Once again, there were so many great moments from the 2011 season of the Atmosphere Mind Over Mountain Adventure Racing Series.  We started the year off in a brand new venue, Burnaby, and ended in Cumberland for the 12 year in a row.  I had hundreds of photos to review and came up with 20 images and two videos.  Enjoy!!!

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1. WE WERE THE FIRST  – Photo by Mark Teasdale  —- A partial group shot just before the start of the inaugural race in Burnaby, BC.   The weather was ideal — cool in the morning and bright sunny skies in the afternoon.  The race started and finished at Barnett Marine Park, a bit of a hidden gem in the Lower Mainland.

2. WHAT A PADDLE LEG  – Photo by Mark Teasdale  —- Todd Nowack leads this group of paddlers on a 10km paddle in Burrard Inlet /Indian Arm and up to Jug Island and back.    Todd won this race and Cumberland (another series sweep!)  and adds two more to his overall win tally.

3. SWEET SINGLE TRACK ON BURNABY MOUNTAIN  – Photo by Matthew Beckett  —- Frontrunners’ Stefan Jakobson cruises down the trails during the MOMAR Burnaby.  Frontrunners is our longest running sponsor having been with us for the past 12 years. Love you guys!

4. COMPASSIONATE VOLUNTEER  – Photo by Andrea Beckett  —- The MOMAR has the BEST team of volunteers.  They are always so hardworking, enthusiastic, and ready to help a racer out when needed.  Here, longtime volunteer, Thomas Howard (and his chicken) takes the time to click a shot of a wiped out racer before helping him up (and asking if he’s ok).  What a guy!

5. CELEBRITY APPEARANCE   – Photo by John Crosby  —- Not only did we have one of the best female adventure racers (Jen Segger) on the start line of the MOMAR Burnaby but we also had Raid the North’s race director, Geoff Langford, too!

6. CHAMPAGNE WISHES – Photo by Mark Teasdale  —- Team Beer O’Clock (Nicole Gibbons, Beth Henschel, Alison Perras, and Jaimie Isaac) from Vancouver celebrates their first place finish (4F) with champagne and big smiles. They found all 36 checkpoints in 7h and 13m.  Great job!

7. HEART AND SOLE  – Photo by John Crosby  —- The Momamas were the winners of the Sole Spirit Award. Tons of spirit all day long.

8. VIDEO:  WATCH THE FOOTAGE   – Video by Erik Nachtrieb of 1iOpen Productions  —- Big thanks to Erik for coming out and shooting video and putting together this stellar video that captures the essence of our inaugural race in Burnaby. Click  here to watch.

9. WELCOME TO THE FOG – Photo by Erik Peterson —- Paddlers set out on Comox Lake for the start of the Cumberland MOMAR.  This was the foggiest morning that we ever had and it made for a really eerie but calm paddle stage.

10. NEW CHECKPOINT – Photo by Erik Peterson —- There has been 12 races in Cumberland and finding new terrain is always a treat.  Here, a new trail was cut allowing us access to a set of fantastic bluffs with a great view of the glaciers to the west.  Team Frontrunners Westshore (Nick Walker and Eric Findlay) look pro as they approach CP 3.  I predict a big year at the MOMAR for this duo in 2012.

11. A FAMILY AFFAIR – Photo by John Crosby  — It was great having Vernon’s Sheila Sovereign take on the 30km sport course with her niece Karly.  The Vernon Morning Star reported: “We did really well with the route finding, but we really had to take our time and think it through,” said Sheila. “I did the Squamish MOMAR and the trail finding was way easier. This was actually pretty tricky so we really had to pay attention.”

12. LOST AND CONFUSED – Photo by Erik Peterson —- We’ve all been there… you know… in the Orienteering Stage of the MOMAR… your navigator isn’t quite sure where to go as your teammate waits (im)patiently for a quick decision. Right?  Sarah Newman and Geoff Huenemann from Bike Over Teakettle figure things out in the final stage of the MOMAR Cumberland course.

