Great debut for Whistler 50

Squamish’s Jen Segger wasn’t the first woman across the line in the Whistler 50 Relay and Ultra on Saturday (Nov. 5), but she took top spot among female competitors in the 80-kilometre solo Ultra distance with a bit of a break partway through the course.

Segger finished with the unofficial fourth-overall time of six hours, 31 minutes, 20 seconds once adjusted for a 22-minute delay at a train crossing that allowed the rest of the women’s field to close the gap on her.

Despite the wait, Segger said she was impressed by the event B.C. Athletics put on to replace the Haney to Harrison 100-km race that ran for nearly three decades.

“I think it’s great for this year,” said Segger. “(The course) was great. It was flatter than I would normally like, but it’s great running through the Lost Lake area — it’s so twisty, up-and-down and undulating, so that keeps it interesting.”

The overall Ultra winner was Burnaby’s Chris Downie, who finished the four 20-km laps in 5:52:07, He was followed by Surrey’s Darin Bentley (5:55:34) and Hassan Lotfi-Pour of North Vancouver (6:24:13).

Fifth-overall finisher and women’s runner-up Nicola Gildersleeve said the run got tough over the final stretch.

“It was like a death run,” she said of the final lap. “You just feel like you’re going so slow and you’re just trying to mentally tell yourself to keep going.”

Whistler’s Christine Suter finished 18th overall (8:07:50) and ninth in the women’s field, while Marla Zucht was next through the finish at 8:13:27.

In the first annual event’s relay, more than 150 teams of eight ran legs of eight and 12 kilometres each on the course beginning and ending at the Whistler Golf Club, traveling towards the Nicklaus North area and passing through the Lost Lake trails on the way back.

Richmond-based Team Honey Bucket, comprised of several former university-level men’s runners, led the relay at every handoff and won with a time of 4:31:49.

“This was the first time for a lot of the team doing a relay like this,” said Honey Bucket captain Sam Pawluk. “(First) was what we wanted, so we’re happy. It was one of our goals… but at the same time we just wanted to put together a good team, come out and have a little fun. It’s hard to put together a quality team of great runners but this year the timing worked.”

The Beaver Buzz Racing Team from Langford was second (4:44:08) and the VFAC Flight of the Falcons were third (5:15:43).

Among teams listed as local entries, Pemberton squad Bionic Hipster was fastest (6:53:50), finishing 18th in the open mixed division and 57th overall. Whistler mixed squad Giver’ was 25th in the open category and 74th overall with a time of 7:06:25. The Pemberton women’s team Valley Girls was 10th in its category and 96th overall, while corporate entry Tourism Whistler Supergirls was 100th overall at 7:27:49.

Maurice Wilson, technical manager of cross-country for B.C. Athletics, said race officials were very happy with participation levels in the event’s first year and that organizers hope the Whistler 50 will be a staple on the province’s fall running calendar for years to come.

“It certainly met our expectations… and maybe exceeded them slightly. Our goal for the first year was to have about 150 teams and we had 158,” said Wilson. “I think, overall, the outcome of the event was very positive, with us getting some very good feedback from both participants and the local community there. That certainly makes us think we can grow the event from here.”

Wilson said B.C. Athletics will consider alterations to next year’s course to minimize any disruption.

“It’s difficult to avoid the rail crossings without significant change to the course, but it’s certainly something we’ll look at,” he said, noting that organizers will hope to work with CN Rail to resolve the issue in 2012.