New Westminster, BC – May 25, 2009. Perfect spring conditions prevailed for the record number of racers who participated in the Coast Mountain Sports Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race (MOMAR), held this past Saturday in Squamish. Bart Jarmula of Revelstoke was crowned the new MOMAR champion, coming in just ahead of current MOMAR Cumberland champ, North Vancouver’s Gary Robbins. Victoria’s Shane Ruljancich was a close third overall.

“Bart Jarmula ran an incredibly clean race, finishing the enduro course (57 km) in 4 hours and 53 minutes, almost 20 minutes in front of Gary Robbins”, says Race Director, Bryan Tasaka.

“Gary fought hard to get from 5th place to 2nd place, after losing time in the orienteering section, which was truly impressive.”

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The 2009 edition of the Rock and Ice Ultra is over and Phil and Jen have both posted final reports on their blogs:

•  Life Behind the Scences – Battered and Bruised - Wow, what a race! It’s 0C today in Yellowknife – abnormally warm for this time of the year…but a great day to enjoy the Caribou Festival activities taking part in the YK downtown core. Unfortunately, I’m having a hard time getting my butt off the Argue’s couch today. Here’s my injury/body damage report…
• Jen Segger-Giggs - FINISHED – Rock & Ice is done! - I’m safe and sound back here to Yellowknife and you know what, its the BEST feeling in the world! I complete the 2009 Rock & Ice Course (225km) at a little after 2pm today, good enough for 2nd place…

Here are the latest reports from two athletes competing in the Rock and Ice Ultra in the North West Territories:

Jen Segger-Gigg – Last Night, 1 day to go – Here I am, at Trout Lake Lodge, the last stage camp of the race! YEAH!!! I gotta say, I am suffering like crazy. My achilles is at an all time pain and today, we hit a fast hard packed snow section for the last 5km and it literally brought me to a screeching hault. Denise and I were together and then BOOM, she went and I couldn’t move! The pain fired into my hamstring and I crawled my way to the lodge. Continue reading….

Phil – Day 5 Report…From Trout Rock Lodge – A few words to recap the stages so far… Day 1 – A long hard day. A brutal windchill, lots of frostbite victims and a crazy blizzard on Prelude lake which took Mike and I over 2.5hrs to cross (approx 14km). In the end, we figured it was such a hard day that we would cross the line together. Continue reading…

The Rock and Ice Ultra (March 21-26) consists of a number of different events including the Cold Foot Classic, a 44.5km continuous foot/snowshoe/xc ski race, the K-Rock Ultra, a 135km foot/snowshoe/xc ski race, and finally the grand daddy of them all, the Diamond Ultra, a 225km foot and snowshoe or XC ski race. The Diamond Ultra is a self-supported, 6-day / 6-stage race. 

A number of BC/Canadian athletes are competing in this year’s race up in Yellowknife, NWT, and several are maintaining blogs where you can follow along on their journey, or at least read about it afterwards..

Jen Segger-Gigg:

• Report #1
• Report #2
• Report #3
• Report #4
• Continuing Onwards… - Short blog here folks from the Rock & Ice. Well, 3 days done, 3 to go!

Phil – Life Behind the Scenes:

• Rock and Ice Time! - This is it… Today was the first day I truly felt that the 2009 Rock and Ice is just around the corner…oh wait a second…

Harold Mah – Get Out There Magazine Reporter:

More On Line Media & Racer Blogs:

• Josh Caple Photography - (www.joshcaple.com/blog/)
• Antonio De la Rosa – (www.aventurasdelcali.com)
• Sergio Fernandez -(http://ser13gio.blogspot.com)

…”there was a flat tire at about 11pm and then some sort of freezing outdoor crazy chilean lamb bar-b-q (for a veggy girl a little frightening but an experience nevertheless)…”

North Vancouver adventure athlete Lina Augaitis has just completed an adventure race in Chile called the Wenger Patagonia Expedition Race. The 10 day expedition style event included:

• A90km paddle down “the most gorgeous river I have ever paddled… past glaciers, peaks, howling winds”,
• A 100km bike,
• A 50ishkm trek through the infamous Turba (“…like very wet moss that sinks to about your ankles. So in the end it is as difficult as walking in snow without snowshoes but wet and cold…”) and forests of southern Patagonia,
• Another 140km bike,
• and more…

Unfortunately due to terrible blisters, allergic reactions, wrong equipment, adverse weather conditions and pure exhaustion Lina’s team was forced to quit before completing the race.