13. SPIRIT OF TWO BODIES IN ONE – Photo by John Crosby —- In the most touching story in the history of the MOMAR, Steven Crerar from Campbell River races the MOMAR Cumberland in memory of his brother  Bryan Crerar, who was killed by a drunk driver in 2009.  Steven and Bryan had raced together for four previous MOMARs and this was now Steven’s first solo.  More on Steven’s story, click here.

14. FOUND IT! – Photo by Erik Peterson —- Aside from crossing the finish line, is there any better feeling than finding a Checkpoint?  Sometimes they can be found easily and sometimes they are hidden; either way, seeing the orange and white flag is a great feeling.  In this photo, ELM Fearless Leaders (Kathy Campbell and Lynn Swift) punch the CP at the top of DCDH.

15. OH THOSE CUMBY TRAILS – Photo by Erik Peterson —- A forest is sometimes just a forest but when you get a community of dedicated trail builders you can end up with a forest with it’s own very unique identity.  The trail network behind the Village of Cumberland is simply the best on the Vancouver Island.  In the first years of the MOMAR Cumberland, we took racers on the Crafty Butcher trail, but subsequent logging kept it out of future course routes. Last year, the trail was refurbished and a wicked double teeter todder was added making this the must ride trail of the race. Super fun, super fast, super buff.

16. OH THOSE CUMBY TRAILS – Photo by Erik Peterson —- Just south of the start/finish line for the MOMAR Cumberland sits a steep boulder filled forest and rugged cliffs.  The terrain here is super cool and is the home to a rock climbers, wasp nests, bears and our final orienteering stage. It’s one of my favorite places in Cumberland.

17. YOU’RE ONLY AS FAST AS YOUR SLOWEST TEAMMATE – Photo by John Crosby —- Last Year’s Losers (Irene and Neil Borecky) cross the line with almost all of their limbs attached…. Runner up for the Sole Spirit Award. What a riot.

18. ATMOSPHERE  – Photo by John Crosby —- A big BIG thanks goes out to our title sponsor Atmosphere who have been with us for the past three years.  Without their support and the support of all of our other sponsors, the MOMAR would not be possible (or at least you wouldn’t get a cool shirt, shiny medal, tasty dinner, rockin’ party, accurate maps, heaps of prizes, a crazy MC, etc… ).  And it was great to have a staff team from the Victoria store compete too! In this photo: Steven Craig, Hannah Mashon, William Rankine, and Nick Brame.

19. ROCK STAR – Photo by Erik Peterson —- What a great moment it was when MOMAR’s own event coordinator, Tamara Rhodes, took the stage and sang a few songs with Megalicious at the MOMAR Cumberland after-party.  This capped off another killer after-party!

20. THREE AMIGOS – Photo by ‘some dude with my camera’ —- Dave Norona, Normon Thibault, and me (Bryan Tasaka).  These guys were at the first MOMAR back in 2000 and they are still here today — 35 races later.  Wow. What a run.

21. THE REAL HEROS OF THE MOMAR – Photo by Erik Peterson —- The MOMAR is produced by a core group of hard working, organized, and dedicated event team.  Thank you Tamara Hung, Janine Tasaka, Sheron Chrysler, Elaine McHugh, Lisa Au, Liz Tribe and Gary Robbins!!!  (Note: Dave Norona represents Lisa, Liz, and Gary for the purposes of this team picture)

22. THE NASTYASS ADVENTURE RACER – Video by Kootenay Kaos —- Words cannot properly explain what the Kootenay Kaos are all about… it’s best if you just watch the video.

That’s it!  Nothing but great memories! Let us know what you think by posting a comment below.

I thought I would re-post a great interview that Gary Robbins (MOMAR Burnaby Course Director) featured on his blog last month.  www.gary-robbins.com.

Todd Nowack is a Victoria based, Mind Over Mountain Adventure Racing sponsored athlete. On July 23rd he’ll be captaining a co-ed team of four racers against the most challenging endurance event in North America in 2011, Raid The North Extreme.

