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.

Today marks the start of the BC Bike Race — a seven day mountain biking journey that starts in Shawnigan Lake and ends in Whistler. Over 225 teams of two will travel over 580km filled with copious amounts of epic BC single-track.

Day 1 (Shawnigan Lake), Day 3 (Cumberland) , Day 5 (Sechelt), and Day 6 (Squamish) all feature sections of trail that have been used in past and current MOMAR’s.

Last year, I was the Course Designer for Day 1 & 2 but due to my new job with the City of Surrey, I had to resign my position. The BCBR was an amazing event to be a part of and I’ll miss being there this year. Good luck to all the teams participating and to the crew managing the show.

Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR are there on the start line despite having bike and injury issues in the days since the Test of Metal. I’m sure they will race strong and make us proud.

Keep checking back on this blog as I’ll be trying my best to post daily reports from Gary and Todd’s journey.

For those of you that are missing the Pemberton Music Festival for the MOMAR Shawnigan and need your music fix, then check out Surrey Canada Day! I’m part of the organizing team that is putting this monster together and we have Loverboy and the Payola$ headlining this year. Did you know that this event drew over 90,000 people last year making it the biggest Canada Day festival outside of Ottawa?

Now we don’t have the $5 million talent budget that Pemberton has but we did manage to also book in some great indie talent like Wil, Aliqua, and Five Alarm Funk. We also managed to bring back Rymes with Orange for a reunion and for you Beat listeners, you’ll want to check out Elise Estrada. Who knew that there could be this much fun in Surrey?!?!

Anyway, I’m sad to be missing the Pemberton show because I would love to see Interpol, Death Cab, and Wintersleep but I’ll just have to wait until next year. Oh, and check out the DCFC “I will Possess Your Heart” video — it should make you an instant fan.

Even I know that there’s more to racing than the MOMAR.  As we head into the summer months, there are lots of events to get involved with either by racing or volunteering.  Here are some that I personally recommend:

Sunday, June 8th — GutBuster Trail Run in Nanaimo
The third race in my old race series takes place in Nanaimo, BC.  This course features an 8km and Half Marathon course through the trails around Westwood Lake and into the Abyss.  Go to www.gutbustertrailrun.com for more info.

Sunday, June 8th — Edge to Edge Marathon in Tofino/Ucluelet
I was the event director for this race in ‘06 and ‘07.  In that time we added the half marathon and increased registration numbers by 110%.   I’m not organizing it anymore due to my new job with the City of Surrey but Danielle Stothers, the new event director, has a good handle on things and things should hopefully be as smooth as ever.  A few spots are left for this race. Go to www.edgetoedgemarathon.com for more info.

Sunday, June 8th — ALS Adventure Challenge in Deep Cove
This is probably where I’ll be on Sunday.   This is a sprint adventure race with mountain biking, kayaking, and trekking.  Total distance is 20km and 175 people will be on the start line in Deep Cove.  Lisa Richardson and her team have raised over $445,000 in the past four years for ALS and they hope to have another big year of fundraising.  You must raise at least $350 to race.  For more info, go to www.alsadventure.com

Wednesday, June 11th — Greater Vancouver Orienteering Club in the Delta Watershed
Who wants to join me for some orienteering training?  The GVOC’s WET series comes to the Delta Watershed on Wednesday night and I’ll be there. The session starts at 6:30pm.  AND if you want to meet for a XC mountain bike ride before the race, send me an email and we can meet up at 4:30pm. For more info, go  to www.orienteeringbc.ca/gvoc/

Thursday, June 12th - MEC Big Chop Summer Paddle Series presented by Helly Hansen
The 4th race in the 10 race series takes place off the shores of Vanier Park.  Come out and experience the fun of the Big Chop by paddling the 4km or 8km course. This is awesome training for the MOMAR and one of the best ways to spend a Thursday night.  The prize table is LOADED with schwag and you even get a free smokie and lemonade with your $8 entry fee — It’s the best deal in town.  Boat rentals are available.  Go to www.bigchop.ca for more details.

That’s all for now. I hope to see you out there, somewhere…

Cheers, Bryan Tasaka

Unfortunately, due to some technical delays, the final results will not be posted until late Monday night. However, Tony Austin, official photographer of the MOMAR, has posted his photo gallery online. Go to www.pbase.com/autie to view and purchase. Other photo galleries will be posted as they go live. In the meantime, here are a few great shots from the weekend!

And a Happy Mother’s Day to all the MOMAR mommies with a special shout out to the Chilliwack Yummy Mummies who were the winners of the Denis Fontaine Spirit Award presented by Keen Footwear (see photo below)…

The above photo is of Rozee Hyder at last year’s GutBuster Trail Running Series on Mt. Tzouhalem in Duncan. Rozee is a regular at the GutBuster and you might get to see her this weekend (Sunday, May 4th) when the race returns to the Cowichan Valley.

