What
a day. What a race. On July 26, 2003, over 300 racers converged on the spectacular
seaside town of Ladysmith for the 2nd Annual Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race.
Racers came from all over BC, Alberta, Washington State, and Oregon to test their
limits in either the 26.5 km beginner course or the 39 km full course. The conditions
were perfect -- hot, sunny, and few bugs.
100+
kayak start in Ladysmith Harbour including one Outrigger (Darryl Louie and Brian
Phillips) that was the third fastest boat in the 10km kayak stage.
For
the first time in MOMAR history, the race was almost completely unflagged which
required racers to navigate from one CP to the next using only their map and compass.
The regular course began first at 9:00am with a 10 km kayak in Ladysmith Harbour.
Jeff Gallimore and Ron Williams of Team Fenn hammered the paddle in a blazing
46 minutes--over 12 minutes faster than the next team. Next up was a rocky 1 km
beach run followed by a creek run up Holland Creek where racers has to stay in
the creek bed until they found then next CP.
Photos
l-r :: Jamie Gauthier; Warrior Princesses; Team Fenn; Twisted Sisters & Drayson
Akhurst,
Once
at the top of Holland Creek, racers were given their only mystery quiz of the
day. The quiz was a simple orienteering exercise that required racers to figure
out the bearing and distances from five imaginary controls. It may sound easy
but not for those that did not spend the time practicing their compass work. Following
the quiz, racers continued trekking up a very steep trail to Heart Lake and the
start of the first section of Bushwhacking. Racers had to take a bearing to a
trail that was 600m away. Everyone made it through safely (less a few stings from
angry hornets) but they had little relief before the next section of extreme bushwhacking
began. This time, racers had to follow flagging down a steep and treacherous gully.
All racers emerged safely but with very bloody legs.
Racers
at the Orienteering Challenge
The
final stage was a 21 km mountain bike stage through the backroads of Ladysmith.
This stage truly separated the good from the bad in terms of map reading and navigation.
Everyone seemed to have made at least one wrong turn. The bike stage also featured
a major hike-a-bike, fast open road, and two sections of awesome single-track.
The
beginner course began at 10:30am with just under 90 racers and a 5.5 km paddle.
The beginner racers then did the same beach run and creek trek up Holland Creek
as the regular course. Once at the top, they followed flagging into 200m of bushwhacking
and then a run to the bike transition. The total trek was 6km. Once on their bikes,
racers rode on rugged powerline trails, fire road, and some small sections of
technical single-track totaling 15km. The course may have been short but it was
still very challenging.
Photos
l-r :: Team Hooters; Wendy Simms; Jason
Sandquist
MOMAR
has a new champion. All past overall winners from the MOMAR were absent for this
race. Multiple winners, Dave Norona and Sean Lunny, were battling it out at the
Eco-Challenge NAC and Normon Thibault and last years winner, Carolyn Daubeny,
were both recovering from injuries. So, that left the door open for a new MOMAR
champion. This year's winner in the regular course was Ron Grant from Shawnigan
Lake with a time of 4:46:50. Wendy Simms (above), Frontrunners Foxy, was the top
female with a time of 5:06:50.
In
the beginner category, the Hurlers (Kirsten Lane and Kim Hurley) edged out NOT
the SNOT SISTERS (Marian Hawkes and Trish Fogner) by 22 seconds to take home the
beginner's title.
All
first place winners were in the given the opportunity to win the highly coveted
West Coast Adventure Weekend to Ucluelet. The amazing prize package features two
double kayak rentals from Alberni
Outpost, a SUV rental from Budget
Car and Truck Rental, and a weekend for four at the Tauca
Lea Resort and Spa. The lucky winner was Wendy Simms of Nanaimo.
Regular
Course :: Final Results
Beginner
Course :: Final Results
Photos
l-r :: Dirt Diva's; Team Hooters; Warrior Princesses
The
great thing about a MOMAR race are the teams that are out there to not only race
hard, but to having fun too. This year we had quite a few teams via for the coveted
Spirit Award which featured a fully catered kayak trip for four to DeCourcy Island
complements of Sealegs
Kayaking. This year's winner was Team Warrior Princess, Sarah Summerville
and Claire Younge, (above right) who race with hula skirts and coconut bras. Honorable
mention goes to Team Hooters, Jellybeans, and Dirt Diva's.
