I’m heading over to the Island on Thursday night for four days of course scouting in preparation for the MOMAR Cumberland. I have a brand new course designed so all I have to do is vet it out and make sure the mapping is accurate. Here’s what I can tell you about this year’s Cumberland course:

1. It will only have one kayak leg
2. It will have a real orienteering stage
3. We may bring out the pool noodles (if we get nice weather)
4. The finish line is going to rock

I’m really looking forward to scouting out some new areas and to get back on the bike after a month off. If you happen to spot me on the trails, please don’t be offended if I ride the other way… I don’t want to give you any hints… ha ha.

I also have a weekend pass to The Big Time Out Music Festival! This is a three day concert in Cumberland featuring some amazing talent. I’ve already seen a bunch of the bands this year because we booked them for the events with the City of Surrey.  The festival headliners are Metric, De La Soul, K’naan, and many more. Hopefully, i’ll see some MOMARIANS there!

AND the final GutBuster Trail Run is this weekend up at Mt. Washington. It’s an ascent up to the top from the lodge and you get to take the lift down. I’m not sure if I can make it up for it but maybe you’ll see me there.

The latest edition of Get Out There magazine is now available online.  You can also subscribe to receive the electronic version and it will be sent every two months right to your inbox.  This issue had a bunch of great gear reviews and their event calendar is the most comprehensive one you’ll find.  Click here to view the issue.

Right now five MOMAR racers are down in South Africa taking on the 570km Bull of Africa Expedition Race.

Squamish MOMAR Course Designer, Jen Segger, is racing with uge.cyanosis and are currently in 3rd place. The other Canadian team is Team Comor / John Henry Bikes with a roster that includes Adam Smith, Graham Tutti, Adrian Rothwell, and former Team Helly Hansen/MOMAR member, Meghan Rose; they are sitting in 18th place.

You can track the teams on the Sleepmonsters website complete with race reports, leaderboards, and photo gallery. Go to www.sleepmonsters.ca.

It was great to have Greg and Francis (photo right) from Schick Xtreme3 on site during the Shawnigan Lake MOMAR. Here they are on the boat as the official starters of the race. I’m sure everyone went home loaded with a new stock of blades.

Remember that Schick Xtreme3 is sponsoring the Grand Prize trip for two to Hawaii. We will draw for this at the Cumberland MOMAR during the awards ceremony. To enter you simply have to make a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of BC during race weekend.

And you can look for Schick Xtreme3 this week up at the Kokanee Crankworx.

The 25th edition of the Schick Xtreme3 Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race took place on July 26th in the Cowichan Valley were the series began nine years ago. It’s pretty cool for me to reminisce about all of the amazing memories that have taken place during each MOMAR weekend. From the adventure filled courses to the incredible racers and volunteers to the epic after-parties, the MOMAR has been an amazing experience and I can tell you a million great stories that are both family friendly to those not so family friendly… Going into race weekend, I didn’t really think much about the fact that this was our 25th race but sitting here now and thinking back on it all I can do nothing but smile, laugh, and sigh (from all the crazy hours). Anyway, I’ll save the trip down memory lane for the day when the MOMAR reaches 100 and your children’s children are doing the race!

Speaking of children being inspired and racing the MOMAR, this race we had 14 year old, Aaron Whalmsley race with his dad Roger in the Short Course. Roger has done numerous MOMARs usually racing with Where’s My Sherpa but at this race he convinced his son to enter as a father and son duo. Their team name was “Generation Gap” but the only gap they had was between them and the 2nd place team.

This MOMAR featured both a short 30km course and the regular 50km course. Each course started with a kayak on Shawnigan Lake (5km/10km) followed by a mountain bike stage (20km/30km) with two water challenges, and finished with a orienteering stage on Cobble Hill Mountain. In the regular course, it was Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR’s Todd Nowack winning his 5th Overall Title. Team PIT came in second followed by solo racer Roger McLeod. Sarah Seads from ELM Health won another solo female title (Sarah, how many is that now?). Jen Segger and Norm Hann were the top coed team of 2 and Team Berg Bikes, Lisa Hughes-Fisher and Nina Brown, were the fastest all female duo. The Mill Bay / Shawnigan Lake based Team Longevity were the top team of four.