If you haven’t heard yet, I sold the GutBuster to Mark and Nick at the Frontrunners Westshore store. It was a sad day for me to have to give it up but living on the Mainland and organizing a race series on the Island was a bit much for me. In October, I landed a dream job with the City of Surrey in their Filming and Special Events Department. Our department is in charge of all the signature events in the City including Canada Day which drew over 90,000 people last year. I really wasn’t looking for a ‘real’ job but I just happened to find it late one night while surfing the web so I decided to apply. Everything happened really quick and a week later I was offered the job.

So, things had to change and thus I had to sell the GutBuster and resign from my big contracts with the BC Bike Race and the Edge to Edge Marathon. BUT lucky for all you adventure racing enthusiasts, I was able to keep the MOMAR going with a full three race series (please note that because of this, I’m sacrificing time with my family, weekends, evenings, and my training (as witnessed by my performance at the Suburban Rush… ;0) ), so please be grateful! ha ha). My true passion really lies with the MOMAR, putting on a quality race and, most of all, a killer after-party so it’s all worth it.

Anyway, this blog post was simply to plug the GutBuster race this Sunday in Duncan! I guess I got on a bit of a roll. Sorry! The Tzouhalem course is legendary and is probably the one that people love to hate. It’s a big climb to the top (500m) but after that’s it (almost) all downhill through the most flowy singletrack trails that I have EVER been on. I wish I could be there to Bust-A-Gut with you but I will be running a million errands and hammering away at my mile long TO DO list in preparation for the MOMAR Squamish! At least this blog post was on the list so I can cross it off and go to bed!

Goodnight and thanks for reading! Cheers, Bryan

Today was the 4th annual Suburban Rush Adventure Race out in the Port Moody area. It’s the first race of the AR season and features a 30km course of mountain biking and trail running. I’ve done this race every year since it started and it’s always a great time. This year was no exception especially with the incredible weather. Over 200 racers were on the start line and it was great to see so many familiar faces both racing and volunteering.

My partner for the day was Aimee Dunn. Aimee and I did this race last year and we have also done a few Muddy Buddies as well as the inaugural Navigate the Streets. I always look forward to racing with Aimee because she’s a solid racer and we always have a lot of laughs together.

The race started with a 35min run (hike) up the steep trails to our bikes. It was a bit of a ‘gutbuster’ and my inconsistent/non-existence training really had my heartrate up. Lucky for me, Aimee is a postie so she’s used to haul around heavy bags of mail all day. So, she didn’t seem to mind me hanging onto her backpack for a bit of a tow up. Once on our bikes, we continued the arduous climb up up and up. Race Director, Dean Wutke, used a lot of the same course from 2006 and I quickly remembered that we were in for a BIG ass climb to the top of the mountain. It was a bitch but unlike 2006 when it was a downpour, today’s sunny skies gave us an incredible view over Buntzen Lake.

Of course what goes up, must go down, so Aimee and I hammered this section and made up a ton of time on a bunch of the teams that passed us on the trek. Aimee is a wicked freerider and it was a challenge for me and the Berg to hold onto her wheel. The downhill sections were awesome. It was technical and fast and we soon found ourselves at the next trekking stage. This 4-5km stage required a bit of navigation skills around Buntzen Lake on some really nice trails and viewpoints. Then it was back on the bikes and more downhill to the finish line.

We finished in 3h 14min and I was pretty wiped. Gary Robbins and Todd Nowack of Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR entered this race and they were the first to cross the line. The girls from Chilliwack were there too and two of their teams finished in the top three in their category. Of course the day ended at the Golden Spike Pub with beers and burgers. It was a great day overall and I would to thank Dean Wutke, Shawn Leclair, and all the volunteers for organizing the race. Results and photos will be posted on the website in the coming days: go to www.suburbanrush.com.

Lina (left) travels through the Sierras Pine Forest. Photo by Jacqueline Windh

It sounded like one heck of a race down at the Baja Travesia. DARTnuun held the lead for most of the 400km course before making a grave navigation error that cost them six hours and put the other DARTnuun/NW Kayaks team into first. With only a few stages left, it didn’t seem likely that Jen’s team could make the comeback. But in the final trek, the did just that and the teams decided to race to the finish line together.

Lina’s team the Yoga Slackers had a sprint finish with ExtremeSports.dk and after 80 hours of racing, they out sprinted them on the final 200m beach run. Crazy!

Suburban Rush’s Dean Wutke is still going strong on the course and sitting in 11th place.

Check out Sleepmonsters.ca for more detailed race reports, full leaderboard, and photo galleries.

Way to go guys! We are very proud of your accomplishments!

Jen Segger-Gigg and her DARTnuun teammates power through the Baja desert in first place.
Photo by Jacqueline Windh.

Jacqueliine Windh is in the middle of all the action at the Baja Travesia and is doing a great job of posting photos and race reports on Sleepmonsters.ca.

