More than a dozen Whistler riders headed to Roberts Creek on the Sunshine Coast for the annual Rat Race this past weekend, which featured the provincial marathon cross-country championships and a popular downhill event.
The marathon course took place on a 46.5 km loop, with about 1,500 metres of climbing from start to finish. The course record was set by Roland Green in 2005 at two hours and 13 minutes. This year’s winner Kris Sneddon missed the mark by 14 minutes.
Close to 300 racers took part in total.
In Pro Elite, Whistler’s Matt Ryan finished in fourth place in two hours 31 minutes and 15 seconds — just 44 seconds back of third place finisher Andreas Hestler. Kris Sneddon took the win in 2:27:07, followed by Matt Green in 2:30:25.
Also from Whistler, Matt Bodkin was seventh in 2:34:08, and Dave Burch 11 th in 2:43:27. Greg Grant was one of many DNFs on the day, as the challenging course took its toll on gear and riders. Other Whistler riders who did not finish include Max Horner, recently second in the B.C. High School Mountain Bike Championships, and Grant Lamont.
In Men’s 19-29, Team Whistler’s Josh Stott placed first out of 19 riders with a time of 2:47:20, with a comfortable buffer of more than three minutes to his credit.
In 30-39 Master Men, Team Whistler’s Trevor Hopkins was third out of 79 starters with a time of 2:40:07 — just 30 seconds back of the second place rider. Also from Whistler, Mike Watton was 22 nd in 3:07:20, and Mark Sutherland 69 th in 4:30:51. Russ Wood of Pemberton was 13 th in 3:03:04.
In 40-49 Master Men, Team Whistler’s Mike Charuk placed fifth out of 97 riders in 2:48, with Keith Ray and Keith McIvor also cracking the top-10 in eighth and 10 th respectively and times of 2:59:14 and 3:01:23. Grame Fitch was 46 th in 3:30:39.
In 50-59 Master Men, Pemberton’s Greg McDougall was eighth in 3:43:55. Whistler’s Scott Brunning was 10 th in 3:48:47.
In women’s 19-29, Whistler’s Rya Lethan was fifth in 4:06:22, followed by Kim Myers in 4:58:06.
In 30-39 Master Women, Sarah O’Bryne was fifth in 3:32:33.
In 40-plus Master Women, Whistler’s Lynn Gentile was 17 th in 4:41:58.
In the downhill race, which included almost 200 riders, the top racer was junior Dylan Dunkerton of Roberts Creek, with a time of two minutes, 54.72 seconds.
The top Sea to Sky rider was Pemberton’s Kristian Short in 2:59.26, fourth in the Pro-Elite category.
The top Whistler rider was Harry Armstrong, who placed first in 19-29 Citizen Men and 11 th overall in 3:00.64.
Other local riders included:
Pemberton’s Sebastian Wild was first in 30-plus Citizen Men and 11 th overall in 3:02.37.
Pemberton’s Brad Bethune was second in 19-29 Citizen Men and 12 th overall in 3:02.42.
Whistler’s Max Horner was second in Under 17 Men and 15 th overall in 3:03.27.
Adam Wright was ninth in Pro-Elite and 16 th overall in 3:03.35.
Tristan Merrick was third in 19-29 Citizen Men in 3:05.34.
Greg Grant was 12 th in Pro-Elite in 3:07.71.
James Hall was fifth in 19-29 Senior Men in 3:10.09.
Rebecca McQueen was second in women’s Pro-Elite in 3:20.26.
Marc Zurbuchen was ninth in 19-29 Citizen Men in 3:20.27.
William Dixon was 10 th in 19-29 Citizen Men in 3:21.13.
Miles Jones was seventh in 30-plus Citizen Men.
