After a year away, the Comfortably Numb Trail Race returned on June 15.
Organizer Kristian Manietta, who along with Dean Eggleton took over the race from Chris Colpitts, was pleased to see 110 runners finish.
"We reached out to Chris to see if he'd be interested in letting it go and letting us continue the legacy. He was and he has been super helpful," Manietta said.
In the 23-kilometre race itself, Marian Treger beat Justin Murrell by 30 seconds while Michael Murdoch took third, two minutes and 27 seconds (2:27) back in the men's division. In the women's event, Ellie Greenwood topped Mary Cirelli by 3:13 and Tara Holland by 11:22.
Treger said Murrell led for much of the race, but lagged in the final stages to allow for a pass.
"It wasn't easy, because the guy was leading almost into the finish. I passed him, maybe 800 metres before the finish, so I didn't think I was going to win it," he said.
Manietta said the course changed slightly this year, though it still incorporated the classic namesake Comfortably Numb trail. The most significant change was the finish line, as it moved from Nicklaus North Golf Course to Whistler Village. A big part of Manietta's reasoning was to keep runners on the trails and avoid access roads as much as possible.
"We decided to go down the Yummy Numby climb (out of Comfortably Numb)," he said. "I added in a bit of spice, I like to say, with making them go up Instant Gratification and up the base of the access road up to Roam in the Loam before they came down to the finish.
"With the hot temperatures on Saturday, it was one for cursing my name."
Manietta was particularly intrigued to add Yummy Numby after working on it during a Whistler Off-Road Cycling Association (WORCA) trail night. Out of respect to the trailbuilders, $5 from each registration was donated to WORCA, raising nearly $1,200.
Complete results are available online at www.webscorer.com.
Aerothlon returning for second year
Registration is open for the second edition of the Pemberton Aerothlon.
The event, in which athletes paraglide, mountain bike and run, will run Sept. 1.
Interested athletes can sign up by donation ($100 is the suggested amount), with portions of the proceeds going toward the Pemberton Valley Trails Association.
Three categories are offered: individual, tandem duo and team relay.
For more information or to register, visit https://raceroster.com/events/2019/20452/the-pemberton-aerothlon.
Storey earns win in Revelstoke
Whistler's Steve Storey came out on top of the long course expert men's division in the third Canadian National Enduro Series stop of the season in Revelstoke on June 16.
Storey topped runner-up Vincent Pierrot by more than 22 seconds and third-place finisher Ryan Silliker by more than 63 seconds.
Meanwhile, fellow Whistlerite Julia Long placed second in the long course U21 women's event, about two minutes and 16 seconds back of winner Isabella Naughton.
For complete results, visit www.zone4.ca.
Canada Cup XCO coming to Whistler this weekend
Some of the country's top cross-country riders will be in town this weekend for the Canada Cup and BC Cup XCO at Whistler Blackcomb.
The race, running on June 22, will start and finish in Blackcomb's Base II area.
The first wave of riders, U13 and Open Junior, will run from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., the next group (U15, U17, U19 and Masters) will run from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the last set, Senior and Elite, will go from 1:15 to 3:15 p.m.
Online registration is still available at www.whistlerblackcomb.com. On-site registration will also be available, but for an additional $15.
