saul in 46:14 and Mick Peatfield in 46:37.
The top three women placed 11 th , 12 th and 13 th overall with Arlene Schieven coming in at 49:12, Lee Edwards second in 49:55 and Michelle Lewon third in 51:17.
Race director Jeannette Helmer was pleased with the turnout given the weather and the forecast for the day. The event also raised $500 for the Spud Valley Nordics jackrabbits program.
Lumpy's Epic is also the final event in the Sea 2 Sky Trail Running Series, which includes the Whistler Valley Trail Run, the Comfortably Numb Trail Run, the Squamish STORMY, Loop the Lakes, and the Rubble Creek Classic. Overall series winners will be confirmed this week when results are added up for the season. Visit www.s2srun.com.
