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Sports Briefs

The 17 th annual West Side Wheel Up rolls on Saturday, Sept. 4, starting in Function and finishing at Rainbow Park.

The 17 th annual West Side Wheel Up rolls on Saturday, Sept. 4, starting in Function and finishing at Rainbow Park. Aside from the beginning, the course is almost entirely on singletrack, with the Lower Sproatt, Beaver Pond, Upper and Lower Beaver Pass, Bob's Rebob, Get Over it, a small section of Emerald Forest and the entire length of A River Runs Through It to the finish line - with some other small trail sections thrown in for good measure.

The cost is $25, which includes the post-race barbecue and party sponsored by the Whistler Brewing Company. As well, every participant will get a raffle ticket with an opportunity to win a season's pass for Whistler Blackcomb, stays at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler and dozens of other prizes.

The average time to complete the course is around an hour and a half, with the fastest races coming in under an hour.

Registration gets underway at 10 a.m. at the entrance to Function and the ride starts at noon.

 

More details for Whistler Half Marathon

More details are available for the inaugural Whistler Half Marathon event, which is now officially scheduled for Saturday, June 4. Race organizer Dave Clark said the course - which has yet to be named - will be "undulating" but not too hilly and very scenic.

The website will be up at www.whistlerhalfmarathon.com in November, and registration is expected to open in January.

In the first year the race is anticipating up to 300 runners, but the goal is to turn it into a destination event and grow the field into thousands in the future - similar to large running events in Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria.

The event will benefit the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada, and the Facebook page is accepting ideas for run routes as well as holding contests for free entries.

 

Strut Your Stuff Sept. 11

Whistler's community registration fair will return on Saturday, Sept. 11 at Myrtle Philip Community School, offering parents a one-stop shop to register their children for community sports, arts and activity groups, as well as to apply for Kidsport Whistler grants.

Community groups can apply for a table by contacting the RMOW Community Life Department at 604-935-8350. The cost is $20 for non-profit groups and $30 for commercial service groups and suppliers.

Strut Your Stuff runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., giving parents a chance to meet with groups, watch displays and even buy and sell equipment for various activities.

 

WORCA Toonie somewhat Numb

The Aug. 26 Toonie Ride ventures out to Wedge parking lot, and will feature a rip around Green Lake to Spruce Grove.

The course will bypass the first part of Comfortably Numb, then continue on to a descent that drops riders on to the Green Lake Loop. From there riders head back to Lost Lake Park and Spruce Grove for the after party. Slower riders can keep to the Green Lake Loop.

The race is sponsored by Whistler Community Services Society, Opa, Fineline and Scandinave. Registration is at 5:30 p.m. and the ride gets underway at 6:30 p.m.

The Sept. 2 ride is sponsored by WORCA and will be staged out of the Austrian Passive Haus, which includes space donated to WORCA and Whistler Nordics. The course will be Lost Lake.

 

B.C. riders at Bromont DH

A handful of riders on the provincial team made the trip to Bromont, Quebec this past weekend for the Canada Cup downhill.

Whistler's Nick Geddes, a junior rider, placed a solid eighth in the men's category in 2:53.25, just over three seconds back of the podium.

Also from Whistler, Tyler Allison was 21 st overall in 3:00.04,

Kye Walstrom, also a member of the B.C. Team, was 26 th in 3:02.92.

 

Cheakamus Challenge route marked

For anyone riding either the full 70 km or 40 km short course in the 2010 Cheakamus Challenge the course has been marked.

The bike race takes place on Saturday, Sept. 18, leaving from the Squamish Airport grounds in Brackendale and finishing at Whistler Creek. The short course leaves from the Calcheak area.

For more info visit www.cheakamuschallenge.ca.

 

Month of Pain draws near

For locals, the Month of Pain has been a bit of extra motivation for several years now and fitting given the sheer number of events taking place through the month. This year Pique will once again recognize the athletes that attend the most events, a list that includes the West Side Wheel Up on Sept. 4, the Xterra Canadian Championships on Sept. 5, the Cheakamus Challenge on Sept. 18, the Terry Fox Run on Sept. 19, the Whistler Spirit Run cross-country on Sept. 25 and the Rubble Creek Classic trail run on Sept. 26. All told the King and Queen of pain will bike 103 km of bike trails and run roughly 56 km.

This is about participation so the King and Queen will be the athletes who take part in the most events. If there is a tie then the cumulative time in the Wheel Up, Xterra, Cheakamus Challenge and Rubble Creek Classic will be considered.

Here's a complete list of events taking place in September, and more information on registration:

 

Sept. 4 - West Side Wheel Up - This annual mountain bike race is a Whistler classic, following a selection of trails off Alta Lake Road to the finish area outside of Rainbow Park. It's about a Loonie Race and a half in length, roughly 12 km, and all proceeds go towards the B.C. Para Alpine Ski Team. Registration starts at 11 a.m. in Function Junction and the race is at noon. The $25 entry fee includes a raffle ticket that could win a dual mountain ski pass.

 

Sept. 5 - Xterra Canadian Championships - After a long absence Xterra Canada is bringing their off-road triathlon back to Whistler, and with the national championships no less. That means the winners could qualify for the Xterra worlds in Hawaii in October.

There are both sport and championship distances available. The sport course includes a 750-metre swim, one lap of a 15 km mountain bike course, and one lap of the 4.5 km trail run. The championship course is two laps of the swim course for 1.5 km, two laps of the bike course and two laps of the run course.

The swim course is in Alpha Lake, and the bike and run trails are on Whistler's west side.

For more information visit www.xterracanada.ca.

 

Sept. 11 - RBC GranFondo - It's every road rider's dream. A 120 km stretch of the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler will have a dedicated bike lane open to 4,000 road cyclists. The event sold out months ago, but check out the details at rbcgranfondowhistler.com.

 

Sept. 18 - Cheakamus Challenge - Whether you opt for the full pull, roughly 70 km from Brackendale to Whistler Creek, or the 40 km short course, the Cheakamus Challenge is a worthwhile goal to train for over the summer. For more information or registration visit www.cheakamuschallenge.ca.

 

Sept. 19 - Terry Fox Run - You can walk, bike, skate or run either 5 km or 10 km in this annual fundraiser for the Terry Fox Foundation, not the Canadian Cancer Society as was reported last week. This is the 30 th anniversary of Fox's attempted cross-Canada run - which was made to raise funds for the Cancer Society. His run ended after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres when his cancer returned.

The Four Seasons Whistler is the main organizer for the event. There is no corporate "sponsor" of Terry Fox Runs.

 

Sept. 25-26 - Whistler Spirit Run - Saturday is a classic cross-country run open to runners and school teams, from Grade 4 to university. There is also a Masters and open category, with courses ranging from 1 km to 8 km. There is a classic 10 km run on Sunday that is open to everyone.

Both events take place at Whistler Olympic Park. For more information visit www.whistlerspiritrun.com.

 

Sept. 26 - Rubble Creek Classic - This is one of the most breathtaking trail runs in the corridor, spanning the high alpine meadows behind Black Tusk before descending the Rubble Creek trail. The distance is roughly 26 km, but the last 12 km is all downhill. More information at http://escaperoute.ca/rubble/.