GARY: Tell us a bit about your racing history. For those who don’t know, where did you get started with it all?
TODD: Like many other adventure athletes on the west coast, I got into adventure racing with the MOMAR and have kept going ever since.  I was an avid mountain biker and was just getting into trail running and various other outdoor pursuits when I was asked to team up with the infamous ‘Snot Sisters’ to be a ‘Booger Brother’ in the Cumberland 2005 event.  We ended up winning the team-of-4 co-ed category and that race got me hooked.

GARY:  How many MOMAR races have you done to date and how many of those have you won?
TODD: I have done all the races since the Cumberland 2005 MOMAR with the exception of 2009 when I was living in Norway. This makes it 12 total races with 7 overall wins: 2 solo, 4 with teammate extraordinaire Gary Robbins (Editors Note: I DID NOT add that but I will leave it in since it has a nice ring to it) and 1 with Natasha Dilay (only team-of-2 co-ed to ever take an overall title).

GARY: What was your favorite MOMAR experience and/or course to date?
TODD: ‘Three-peating’ in 2007 at the Cumberland MOMAR with yourself. We had won the previous two races of the year and had lots of pressure to win as no racers had ever won all MOMARs in one year. Winning that race was definitely a highlight but the feeling of being completely dialed in during that race still hangs with me.  I think that was the first time where we both really knew exactly how hard we could push, when to back off, and how to flow from control to control while being efficient. I still have memories of us ‘running’ through the town of Cumberland like scarecrows with cramps everywhere, our legs stiff like pencils, and our arms and back stuck like the Tin-Man from Wizard of Oz while Brian is yelling at us that we could sit down and have a coffee and still win.  Memorable times.  Favourite course would have to be one of the incarnations in Cumberland. The single-track riding is phenomenal, the area is beautiful and the community is fantastic! (Another Note: I swear I did not know that would be his answer, and I did not add it after the fact myself! PS Couldn’t agree more Todd)

GARY: Will we be seeing you lining up for our first ever Burnaby MOMAR race?
TODD: Yep. I will be there racing solo and looking to have yet another great time and experience.

GARY: Have you ever raced an expedition race like RTNX before?
TODD: I’ve done two other expedition races (RTNX 2007, and the Baja Travesia 2007).  I’ve also done some 24 hour and 36 hour races, and some orienteering ‘Rogaine’ events.  I have yet to have success in expeditions with brutal 20+ foot swell kayak conditions in Baja that wiped out several teams including leaving us unranked due to abandoning one of our kayaks and gear.  In RTNX 2007, we had some really bad luck with tearing our inflatable kayak open (even though we were being extremely careful and watched other teams literally drag their boats over sharp rocks) this situation delayed our paddle by many hours pushing it into the night where I ended up suffering from hypothermia after my body temperature had dropped by 3 degrees due to being exposed in our open cockpit kayaks.

GARY: What did you learn from these previous experiences that you feel you can apply towards your next shot at this format of race?
TODD: Eat lots of pizza and drink lots of beer to make sure that you have a good spare tire to keep you warm in times of need.  Seriously though, I think these races come down to fitness, experience and a bit of luck.  Had we been able to make it out of the swell and get to the checkpoint in Baja (which was literally right there) we would have continued ranked and placed close to the top.  RTNX would have been the same had it not been for a piece of rusted rebar that was sticking up out of the beach and virtually invisible.  Either way, luck would not have it.  For this coming race, I’m going to bring all the fitness and experience I have, stay out of trouble and race smart.  I’m done with this bad luck stuff

GARY: Tell us a bit about your teammates?
TODD: Pete Cameron and Leanne Mueller are a very strong and experienced adventure racing couple based out of Ontario that have partaken in numerous races over the years and are always contenders in any event that they enter.  I met them at Raid the North Extreme in 2007 and had the pleasure of racing head-to-head with them during the final stage of the race.  In 2009, we had teamed up to race the biggest race of the year, Explore Sweden, but due to some technical issues, were not able to race together.  So, it seems fitting that we are teamed up again.  While I have yet to have the pleasure of meeting our fourth member, James Galipeau, I have only heard good things about him, one of which being that he is a team strongman (able to take extra gear, pull others, put his head down and never stop).  The great thing about this team is that we have three solid navigators (Pete, Leanne, and myself) who all have proven race navigation experience and all of whom we can count on for pre-race mapping work, route choices, race time decisions, etc; this is an incredible advantage .  I have never been in this situation and cannot say how incredible this will be knowing that we can trade off navigating when the mind begins to crumble after countless hours of no sleep and physical hardship.