The kayak stage saw Team Helly Hansen / Yogaslackers (Marshall House & Lina Augaitis), and Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island (Justin Mark & Jeff Reimer) open up a massive gap between them and the next chase group. Both teams have been paddling a lot and with their speedy boats (double surfski and K2), they rocked the paddle. Lina and Marshall hit the beach first but Jeff and Justin were the first to punch CP 1.

One of the big changes to this year’s course design was in the mountain bike stage. Jason Sandquist took racers out the Burnt Bridge trails which were used in the last two years of the BC Bike Race. The single-track riding in pretty wicked and the loose sand really keeps you on your toes. Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island was first into this stage and were arguably two of the strongest riders in the race. They knew that they needed a big time gap on Nowack heading into the Orienteering stage in order to have a chance at winning their second consecutive title. But multiple flats early in the stage cost them a significant amount of time and Nowack along with Frontrunners‘ owner, Normon Thibault passed them and took them out out contention.

An urgent call on the radio notified us that some idiot had removed the flagging before CP 12 and all the way to the Quarry. Jason was in the River and I was at the Quarry so we both ran and re-flagged it but not before the top 10 teams. Nowack said he didn’t mind this because he had his fancy map holder on his bike and it was easy to navigate through. Thibault stayed with him but lost his lead as a result. However, Team Warmland Dental/SOL and Team Cowichan Bay Kayaks missed a key turn and ended riding down a big hill before realizing their mistake and had to climb back up.

Course highlights were definitely the two water challenges. The first challenge required racers to run upstream to get a CP and then back downstream to get the other CP. The CP downstream required racers to jump into the deep pools of the Koksilah River and swim across the 10m span.

The other water challenge was the Pool Noodle Swim on Quarry Lake. Teams swam a 200m circuit with the pool noodles to collect two checkpoints. This man-made lake has an almost tropical green colour and is nice and warm. Both dips in the water do a great job of keep the racers cool (and clean). The pool noodles worked out much better than last year’s ‘choose your own inflatable’ but we missed seeing the Orca whale, crabs, and ducks…

The Orienteering Stage was last and the Carl Coger designed course gave many of the navigationally challenged racers a tough time. Although some say this year’s O course was easier than last year, it still had a few CPs that were the turning points for some racers. Thibault, entered the O course in first place but one CP gave some serious trouble and cost him a podium finish.

Nowack crossed the finish line in 4:26:37 and teams continued to finish right up until the eight hour cutoff. The finish area had a great vibe with MC Dave Norona and John Crosby entertaining racers all day long. The refreshment table was loaded with food, Edge drink, and there was even a big cooler filled with beer from Lighthouse Brewing Co. A big thanks to the students from the West Coast College of Massage Therepists for coming out and giving the racers a massage when they finished.

Full race results can be found on the Race Results page.

I have just re-posted the final results from this weekend’s MOMAR. I made a mistake in the mountain bike split times. Go to the Results Page to view the new version.

I’m just compiling a bunch of photos and crafting a post race report. I’ll hopefully have it up in the next few days.

Big THANKS to all the volunteers, racers, and sponsors for supporting the MOMAR!

It was another fantastic weekend at the MOMAR!  I’ll be posting a full post race blog report with results by tomorrow but for now here are a few photos:

The countdown is on until the MOMAR Shawnigan Lake!  I’m here with my sister, Janine, in Nanaimo where we just spent the night at Normon Thibault’s place.

Last night, Norm entertained us with a spectacular fireshow. Armed with a blowtorch taped to the end of a stick and a big can of bug spray, he bravely set off to rid his property of a massive wasp’s nest.  Here are a few photos…

It just goes to show you that it’s not all about working out for this recent winner of the BC Bike Race (coed with Wendy Simms), but they too are just like us! I feel like the editor of US Weekly by saying that.  ;0)

We’ll be heading south to Duncan soon where we will be loading up the Budget van, going to Merridale Estate Cidery, and then for a Safety Meeting with the boys from SARBC, Timonda, and the HAMS.

