New course record set as race attracts largest field to date
A group of 68 hard-core runners took part in the third annual STORMY (Squamish Test of Running Metal – Yeah!) ultra trail run last Saturday, taking on the Test of Metal mountain bike course. Aside from five DNFs, 63 of the racers finished the challenging course, which is 67 km long with more than 4,000 feet of climbing and 30 km of singletrack.
The field for the race is steadily growing, with 23 runners the first year and 58 runners in 2002. The race is also part of the Iron Lung Trail Series and the B.C. Ultra Trialrunning Series.
"It’s a hard sell," admits Eric Langhjelm, the event manager for STORMY. "Most ultra marathons are around 50 kilometres, which is only eight kilometres longer than a marathon, so it’s pretty manageable. Sixty-seven kilometres is definitely harder.
"Still, it’s got a beautiful course, and the interest is definitely there. It’s going to be a slow-growing thing, that’s for sure, and it was probably one of the best ultra races on the coast this year.
"It was the perfect race day," he added. "The weather was good, the volunteers were amazing, and everything worked right."
According to Langhjelm, it was also an exciting race. The younger runners took an early lead, but the older, more experience athletes started to catch up and pass at around the half-way point. The lead pack stuck together until the last 5 km when the runners began to make their move for the finish.
First place overall went to Gordon Corby of North Vancouver, who finished the course in five hours and 12 minutes. That was 18 minutes faster than the fastest time the previous year.
Sean Wolfe of Mt. Currie was close behind in 5:14:55.
Whistler’s Scott Pass was third in 5:25:57. Pass and Wolfe also finished third and fifth in the recent Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run, a 50 km course known for its challenging climbs and descents.
"To tell you the truth, I was surprised to see these guys show up after the Knee Knacker," said Langhjelm. "Now that’s a tough race. But they showed up and they were ready to go and had amazing races."
Langhjelm says the top five men broke the previous course record.
The top three men all competed in the 40 to 49 age group.
Jim Swadling was first in the men’s 50 and Over group, and seventh overall, with a time of 5:35:24. Sorban Imre was second in the category in 6:55:22, followed by Tom O’Brennan in 7:07:11.
In the Under 40 category, Ryne Melcher led the way in 5:40:38, finishing eighth overall. He was followed closely by Dom Repta in 5:42:00 and Randy Hunter in 5:53:13.
The first woman across the line was Wendy Montgomery in 6:23:52, racing in the Under 40 group. She was 17 th overall.
She had just completed a 50 kilometre ultra marathon six days earlier, and her feet still hadn’t healed.
"If you saw her feet before the race, you would have said there was no way she would have been racing, they were all swollen and blistered. She pulled it off somehow," said Langhjelm.
Close behind was Ann Taylor in the 40 to 49 age group, finishing in 6:31:39. Amanda Barlow, also in the women’s 40 to 49 group, was third among women in 6:41:54.
Rounding out the top three in the Under 40 group were Jennifer Dick in 7:02:53 and Sarah Taylor in 7:06:07.
Third in the 40 to 49 group went to Kelly Rose in a time of 6:54:00.
The last competitors across the line, Dwayne Thomas and Alex Thomas, finished in 10:22:22, although the rest of the runners were in under nine hours.
Also from Whistler, racing in her third STORMY, was Michell Kaminski in 36 th overall with a time of 7:15:03.
She was training hard, and was hoping for a time around six and a half hours when she had a bad fall on the Roller Coaster mountain bike trail.
She slipped in a dusty section and broke her toe and sprained the IT band in her knee.
"I don’t know how I finished the race," she said. "I thought about dropping out because it hurt so much, but I’m the kind of person where I just have to finish.
"I couldn’t sleep the last two nights it was so bad, I just pushed my body to the limit."
It was particularly hard on the technical singletrack descents, like the Powerhouse Plunge, but once she was down that section Kaminski knew she would finish.
Kaminski says she has no regrets about the race, and will be back again next year – and walking the technical sections.
"Just finishing was the most amazing feeling, because it was so hard. I’ll have to spend a little time recovering, but it was worth it," she said.
Kaminski still plans to compete in the Silvertip 50 km race on Sept. 27 in Sunshine Valley.