GARY: How is the rest of the field stacking up this year? Where would you place yourselves, and what are your racing goals for RTNX?
TODD: Being that Primal Quest is no longer and there are no other large events going on in North America, RTNX has virtually sold out with a great number of strong teams signing up which is awesome to see. Compared to 2007, the field will almost be double. In terms of our placement and goals, a great thing I learned from speaking with my teammates is that we all really have a similar approach to racing; we race against ourselves and where we end up at the finish is where we end up.  As long as we all put in our best possible effort during the entire race, I don’t think any of us would care what place we came in. That being said, of course were shooting for first. J

GARY: Rumor has it you were injured throughout the winter. How has your training been going lately, and describe for us what a typical week of training might look like right now?
TODD: I have been suffering with an ‘upper body injury’ (insert NHL pun here) that I am still recovering from. While I’m still not 100%, I keep in shape on my bike commuting long distances, rolling my kayak down to the beautiful waters off Brentwood Bay to partake in long paddles, and doing lots of walking and hiking off-trail through the forest to simulate expedition racing conditions. I’ve been playing it on the safe side and not running much so I’ll have to see how I fare on my legs on the new MOMAR Burnaby course.

GARY: What’s one piece of advice that you have received or learned over the years that you would pass on to new and aspiring adventure racers?
TODD: Learn how to navigate. Join a local orienteering club and get to the point where you can run while reading a map and navigate on and off trail; this is a very rewarding experience and will enhance your outdoor pursuits. Don’t train, just get out lots, compete here and there, and have fun! I’ve never trained a day in my life J

Great stuff Todd! Thanks for your time and best of luck at the race this summer. I know I’ll personally be glued to my computer looking for live updates and cheering you guys along.

It’s been a week since MOMAR Cumberland and in that time people have been sharing their race experiences all over the blogosphere.  I’ve also had numerous emails from both racers and volunteers telling me what a great time they had.  It’s so great hearing everyone’s stories especially those from the mid pack who are out there more for the experience rather than a podium finish. Thanks to all of you for taking the time to write these up; I love reading each one and hearing first hand how things went out on course.

I have posted all the blog reports that I have found so far on the Race Results page of site, but here they as well.  Grab a coffee or a beer and enjoy the reads. Be sure to add your comments to the posts if you like them!

• Sleepmonster report by Jackie Windh
• Article in the Comox Valley Record Newspaper
• Article in the Revelstoke Times Newspaper
• Blog Report by Gary Robbins
• Blog Report by Sarah Seads
• Blog Report from Team HHVI
• Blog Report by Shane Ruljancich
• Blog Report from Colin Wilson
• Blog Report from MC Dave Norona
• Blog Report from Barb of Coast Mountain Sports
• Blog Report from Erik MacKinnon

MOMAR team athlete, Gary Robbins, is gearing up for the Western States Endurance Run on June 27-28.  This is a 100 mile trail race in California all done on FOOT. It’s probably hard for even the most seasoned MOMAR racers to relate to running this far so I figured it would be a good idea to ask Gary a few questions about this masochistic event.

MOMAR: What is the Western States Endurance Run all about?  Why is this race considered the granddaddy of ultrarunning?

Gary Robbins: Western States was the pretty much ‘the birth’ of ultrarunning as we know it today. The first ever WS100 run was way back in 1977 and by 1979 it attracted 143 people! It has sold out every year since then! It is also steeped in American History and was originally a horse race that began in 1955 ‘to prove that horses could still cover 100 miles in a single day’. I learned of WS about five minutes after being told what an actual ultra run was back in 2004, ever since then I’ve known that I would attempt it one day:)  It’s got 18,000 feet of climbing and 22,000 feet of descent, which plays nicely into what I consider to be my strength as a runner

MOMAR: Training for this must be insane! Can you how describe much you ran during your biggest mileage week?
GR: If I did not come down with a cold during my final week of training my answer would have been 200km, in the end my max mileage was 165km in seven days. I eclipsed the 100mile/160km barrier five times this year and averaged 450km per month since Jan 1st…and there are plenty of guys ‘down south’ who were physically able to log way more than I could handle!