Oh, and the new MOMAR T-Shirts are SUPER cool!!!

Holy shit. Jen Segger finished Badwater in 9th place overall and was the 5th female! 32:37:57 was her time.  I don’t think I’ve run 32 hours this year!  Way to go, Jen!!! You rock!  You’re an inspiration to everyone and congratulations on ripping it up?

Did you leaving anything in the tank for the MOMAR in 11 days???

The MOMAR Squamish Course Director, Jen Segger, is down in Death Valley running the Badwater race.  This is one of the toughest races in the world with a course that stretches 217km through the scorching dessert sun of 55c temperatures.

This is a race that you only accepts the best of the best and you have to apply to get one of the 80 spots. Jen is the youngest female to ever make it in.  She’s running strong and as of now she sits in 9th spot (possibly 7th — the results aren’t that clear).

I think Jen is hoping to make a go at the 28 hour course record!  She started the race yesterday at 10am so she’ll be finishing around 2-4pm today.  You can follow her progress at www.badwater.com.

GO JEN GO!!!

There are many times when I’m working on the MOMAR that it hardly feels like ‘work’ and this weekend is right up there on the top of that list!

I made the trip over to Shawnigan Lake to finalize a few sections of the MOMAR course route with Course Designer, Jason Sandquist, and to do a site visit of Merridale Estate Cidery. Joining us on the trip were Michelle Relf and Kari Frazer.

Longtime MOMAR volunteer and formerly my sponsorship contact at the Sandman Inn, Trina White, and her husband Jason Ware were our hosts as they welcomed us to stay at their new vacation rental home “The Shawnigan Chalet”. We were their inaugural guests and it was nothing but awesome. The place had a great view of the lake and a very cozy atmosphere.

Michelle and I started Saturday with a drive through the rural pastures and a stop at Merridale to meet with owner Janet Docherty. The estate is massive with apple trees everywhere, a big cellar where they make their cider, and a bistro where they serve lunch and dinner. Merridale is going to make the MOMAR Friday Night Registration truly special and I highly recommend that you come early and stay for dinner.

We left Merridale excited to meet up with Jason and Kari and get the rest of the course finalized. I haven’t been on those trails since the last year’s MOMAR and we were treated to some great single track that was in great shape following the BC Bike Race. We played in the river and also vetted this year’s orienteering stage. I think everyone should find this year’s O course a bit easier in the sense that the CP flags won’t be so hidden as they were last year. Six hours later, we were back at the vehicles a bit dehydrated and hungry. Good times!

Michelle and I had bought some ribeyes for Saturday’s dinner but after our earlier visit to Merridale we decided to make the trip back for dinner. Showered and clean we all met up again and had an absolutely incredible meal. The food is all local and fresh. I had the Snapper, Jason had the Paella, Kari had the tuna/salmon salad, and Michelle had the Tandori Chicken (see photo left). For dessert we had their Apple Strudel and Apple Crumble with ice cream and of course we washed it all down with their cider.

On to Sunday… Slept in… Ribeye and corn for brunch :0). Computer work. THEN off to Mt. Tzouhalem for an afternoon ride!!! Tzouhalem is my favorite place to ride but I haven’t ridden the trails in over two years. Jason led us (sans Kari, but now with Chris) on a great route through some of the mountain’s best trails (Chicken Run, T-Bone, Field of Dreams, M-One, etc). It was a great end to an amazing weekend.

The only negative was sitting in the ferry lineup for over four hours! I’m an idiot for not making a reservation. Take my experience as a warning if you’re coming over on the ferry for the MOMAR… BOOK YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW!!! BC Ferries only has a limited number of reservation spots and they go weeks in advance especially now that summer is in full swing.

Thanks again to Trina and Jason for having us stay at your chalet! Thanks to Merridale for the awesome dinner! Thanks to Jason, Kari, Michelle, and Chris for the great weekend of riding and running!