You can read her entertaining and information writeup of her experience on her blog here.

Dirty Duo Trail Run/Mountain Bike Race, March 7, North Vancouver

• Gary Robbins – Gettin Dirty At The Duo (An Epic Race Experience) – Dirty Duo 2009 however will forever go down as one of my personal breakout races! I have NEVER been pushed like I was at this past weekends race…
• Steed Cycles – Dirty Duo 2009 – The 10^th annual Dirty Duo kicked off Saturday March 7th. For those of you who don’t know what the Duo is – it’s a fun North Shore mountain bike and trail running event held on Seymour every March…

Cypress Yeti Snowshoe Race, March 7, North Vancouver

• Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island – Cypress Yeti – Wow, snowshoe season is finally done, the suffering is finally over. It was another great weekend of snowshoeing for Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island…

UBC Triathlon/Duathlon, March 8, Vancouver

• 3:10 to Boston – UBC Sprint Tri Race Report – Kept this kind of under the radar. Hadn’t really been training much for tri’s since Gunner broke his collar bone…
• Martina – ‘Playing with da boys’…. UBC Triathlon – Well, first triathlon race of the year!  Not a stellar one, but it’s still early in the year and I just wanted to fun racing again : )
• Joanne Alison Fox – Busted! – I decided to race the UBC duathlon race, a little last minute. Like the day/night before, over a glass of coffee/wine with my friends.
• Vincent’s Ramblings – UBC Triathlon race Report – Yesterday kicked off the start of the 2009 Triathlon season with the UBC Triathlon. My heat was pretty late in the day, 12:40 so I had a nice relaxing morning getting ready and then watching some of my friends race before the start.

Harry’s Sprint Run Off 8K, March 8, Vancouver

• Steve Osaduik – My Past Race – I felt good going into the race, our group did not cut mileage for this race, rather we trained through it more or less, I hit 110 miles for that week.
• Bomber – That felt tough – Raced an 8km on Sunday as a tempo run, but it still felt terrible. My hips have been bugging me all week and my legs seemed beaten up after Tuesday’s track session (much more than the ease of the workout itself).

Bazan Bay 5K, March 8, Victoria

• Shane Ruljancich – Bazan Bay 5K – Three seconds…that was how close I came to getting my goal of under 16min on this race!
• Kyle Jones – Gramps still got game – Yesterday morning we ran the Bazan Bay 5k in Sidney. I wasn’t expecting to run too fast going in but I was still looking forward to having a crack at it.
• Simon Whitfield – how to hurt your calf – click the link and start hitting NEXT (on the far right). A) You’ll learn how to hurt your calf (it’s not that bad but it’s going to take a few days to feel better) B) you’ll laugh at two idiots sprinting like they stole something C) see the exact moment #808 thought “oh oh, crazy is about to beat me” – when you come across that photo you’ll know!

This past Saturday saw the first snowshoe race of the season on the slopes of Vancouver Island’s Mt. Washington. A total of 140 racers toed the line under beautiful, sunny conditions. Shawnigan Lake’s Jason Terauchi-Loutitt was the first male across the line, while Syl Corbett was the first female. Full results can be viewed on the Yeti website here . Race write-ups are included below.

• FarvenYeti – from Dirge Rhetoeic – My friend David and I were milling about getting our gear correctly position, tightened, loosened, tugged-on and pushed-back and yanked-forward until it fit properly. I suggested a warm up run. David was reluctant, because he is a casual runner and thinks a warm up run and a warm down run is odd behavior for someone before and after a 10k snow-shoe race up the side of a hill at semi-elevation. Whatever…
• The YETI race report! – from What’s up with ELM? – We had a bit of a…umm…rough start to the race…watch the video and you will see me take down my teammate Sarah Burrell HARD right after we crossed under the start gate…sorry Sarah! Nice captain…
• YETI SEASON IS HERE – and what a great start to the season! – Team Helly Hansen – The Yeti Snowshoe Season had a glorious start today with over 215 shoe’ers coming out to bask in the sun at the Mt.Washington Event. It was amazingly warm up there and people were snowshoeing in shorts and even some braved it without shirts!