MOMAR: As a frame of reference, what is your best time doing a 10km road run, the Grouse Grind, and shotgunning a ‘killer’ Miller.
GR: Hmmm, haven’t done a 10k in 3-4 years, hate ‘The Grind’ cause it’s full of stressed out people and they don’t allow dogs, and can chug with the best of em but have actually never even attempted a shotgun! BCMC parallels The Grind and I can bring Roxy along. I’ve made it down this trail in 17min and can do a return lap in just over 50min. I managed to knock down a 20k road run, at the very end of a 100m week and to finish off a 60k day in March in 1h24m. I was pretty happy with that one:)

MOMAR: Has there been anyone who inspires you as a runner?  Scott Juryk, Ray Zahab, Forest Gump?
GR: I don’t know that I’d say I find inspiration from any fellow runners. I love reading about them on their blogs and seeing what it is that they do for training though. I find more inspiration through good adventure books such as Colin Angus’ ‘Beyond The Horizon,’ his wife Julie’s ‘Rowboat In A Hurricane,’ Alfred Lansing’s ‘Endurance,’ Heinrich Harrer’s ‘The White Spider,’ etc, etc. I LOVE to read about insane adventures and they always put into perspective just how small what I attempt to do really is.

MOMAR: I’ve seen ultra endurance racers lose all control of their bodily functions as they cross the finish line.  Are you willing to let this happen to you if it means a spot on the podium?  (And, yes, it would be on YouTube.)
GR: Bryan, I’ve peed on myself in no fewer than five races, but that might be as far as I’d let it go…hmmm, if we’re talking podium though…yeah, I ain’t stopping for nothing!!

MOMAR: Your dad seems to be one of your biggest fans. That must be pretty cool to have him fly out to support you at the race.
GR: My Dad is truly an amazing person, and my Mother is just as great and supportive, but they’ve never been able to see me race before! I grew up in Nfld and only started running and adventure racing when I turned 27 (five years ago), so this will be the first time I’ll have my Dad along to share in the pain and joy involved in an event such as this. I consider him my ‘money in the bank.’ So much of racing is mental and I already know what a HUGE boost I am going to get as I intersect with him and my crew six times throughout the race. That adrenaline alone has to be able to kill some of the pain along the way!

MOMAR: What is your plan to prevent chafing? Please explain in great detail.
GR: HAHA, I’m going to rub down my entire body with ‘Grey Poupon’ of course! Hmm, I wonder if I left that as my answer what kinda e-mails I’d receive? ‘Sport Shield’ is a fairly new product and it trumps ‘Bodyglide’ in so many ways. One app and you’re good until you scrub it off! My pre-race chafe regime will last all of 65 seconds:)

MOMAR: Are you willing to publicly share your goals for WS100?

GR: I was worried you might ask this one, and typically I’d say no cause there are so many factors surrounding a race of this magnitude. I will say this however, this WILL go down as THE MOST COMPETITIVE 100 Miler EVER run in North America. There are top runners/champions from across the U.S., Italy, France, Japan, England, and on and on and on. Just to give you an idea of what I’m up against here, the seven time undefeated Champ is back after a few years hiatus. The two previous winners will return. There is a Japanese runner who just won a 100km trail race in China in a time of 6h52m…no, that’s not a typo. There is a Brit who also ran a sub 7hr 100k this year, there is an Italian who has won the 163km ‘Tour De Mont Blanc’ twice, etc, etc. In fact in the last 17 years of this race, there have only been seven different people who have claimed the overall victory. The ‘blogisphere’ is buzzing with people just attempting to pick the top ten for this one…all that I have to say is this, top ten gets you an auto entry back into the event again next year, and the worst I’ve finished in any running race in the last twelve months (hangover runs not included here) is second. This includes races in British Columbia, Ontario, Washington Stage, and Viriginia with distances ranging from 50km to 50m to 100m. I know what I can and cannot do. I will leave it all out there and am already certain and confident that I could not have done anything further to prepare for this event. I am healthy, I am rested, and I simply CAN NOT WAIT for it to begin!!