The
award for Vancouver
Island Brewery's Team In Most Need of a Beer went to Team NeverLast who
were out on the course for over nine hours due to mechanical (bike) problems.
Roni Mould and Laura Mould of the Twisted Sisters were given the award (sea2summit
entry) for Sportsmanship and Perseverance.
Photos
l-r :: Aimee Dunn, beginner's course race director; injured MOMAR racer, Normon
Thibault with MC Robin Dutton; Karma Nickerson of the St. John Ambulance Brigade
tends to Craig McConnell of Team Dark Globe.
It
takes so many phenomenal people and companies to put on a race of this magnitude.
A BIG THANK YOU goes out to the following:
*
THE LADYSMITH COMMUNITY: Big thanks to the town of Ladysmith for hosting the 2nd
Annual MOMAR. Special thanks goes to Gord Horth, Town Administrator; Suzanne Prest
at the Chamber of Commerce; Mitch Wright at the Cronicle; Dan Pagely, Julie Tierney,
and Jason Blood at the Ladysmith Parks and Recreation; and Ladysmith Public Works.
*
RACERS: All 300+! Our biggest turnout yet! Extra thanks to all the racers that
travelled the distance to be part of the MOMAR!
*
SPONSORS: The Zone @ 91.3, Frontrunners, Adidas, Simon River Sports, Bad Dog Graphics,
Howard Johnson Hotels, Budget Car & Truck Rental, 100.3 the Q!, Flash-5 Energy
Foods, Seaward Kayaks, Urban Lemming Bike Shop, Vancouver Island Newsgroup, 7-Eleven,
Hammer Gel, Vancouver Island Brewery, Old Victoria Water Company, and Madrone
Environmental Services.
*
ADDITIONAL PRIZE SPONSORS: Tauca Lea Resort and Spa, Alberni Outpost, SISU, sea2summit,
Xterra Canada, Muddy Buddy, Storm the North Shore, Sunflower Cafe.
*
LANDHOLDERS: · Town of Ladysmith · BC Hydro · Ministry of Forests · Chemainus
First Nation · Cal & Kate Wilson · Ron & Sandra Vanderplas · Timberwest · 1399
Developments, Inc. · Jane Lake Holdings Ltd
*
SAFETY TEAM: St. John Ambulance Brigade, Coast Guard Auxiliary, Timonda Emergency
Services, Wayne Blow, and the Cowichan Amateur Radio Society. You guys are an
invaluable asset to ensuring swift response to an injured or lost racer!
*
KAYAK OUTFITTERS: Alberni Outpost, Comox Valley Kayaks, Island Outdoor Centre,
Ocean River Sports, Sealegs Kayaking, Simon River Sports, Vancouver Island Canoe
and Kayak Centre, Wilderness Kayaks. What a huge service you provide to the racers
by bringing boats down to the race start! And thanks to all that donated such
great prize packages!
*
PRE-RACE BIKE INSPECTION TEAM: Reckless Cycles, Urban Lemming, The Realm, Dodge
City Cycles, and Iguana Cycles (extra thanks to DJ at Iguana for doing the Friday
Night inspection too!)
*
SATURDAY NIGHT BANQUET: Brad and staff at the Sunflower Cafe-awesome food! Angie
the DJ-great tunes! Malaspina Outdoor Recreation Program -you kept the beer flowing!
And BIG thanks goes to Lisa Wolff for organizing the entire banquet-wicked job!!!
*
HEAD VOLUNTEERS: Joanna Brownell & Paul Owens - great job on the transtion,
Bud Bell & Wayne Blow - you guys coordinated a flawless kayak stage, Aimee
Dunn-awesome job as race directo for the beginner's course, Lisa Wolff - not only
the banquet coordinator but also a huge help with getting everything ready for
the weekend, and Janine Tasaka - fantastic job coordinating volunteers, Friday
night registration, and Race Central!!!
*
THE ENTIRE VOLUNTEER TEAM: To EVERYONE who lifted a finger to help with this race,
on behalf of the racers and management team we THANK YOU for coming out and helping
make the 2nd Annual MOMAR a HUGE SUCCESS!!!
Thanks
again and we'll see you at the next one!
Bryan
Tasaka
Race Director