The next Yeti will be at Mount Seymour on January 31st.

BC adventure racer Lina Augatis, who has recently completed the IGWA adventure race in the Guadeloupe Islands, has now posted a race report from the 6 day event. Following is a short preview from her report, to read it in its entirety please visit her blog .

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"IGWA a 6 day stage ecologically focused adventure race which took place from Nov 22 to 29 2008. Guadeloupe is a part of France and not it’s own stand alone country. This is but one of the many fabulous facts I learned throughout the event. Guadeloupe consists of 5 islands Grande-Terre and Basse-Terre are the two largest. These happen to be the 2 islands in which we got to explore through a variety of means such as surfing, sailing, trekking, running, kayaking and many more. 18 international teams were chosen to participate in the event. Team Yogaslackers was lucky enough to be one of those teams. The Yogaslackers consisting of Lina Augaitis and Daniel Staudigel represented both CAN and USA. I will now share some of our experiences from the event and the islands of Guadeloupe."

Continue reading …

Results from this past weekend’s Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race in Cumberland are now posted – click here . Congratulations to Todd and Gary who came in first overall on by many accounts was a tough course.

NEW! Shane Ruljancich – Cumberland MOMAR Race Report – I partly credit the Mind Over Mountain adventure race series for getting me into endurance sports. I had dabbled in running a bit in high school track, but was never too serious. It was my desire to participate in an adventure race that promoted me to get into better shape and started me down this road which I now love so much.

NEW! Wendy Simms – Island Racing – So the reason we did a 48 hour turnaround in Vegas was because we had to get back to the Island for some local events that are too good to be missed. The Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race (MOMAR) was up in Cumberland Saturday, after-party Sat night up at Mount Washington and then the Ramble Mountain Bike marathon event was in Parksville Sunday.

NEW! Todd Nowack – MOMAR Cumberland Race Report – Wow! The 2008 MOMAR season has already come and gone. It’s hard to believe that we’re now sitting in October and the cool drizzly season of fall and winter is now upon us.

Gary Robbins – MOMAR Cumberland Race Report – This past weekend was the third and final MOMAR of the 2008 season and series owner Bryan Tasaka managed to hit an absolute home run with this one.

Average Adventure Addict – A Lesson from Cumberland – This was by far the hardest race I have ever done in my short time doing athletic things. I was so shattered half way thru that finishing was a HUGE accomplishment for me. Parts of the race went textbook perfect, and most other parts fell apart like a sand castle under a wave.

Jen Segger-Gigg – MOMAR Racing & Juan de Fuca Running – However, Saturday morning rolled around really quickly and YEAH, it was my 28th Birthday! Can’t think of anything better than racing a MOMAR to celebrate.

Sara Seads – Pics and Results are in for MOMAR – Hello again! Bryan has posted the pics and results to the MOMAR website from this past weekends race and you can check them out at… -Cumberland MOMAR Race Report – I just awoke from a deep post-race sleep and I am reflecting on yesterdays MOMAR in Cumberland so I thought I should post a blog while it is all fresh in my memory…So here it is my last race report for 2008 (well you never know what else might pop up on the race calendar…)::

Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island – BIG WEEKEND: Momar and The Ramble – What a weekend. First off let me say how proud I am of Carey for her amazing effort yesterday at the Cumberland Momar. Despite a dreary forecast, the weather cleared as we set off on the kayak/canoe stage 1.

Official Press Release -

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MOMAR Cumberland: a Super Season-Ender

New Westminster, BC – September 29, 2008. The Schick Xtreme3 Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race (MOMAR) series ended its ninth season with a sold out race in Cumberland on September 27, 2008. Racers began the 45 km journey with a 9 km paddle on Comox Lake, followed by a 3 km long challenging and scenic orienteering section. Racers then hopped on their bikes for 20 km of mountain biking, followed by 10 km of trekking with navigation. The race ended with a 3 km mountain bike ride and a 1 km urban navigation towards Dunsmuir Street in downtown Cumberland.