MOMAR: Will you be building a special iPod playlist to listen to during the race?  What is the song that will start off this playlist and what song do you want to be playing as you cross the finish line?
GR: I have tried and simply can not run with music, but I do like getting a song in my head and singing it over and over again in between the numerous other thoughts that rush through my mind out there. I’m really attached to K’Naan’s ‘Waving Flag’ right now and am pretty sure I’ll be singing it to myself during the tougher climbs, like the 36 switchback climb leading up to ‘Devil’s Thumb’ at mile 48!

MOMAR: Do you think you will cry when you cross the finish line?
GR: I will personally guarantee that I will cry when I cross the line, although we have yet to determine if they will be tears of joy or tears of pure suffering!!

Photo by: Glenn Tachiyama

Reporters and Race Bloogers have been busy over the past few days!  Check out all that has been written:

• Article in the Squamish Chief Newspaper
• Article in the Whistler Question Newspaper
• Article in the Revelstoke Times Newspaper
• Blog Race Report by Gary Robbins – 2nd Overall
• Blog Race Report by Sarah Seads – 1st Solo Female
• Blog Race Report by Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island – 1st Team and 5th Overall
• Sleepmonsters.ca report on two newbie MOMAR racers

There is also a great photo gallery posted by Mark Teasdale. Check it out.  I’ll be posting up more galleries from the party, rappel site, CP 2, and the finish line.

It was nothing but blue skies for the first race of the 2009 MOMAR season!  A record turnout of 241 registered racers signed up for either the 30km Sport Course or the 50km Enduro course designed by Jen Segger.  This was our third year in Squamish and to celebrate we added a checkpoint at the top Stawamus Chief.  I would like to thank all the Squamish community and landholders for supporting our event. More kudos go out to all of the racers, volunteers, and sponsors!!!

Congratulations to Bart Jarmula from Revelstoke for his first overall win of the MOMAR!

For full race results, click here.

Here are some photos from the day…

REGISTRATION AT THE HOWE SOUND INN & BREWING CO.

Volunteer, Yun Cheung-Ford, gives out a MOMAR T-Shirt. Everyone loved the design that Roddy Tasaka from Surface Collective created  (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

The Helly Hansen Gift Bags filled with goodies from our sponsors (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

Registration lines flowed steady all night long. (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

Team Live to Tell Rob Macleod, Graham Schulz, Malcolm Schulz, and Chris Bishop from Squamish show off their pipes. (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

Volunteers, Laura Comuzzi and Yun Cheng-Ford take a Breather from their duties to peruse the latest edition of Breathe Magazine (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

Pam Skeans and Shannon Collier from Squamish. (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

RACE MORNING AT ALICE LAKE PROVINCIAL PARK

No apparent pre-race jitters for solo racer Bart Jarmula with Team Sleepmonsters.ca, Erica Gray and Heather Fraser, (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

Coast Mountain Sports looks over the first of two maps that they would recieve on the day.  (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

The Victorious Secrets featuring Caroline Mackay, Alison Sum, Rosanna Sheppard, and Antonia Grady sex it up at the MOMAR. (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

AND THEY’RE OFF

Enduro course start (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

Live to Tell (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

Sarah Seads rips down the road past Quest University (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

Gary Robbins with a view of Howe Sound in the background. (photo by Amber Thom)

Mountain Devils (Lesley-Ann Marriott & Terry Stuart) summit the Stawamus Chief and arrive at CP 11 and then off to the rappel site. (photo by Amber Thom)

The father and son duo made up of Roger and Aaron Walmsley raced as team Generation Gap. Aaron was our youngest racer at 15 years old. (photo by Amber Thom)

Bart Jarmula from Revelstoke. (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island’s Justin Mark falls in the glacier fed river while wife and teammate Carey Sather looks on. (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