After CP 8, it is DARTnuun, DARTnuun/NW Kayaks, and the Lina’s Yogaslackers in the top three positions. SuburbanRush.com is back in 14th place but I’m sure they will move up as we get further into the race.

Gary Robbins recovers after a harrowing experience crashing on the rocks at last year’s Baja.

Today is the start of the 500km Baja Travesia down in Mexico. You may remember this race from last year when Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR were almost lost at sea in the first stage of the race. Click here to read Gary Robbin’s account of there incredible adventure.

Although Gary and Todd are not there this year, we will be cheering on a few other MOMAR regulars on three different teams. At the race we have Dean Wutke leading SuburbanRush.com, Lina Augaitis joining the Yogaslackers, and Jen Segger-Gigg is back with DART-nuun who are going for their third win in a row at Baja. Go CANADA!

You can follow their progress via live satelitte tracking on Sleepmonsters.ca. Tofino’s Jacqueline Windh is live on location in Baja reporting on the race and has posted up some pre-race reports on the Sleepmonsters.ca site.

I was just thinking of a few great memories from the Easter MOMAR we did back in 2005. For some reason, I though it would be a good idea to run a race in March figuring enough people are in shape and ready to get an early jump on the AR season. The race went from Crofton and over Maple Mountain on foot, then a paddle in Maple Bay, finishing with a mountain bike on Mt. Tzouhalem.

It was a tough race but it was one of my favorite courses. The race started with mini orienteering Easter Egg Hunt where racers had to find four checkpoints, collect the eggs, and then return them to the start for their next map. It was comical watching racers follow a few of the ‘known’ racers in the wrong direction and then seeing the race favorites come out of the stage at the very back of the pack.

For a great Sunday morning read, click here to check out the Post Race Report that I wrote.

Happy Easter!

Last weekend, Gary and Todd from Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR were down in the USA taking on the Chuckanut 50km Trail Run. You can read all about their good times on their blog.

Way to go boys!

The Yeti Snowshoe Series wrapped up its four race series on Cypress Mountain yesterday. Over 175 snowshoers took on the 5km or 10km course in what was also the Canadian National Championships. The MOMAR joined forces with Steed Cycles in the 10km team category and the ALS Adventure Challenge in the 5km. Both teams finished 2nd in their respective categories. Here are some photos from the day.

A Yeti sighting…

Team ALS / MOMAR… I can’t believe we actually completed in the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS…
How did we qualify, you ask? Simple. Just send in your registration form and some cash. ;0)

The new Yeti “King of the Mountain and Triple Crown Winner”
Jason Loutitt collapses at the line with a first place finish.

Big Thanks to Marc Campbell, organizer of the Yeti for allowing the MOMAR to be part of a great series! Congrats to Marc on another successful year!

Pacific Massage Therepy’s Harold Williams took on the ‘07 GutBuster in Nanaimo. Photo by Tony Austin.

The 8th season of the GutBuster Trail Running Series begins on April 6th at Royal Roads University. For those of who haven’t heard, the GutBuster was sold to the boys at Frontrunners Westshore. Mark and Nick are the proud new owners of the Island’s best trail running series and will give some great new energy to the series. The big change is that they are adding a 3km Ascent on Mt. Washington!

Thanks to everyone who has supported the GutBuster over the years and helped make it what it is today! Good luck to Mark and Nick who will take this race to new levels of GutBusting fun.

The second race in the Yeti Snowshoe Running Series took place this past Saturday on Mt. Seymour. Over 150 runners were on the start line in either the 5km or 10km course. The MOMAR joined forces with the ALS Challenge and put together a solid team for the 10km race and place 4th overall.

The ALS Challenge is a great adventure race that raises money and develops awareness for ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). They have two races coming up this summer (June 8 & July 19). Each race is approximately ~20km and features mountain biking, kayaking, and trail running.

On the Team ALS/MOMAR roster were Heather McIntosh, Billy Adams, Mark Coates, Taeko Tereuchi, and Jason Loutitt. Taeko finished in 9th spot in the female category and Jason placed 5th. Nice work to the entire team on a job well done!

Race Director, Marc Campbell, was in bed sick with the flu so I was asked to help out instead of running. I actually didn’t mind since I haven’t done any running in two weeks. Things are super busy for me as I’m part of the team planning Surrey’s WinterFest Celebration coming up on Feb 9th. If any of you are interested in making the trip out for a great day of family fun and live entertainment, go to www.winterfest.surrey.ca.

Great to see everyone again!

Photo: Jen Segger-Gigg (MOMAR Squamish Course Designer) took home 2nd place overall in the female category.

Photo: A snow covered Jason Loutitt at the finish line.

Photo: This was Taeko Teruechi second time on snowshoes.

Photo: Yeti volunteers including Marc’s sister Shannon, John Crosby & Dave Norono on the mic.