My friend and longtime MOMAR racer and volunteer, Michelle Relf, take the MOMAR t-shirt overseas. Here she is with her friend in Ireland posing with the shirt from this year’s MOMAR Squamish.

I can’t remember which race the fuchsia shirt is from (in photo below) but if you remember, then please reply as a comment below.

Both shirts were designed by my little brother, Rod, and he is busy working on the shirt design for the Shawnigan Race. Speaking of my brother, I better give his company, Surface Collective, a big plug. Rod and his business partner Michelle have just filmed an episode on the CBC show Dragon’s Den which will air in October 2008.

Did you know that the MOMAR was one of the first races that used American Apparel (warning: some might consider this site a bit offensive… others (gary) will love it… ) shirts and offered female sizing? We have always believed that a shirt should be wearable and some of the ways we did that was to pay for a high quality shirt, put on a cool graphic (something your parents wouldn’t wear or one that your kids would be jealous of what you are wearing!), and we put the logos on the lower back (small). Personally, I can’t stand shirts with all the gaudy logos that cover the back or the poorly fitting Gilden shirts with their fat collars.

The Vancouver Sun Run has always had the worst shirts. You would think a race that huge would have figured it out by now! I did that run 10 times and each year I would tear it up and make it my new bike rag.

Anyway, enough about shirts! Time to get back to the Tour.

I wasn’t going to blog today because I’m a bit blogged out after covering the BC Bike Race, but then I came across the most interesting story on the Sleepmonsters.ca site. Simon Donato is leading a team of adventure racers to the Sierra Nevada dessert to conduct their own search for the wealthy adventurer, Steve Fosset, who went missing in Sept 2007 and in February was declared legally dead.

Take a moment to read about their plan to find Steve and this could be a zillion times more interesting that following this year’s Primal Quest (did anyone even know that it was on???).

Day 2 Course Designer, Brent Chan, has emerged from the week working and riding the BC Bike Race and has send us some photos to share. Thanks Brent!

Gary and Todd with their race schwag.

Wendy Simms and Normon Thibault at the start of Day 1.

Jeff Reimer and Justin Mark of Team Helly Hansen

The pack gets led out by Marc Campbell and the Helly Hansen FJ Cruiser.

I’m not sure who this is but he is wearing the new MOMAR race jersey.

Kristenn Magnesson and Lisa Ludwig of Team Helly Hansen with their 2nd place medals.

A happy Gary Robbins crosses the river during Day 3.

Norm and Wendy in the Red ‘leaders’ jersey. They won all seven stages in the coed category.

Brent Chan at the start of Stage 7.

Todd Nowack at the start the final stage.

The final stage of the BC Bike Race wrapped up in Whistler on Friday. Congratulations to everyone who mustered up the courage to line up on the start line for the 500km+ journey. I would like to give a big slap on the back to everyone who finished the race! It is no easy task riding for that many km especially when so much of it is the technical single track that BC is most famous for.

Congrats to all the Helly Hansen athletes who ripped it up at the BCBR including, Justin Mark and Jeff Reimer of Team Helly Hansen VI for finishing 15th; Kristenn Magnesson and Lisa Ludwig who came in second; and to Todd Nowack and Gary Robbins / Jay Latiff who finished in the 20th spot!

Way to go to Frontrunners‘ Normon Thibault and Wendy Simms for winning the coed category!

I would also like to congratulate all the other MOMAR alumni racers who finished including, Adam Smith, Graham Tutti, Billy Adams, Heather Macintosh, Geoff Huennomen, Aaron Vanderwaal, Matt Young, Jordie Allan Newman, and Robin Dutton.

Be sure to read Gary and Todd’s post race blog posts with their detailed account and post race reflections following one their biggest personal endurance challenges to date. Gary has already posted a quick writeup on his blog with some pretty nasty photos of his hip and hand.

Remember that someone is going to win an entry into the BCBR at the final MOMAR in Cumberland!