Meanwhile, teammate Jeff Reimer rides the river in style. (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

THE FINISH LINE IN DOWNTOWN SQUAMISH

DONE! Happy times for Michelle Maislen from Washington State.  (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

Garibaldi Highlands’ Kim Stegeman and Kate Drew celebrate their MOMAR finish. (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

The Ladies of Suburban Rush and the Gentlemen of Suburban Rush at the finish line. (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

Canadian adventure racing legend and seven time Eco-Challenge competitor, Bob Faulkner, crosses the finish line. (Photo by Mark Teasdale)

THE AWARDS CEREMONY AT QUEST UNIVERSITY

The top three in the solo male category: Gary Robbins (2rd), Bart Jarmula (1st), and Shane Ruljancich (3rd). Winners took home a Helly Hansen and Smartwool prize package, second place won Ryders sunglasses, and third won a wall tattoo from Surface Collective.  (photo by Amber Thom)

The top three in the Sport team of two female (photo by Amber Thom)

And the party! DJ Q-Pid played great tunes all night long and these were the last ones on the dance floor. (photo by Amber Thom)

Wow. That was a long break from Blogging! I was getting lazy and posting updates via Twitter for the past month.  But, I’m back now and a lot has happened since the last update.

The first MOMAR of the season is just a few weeks away and we are all set to go.  We have over 200 racers signed up and ready to rip it out on a newly designed course by Jen Segger.  Over 90 of the 200 are first time MOMAR participants which is a great stat to see as we love having a new batch of weekend warriors give adventure racing a try.

MOMAR sponsored athlete, Gary Robbins, has been running and running and running and running some more.  He’s become the Forest Gump of the North Shore!  Gary was named Ultra Runner of the Year so he gets a BIG CONGRATS.  He’s been blogging his race stories and they are a well worth a read especially while you drink a milkshake and eat a cinnamon bun!

Last weekend was the Suburban Rush and Aimee Dunn and I had a blast in our third year racing together. It was actually my fifth time doing this race and that was enough to get me a nice certificate for participation! They sold out their event with 250 racers and the competition keeps getting better every year.

I also spent time in Squamish scouting out Jen’s course.  The rappel site is so awesome. Freaky as hell. It makes the rappels from the last two years like bumps in the prairies!

The final few weeks will be busy behind the scenes for the organizing team, but we are very excited for the big day and most of all the big PARTY!

More blogs to come!

Bryan Tasaka
Event Director

Congratulations to Team MOMAR’s Gary Robbins for his first place win at this past weekend’s Dirty Duo 50km Ultra.  Gary raced neckand neck with Aaron Heidt and squeaked the win out by a mear 14 seconds.  A great play by play account with photos is now posted on his blog. Check it out.

The above map is the Dirty Duo course route for the 50km ultra taken from Gary’s watch.

The new issue of Get Out There Magazine is now out on newstands and the MOMAR makes the front cover and gets a featured article!

The cover shot was taken by Tony Austin from last year’s Cumberland MOMAR as racers jockey to the start line on Comox Lake.  Can anyone tell me the name of the guy who is front and centre?

Inside the issue, Gary Robbins writes an article about his first MOMAR experience and what motivates him to keep coming back.

And you can read an article by MOMAR’s MC and former eight time MOMAR champion, Dave Norona, on his recent mountain biking adventure.

Click HERE to view the entire issue online now.

Photo by Sleepmonsters.com

It is only mid February, but the hardcore are already out racing some big events.

• Gary Robbins put in a solid performance at the Orcas 50km Ultra this past weekend.
• Jen Segger is ski racing down in Colorado competing in a 24 hour ‘rondo’
• Chris Koch and Jim Mandelli are down in South America racing with Team Spirit in the Pategonia Expedition Race. Lina Augaitis is also competing with Team Buff.
• And Dave Norona is ripping it up on the sled in the Chilcotins.

