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Running club hosts biggest hash yet

Running club hosts biggest hash yet

The Whistler Running Experience is hosting its biggest ever hash-harrier run on Tuesday, July 25 with members of the Vancouver Hash House Harriers coming up to Whistler to take part in what has become a monthly tradition over the past two years.

The course will wind through Lost Lake Park. "It won’t be the longest trail, but it will have a lot of twists and turns and should be pretty fun," said organizer Duncan Munro.

To take part, meet at Escape Route in Whistler Marketplace at 6 p.m. The race should take around an hour, and will be followed by an after party. The cost is $5 to take part, and draw prizes include heart rate monitors from High Gear and items from Escape Route.

Munro says the race has attracted up to 40 runners, and he’s hoping for a strong turnout of locals to show the Vancouver group "that we can hash with the best of them."

If you’ve never partaken, the hash harrier run is a tradition started by British colonists that combines drinking and running. The group starts on a preset course, following marks on the ground. At some points there will be marks to indicate a dead end, and runners will have to search in all directions to find the trail again.

Because the fastest runners are up front and do most of the searching, the slowest runners are often able to keep up with the lead group. There are usually refreshments at the finish area, which can be anywhere.

Local runners top Squamish Thunder

It was better late than never for the Squamish Thunder 10 Mile (16 km) trail run, which took place on Saturday, July 15. The event was originally scheduled for April, but was bumped back more than two months because of snow on the upper sections of the trail.

Despite the rescheduling the event, held on trails around Alice Lake, still attracted 95 runners.

The top overall time belonged to Ryan Bremner, who finished in 1:01:15. Mt. Currie’s Sean Wolfe was second in 1:04:25, as well as the top Master Over 40 racer.

Whistler’s Kristina Rody was the top female, finishing fourth overall in 1:04:43.

Scott Pass was 13 th overall and fourth in the Master category in 1:11:21.

The Squamish Thunder is part of the Sea to Sky Trail Running Series, which included the Comfortably Numb Trail Run on June 25. The next event is the 67 km STORMY, which racers can complete as solos or as members of relay teams. Other events include the Loop the Lakes eight and 15 km runs on Sept. 10, the 25 km Rubble Creek Run on Sept. 24 and Lumpy’s Epic 12 km run in Pemberton on Oct. 14.

Get in shape for hockey season

Hockey is the world’s fastest game, even at the rec level, and injuries are all too common whatever level you play it. There are some things you can do to reduce the chance of injuries, as well as to improve your conditioning to get a little more out of your game.

Starting Tuesday, Aug. 1, Meadow Park Sports Centre is offering a Hockey Dryland program. The program will run weekly through the month, with players using both the ice and gym to build strength, enhance flexibility, and condition for the sport.

"We’ve never had a specified dryland training class targeting hockey players, but we do for skiing," said Sylvie Allen, who is helping to organize the program. "We wanted to give people a chance to come in and strengthen up before hockey season starts and prevent injuries – because we see them all once they’re already injured."

The program will be taught by Joanne Younker, an avid hockey player and trainer at Meadow Park. The classes run from 6 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. and the cost is $8 per class. Pre-registration is recommended as the classes are capped at 20 participants.

Some of the sessions will involve being on the ice, but most of the action will take place in the gym with exercises focusing on balance, strength, core strength, agility, movements and muscles specific to hockey, and proper stretching to prevent pulled muscles and other injuries.

You can sign up at the front desk at Meadow Park or by calling 604-905-PLAY (7529).

Triathlete strong two weeks straight

Triathletes are generally among the fittest of all athletes, but completing two Olympic distance races in eight days with solid results is above and beyond.

Whistler’s David Higgins followed up his sixth place overall finish and category win in the July 9 Squamish Triathlon with a 10 th place finish at the Investors Group Peach Classic in Penticton this past Sunday, July 16. He posted the fifth fastest time in the water, followed by the 20 th fastest cycling leg and the 14 th best run. The day before the Peach Classic he also swam the 2 km Across The Lake race, finishing fourth in his age category.

"It was a little tiring," he admitted. "But I always do the Squamish Triathlon, and I grew up in Kelowna so I always go back and do the Across The Lake Swim with my mom. And the Penticton triathlon is my kind of race, the bike leg is really hilly, the run is hilly – you don’t go 10 feet without an elevation change – so I wanted to do that as well.

"The way I see it, the guys on the Tour (de France) do it every day, and I had six days to rest in between."

Higgins is also a new father which takes up a lot of his time. Because he competes in Olympic distance races, he does short but intense workouts to train for triathlons.

"I have a very good coach, Val Burke has sorted me out, so there’s no junk days – if I have time to do something in training, I do it well. It also helps that Brandi is very understanding, so it’s working out.

"I think it helps that I’m not too serious about it. I train and I go in races, but I’m not in it necessarily to win."

The only other Whistler local in the Peach Classic was Alisa Brownlee, who placed 110 th overall and sixth out of 25 racers in the women’s 35 to 39 category.

Swimmers tackle 2 km lake swim

Several local swimmers took part in the annual Across the Lake Swim this past Saturday, crossing 2 km of open water on Lake Okanagan.

Nils Robinsons placed second in the men’s 25-34 age category in 28 minutes and five seconds, while Trent Argent finished just behind in 28:50.

Yolanda Foose was sixth out of 37 swimmers in the women’s 25 to 34 group in 34:34.

Kerri Gamble finished four spots back of Foose in 10 th place in 36:30.

Robinson, Foose, Gamble and Argent, were also competing in the team category, finishing third as Whistler-Blackcomb Information Technology with a combined time of 2:08:00.

David Higgins, who also raced the Peach Classic Triathlon on Sunday, placed fourth in the men’s 35-44 race in 27:41.