Congratulations to everyone who dared to brave the wet and windy conditions of this year’s Haney to Harrison Road Relay. Results from the 100 kilometer road race are now posted here courtesy of Race Headquarters.

We’d also like to personally congratulate Victoria runner Rob MacKay who finished 6th overall and was the 4th male.  Well done.

NOV 10 UPDATE:

• Overall men’s winner of the ultramarathon Darin Bentley has posted his race report titled Rainy Haney ‘09.
• Support vehicle driver Dirk “IKE” Handke has just sent us 406 photos and a race report
  written out from the perspective of a support vehicle driver following a first-time 100K runner. Check it out here. Thanks Dirk!
  

NOV 9 UPDATE:

• Rob MacKay’s race report is now available here. A good read.
• Donald Peterson crewed for Rob and his report from the event, along with great pictures, is available here.
• Also check out Betty’s report, she did the relay as part of Team Trailer Trashed Resurrected.

BC Athletics Race Report:

ACU Canadian National 100Km Road Race Championship – Haney to Harrison

Leading from start to finish, Darin Bentley of Surrey, BC ran a steady race in challenging weather conditions to capture the ACU Canadian National 100Km Road Race Championship in a time of 7:49:37. This was the second fastest time ever in this race missing Darin’s own course record by just under 10 minutes. Former race winner Matt Sessions of Burnaby, BC was second male and H2H newcomer Joe Huising of Edmonton, AB took third place.

Denise McHale of Whitehorse, Yukon won the Women’s National Championship over Suzanne Evans of New Westminster, BC in a close race which saw the lead change hands with just 20 km to go. McHale pulled away to win in a women’s course record time of 8:15:56 knocking over 53 minutes off the previous record. Evans who was suffering from the effects of the cold wind and rain held on for second place in 8:30:45 also besting the previous women’s course record. Melanie Bos of Kelowna, BC took third place.

Race conditions were cold, wet and windy, with temperatures near 5 degrees Celsius (low forties F). A steady rain came down throughout the race with a biting wind which took its toll on many of the runners resulting in one of the highest dropout rates in the race history.

The course consists of paved highways following British Columbia’s scenic Sasquatch Drive. Starting just outside Vancouver in Maple Ridge, the course winds its way over rolling hills, passing through Mission and into the lush farmlands of the Fraser Valley en route to the finish in the idyllic resort community of Harrison Hot Springs. This year marked the 13th running of the event and the first year that the race has hosted the ACU National Championship.

Of course, if it weren’t for the volunteers, nobody would be running at all. The efforts of the volunteers cannot go unnoticed, particularly in cold wet rainy conditions. 40 athletes entered the championship, with 37 toeing the start line, and 27 finishers.

Haney to Harrison 100K Relay

The 28th Annual Haney to Harrison Road Relay was held in typically cold and wet conditions. 237 teams of 8 entered, with only one unable to make it to the start.

A new Corporate Open record was set this year, by the Running Room Corporate team. Their time of 6:15:02 bettered the previous best set by H.A.Simons 21 years ago by four and a half minutes.

A second Running Room team were the overall relay winners. adidas Running Room staged a 100K duel with O’Connor’s Washed Up All Stars. The gauntlet was laid down on the very first leg with the All Stars in first and Running Room second. By half way the positions remained the same with only three minutes separating them. The turning point came on leg 5, with Kris Swanson running 6 minutes quicker than his rival. The All Stars were never able to regain the lost ground, winding up just over 4 minutes behind after nearly 6 hours of competition. adidas Running Room won in 5:39:25 to the All Stars 5:43:48. Vancouver Falcons ran an isolated third for almost the entire race, finishing in 5:53:37.

The women’s race was not nearly as close, with the Women of Hershey finishing more than half an hour ahead of their closest competitors. Hersheys won in 6:54:42, with VFAC second in 7:25:46, and Lions Gate Road Runners third in 7:37:16.

Stage winners were:

Leg 1 (9.57K): Mark Wilkie, 31:50 Nancy Tinari, 37:59
Leg 2 (13.51K): Andrew Carruthers, 44:37 Cari Kuzyk, 58:03
Leg 3 (15.12K): Ryan Hayden, 50:45 Meaghan McCollum, 1:03:12
Leg 4 (14.42K): Graeme Wells, 47:33 Janette Purdham, 1:01:17
Leg 5 (13.12K): Kris Swanson, 43:12 Nikki Knapp, 53:31
Leg 6 (13.08K): Ryan McKenzie, 43:45 Care Wakely, 51:56
Leg 7 (13.47K): Jordan Mara, 44:48 Shannon Cleary, 53:03
Leg 8 (7.87K): Peter Corrigan, 25:40 Laura Maludzinski, 29:19