Meanwhile, I spent the day celebrating my 38th by eating about 5000 calories… although I did get a good workout in at the gym (hot tub)…  Living the dream… ;0)

In the ultra running world, the big race is the Western States and runners need to qualify to be accepted entry.  Competing at this race has been Gary Robbins’ main focus and this past weekend he suffered through the Mountain Masochist 50 mile trail run with hopes of qualifying.  After 7+ hours of running Robbins took home and impressive 2nd place and with that he secures a spot in Western States! Yeehaw!!!

Gary will be off to California at the end of June ’09 to compete in the 100 mile race against the best ultra runners in the world.  He has just posted a quickrecap of his race on his blog with a more detailed report to follow.  Way to go Gary!!! You rock!

I just got off the phone with Gary Robbins from Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR who just wrapped up Day 1 at the BC Bike Race. Today’s 89km stage went from Shawnigan Lake and finished in Lake Cowichan. The race started with two laps around the Shawnigan Lake School campus in an effort to spread teams out before the single track. As could be expected, teams hammered off the start line to get a good position in the narrow trail. However, in this early loop teams had to cross a farmer’s field which had just been plowed the day before. This made things a bit muddy and one of the Trek teams blew BOTH of their derailers in the first few km into the race. They ended up getting the bike fixed but left 20min+ behind the last team–still they ended up finishing 4th overall for the day!

Gary and Todd were hanging with some top teams for the first few hours of singletrack, but 3/4 of the way up an 8km climb, Gary started suffering from severe leg cramps. These cramps would plague him any time they came to an incline and he had engage his inner quads. Todd was a workhouse for they day and by the sounds of it, very patient with his suffering teammate. Fortunately the final 20km were on the Cowichan Valley Trail (old rail bed) and they were able hammer it out at a ~24km/hr pace.

MOMAR Squamish winners Team Helly Hansen / Vancouver Island (Justin Mark & Jeff Reimer) had a troubled day one as well. Justin was suffering from the heat which reached highs of 32 celsius. Todd went through 10 bottles on the day and Gary chugged 2L of water at one aid station (almost made him puke).

Unofficial results had Gary and Todd finish in 25th place with a time of 5h15min and Justin and Jeff in 5h28min. Other notables include Team Kona (Normon Thibault and Wendy Simms) who finished 10th overall with a time of 4h45min. Today’s winning team finished in 4h14min (I think it was one of the Cannondale teams). The Trek team finished second. The results will be up on the BCBR website soon: www.bcbikerace.com.

Tomorrow’s stage is 125km long with 123km on mainline forest service roads. It’s going to be a day where teams will ride in packs just like a day on the Tour de France. It’s going to be fast and furious!

The blogosphere is alive with great post race stories from the MOMAR Squamish!  There’s nothing like getting the story straight from the horse’s mouth.  Grab a coffee, a beer or a protein shake and settle in for a play by play account of how it all went down at the front of the pack.

• Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR captain Gary Robbins details how he uses a broken shoelace to deak out the followers. GO.
• Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR navigator Todd Nowack writes about hardtails and navigation — he even admits to small mistakes on the nav! GO.
• Elm Health’s Sarah Seads writes about being the first female across the line and lessons learned along the way. GO.
• Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island’s Justin Mark tells the tale of how sweet the MOMAR victory feels. GO.
• Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island’s Kristenn Magneson writes about losing a bike shoe in the trek. GO.
• Course Designer Jen Segger-Gigg details the great feeling of having designed on killer course. GO.

And if you prefer the old school way of getting your news then you can check out the Whistler Question, SNAP Magazine, and the Pique for awesome post race coverage.

Thanks to everyone for telling your stories!  You are an inspiration to us all!

If I missed any blog reports please let me know and I’ll post it up.

Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR’s Gary Robbins and Todd Nowack at last year’s MOMAR Squamish. Photo by Tony Austin

Here’s a quick list of some adventurous blog worthy reading:

+ Gary Robbins writes about his triumphs at the Diez Vista 50km Trail Run
+ On the flip side, Todd Nowack describes race lessons learned at the same run
+ Jen Segger-Gigg writes about her new love… paddleboards
+ Read Lina Augaitis‘ great postrace report following her 3rd place finish at the Baja Travesia