Defending champs, Victoria’s Todd Nowack and Gary Robbins of North Vancouver (Team Helly Hansen/MOMAR) topped the podium once again, while Jerermy Grasby, owner of the Riding Fool Hostel in Cumberland, came in second overall and first in the solo male category. Victoria’s Garth Campbell and Shane Ruljancich came in third overall and first in the team of two, male category with John Markez of Vancouver following shortly behind. Team Dart-Nuun, Squamish’s Jenn Segger-Gigg and Norm Hann, with Ryan VanGorder of Seattle and Tom Roozendaal of Duncan, came in fifth overall and was the first team of four to cross the finish line. Courtenay’s Sarah Seads kept her place at the top for solo female racers.

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Victoria Times Colonist 10k

• Race winners and results – congratulations to Erik Kiauka (30:31) and Lisa Harvey (34:14) for their winning performances. Official race results are available in the PIH Searchable Database.

• Participant write-ups:
  • Sarah – ELM Women Rock the 10K! – Man oh Man…what a fantastic weekend in Victoria! I have a tonne to blog about but wanted to start with the highlight…
  • Marilyn Arsenault – Times Colonist 10k (35:50) – The weather was just about as perfect as it can get for race conditions today…cool, overcast with barely a breeze!
  • Ryan Day – Times Colonist 10k (30:41) – Another week, another 10k. Not gonna lie here, I am glad I am done racing till Ottawa, it has been fun and i’ve learned a fair bit, and more or less accomplished what I hoped I would….
  • Dirge Rhetoric – 3 Races, 3 weeks, 3 pb’s…well sorta – Three weeks ago we, (me and my sticks) ran The Sooke River 10k in 38:14., a new course personal best…
  • Daniel Wells – Times Colonist 10k – The weather co-operated (the rain held off until late morning) and it turned out to be a good day to race… overcast, 9 C and not a lot of wind…
  • A Runner’s Tale – Times Colonist 2008 10k – It wasn’t pleasant. Still, I ran better than I feared under near perfect conditions and for that I’m thankful. If nothing else I ran a PB as a father, which must count for something?
  • Crinson Chronicles – 39:12! – Well folks, the title says it all for today’s post … a new personal best at the 10K distance!!
  • Lawrence’s Blog – TC 10k Race Report – It was nearly ideal conditions for a race this morning. It was warm, overcast, the wind held off (for the most part), and the rain held off….

Suburban Rush Adventure Race - Port Moody

• For those not familiar, the Suburban Rush is a 30k off-road adventure race which involves mountain biking, trail running a mystery challenges.
• Results posted here.
• Participant write-ups:
  • Gary Robbins – Suburban Rush Sprint Adventure Race Report – The Suburban Rush Adventure Race, which Todd and I would be competing in as a team of two, was amazingly salvaged for us the night prior by a rather random act on my part…
  • Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island – Suburban Rush Race Report – It was so nice to race in the sun, as the clouds parted and the temperature rose to the mid-teens for this year’s version of the Suburban Rush….
  • Bryan Tasaka – Sucking Wind at the Suburban Rush – Today was the 4th annual Suburban Rush Adventure Race out in the Port Moody area….
  • Give Me a Good Reason – Suburban Rush – the suburban rush, my first adventure race and our first as a team to avoid any potentially damaging conflicts, we agreed on the following guidelines…

Summit2Shore Adventure Race – North Vancouver

• Results now posted on the Race Headquarters site
• For those not familiar, the Summit2Shore is also a short-course adventure race that is made up of snowshoeing, mountain biking, trail running and kayaking.
• Participant write-ups:
  • Team Average Jo – Summit 2 Shore – Most participants today were new to adventure racing thus completing the event through a team relay of 4 members each doing a different discipline….

Results are now posted for the Reach the Peak trail event held last Saturday in North Vancouver. The event entailed running from sea level in Deep Cover straight up (4500 feet elevation gain) 14km to the top of Mount Seymour. As there is still quite a bit of snow on Mount Seymour, participants had to carry snowshoes until enough snow required their use. A total of 35 people participated.

• The results are posted on the Run the North Shore website in Excel format – click here to download
• Two write-ups have been written thus far by people who raced in the event – Lina Augaitis and Barb Sweeney.