This was the 6th year that I would compete in the Avalanche peak race, I was a little sceptical how the race would go for me as I have been having on going back problems. On the day the back had just it's usual discomfort but nothing too bad luckily. We (Brad Williams, Al Corey-Wright and Cheryl Young) drove up in the morning with enough time to chill out a bit before the start.
Grant Guisse had come to the start but just to watch this year as he was getting married that day. Grant beat me by 12 seconds last year, I was running him down but just needed about another 500m. It would have been a great tussle again this year but there were a few others that I knew to look out for.
The pace at the start was pretty relaxed and no one really wanted to take the lead so I did before we headed on to the track. Once on the steep ascent Tane Cambridge and I slowly pulled away from Blair Mcwhirter. Once we got to the tree line I had small gap on Tane and this grew to the summit, I pushed reasonably hard across the ridge and then on to the shingle scree down into the head of the Crow river. Tane made a bit of ground on me here as I had a few other trampers and women runners to contend with. By the time I was at the bottom Tane appeared pretty close so I refocused and concentrated on every rock in front of me. I felt good running down the Crow and another boost was catching all the women here as well.
Once out on to the track along the banks of the Waimak I felt good and when I looked at my Garmin it said 3min 50sec Km's so I was pretty happy as I was still feeling comfortable. The run out down the Waimak is pretty hard as it is about 8km and there are not too may flat areas to run, the riverbed is quite lumpy and you really have to concentrate. I had a bit of a peek behind me a few times but couldn't see anyone. When I arrived at Klondye I checked my watch and I thought I might get close to the record but it is quite amazing how close things can look sometime but they definitely take a while to get to when you are running on the riverbed. I finished the race in a time of 2 hours 28 minutes and 26seconds, this put me in 1st place about 12 minutes ahead of Tane Cambridge. I was very happy to have won again and I'm sure I will be back next year maybe this time with the record in sight.
Grant Guisse had come to the start but just to watch this year as he was getting married that day. Grant beat me by 12 seconds last year, I was running him down but just needed about another 500m. It would have been a great tussle again this year but there were a few others that I knew to look out for.
The pace at the start was pretty relaxed and no one really wanted to take the lead so I did before we headed on to the track. Once on the steep ascent Tane Cambridge and I slowly pulled away from Blair Mcwhirter. Once we got to the tree line I had small gap on Tane and this grew to the summit, I pushed reasonably hard across the ridge and then on to the shingle scree down into the head of the Crow river. Tane made a bit of ground on me here as I had a few other trampers and women runners to contend with. By the time I was at the bottom Tane appeared pretty close so I refocused and concentrated on every rock in front of me. I felt good running down the Crow and another boost was catching all the women here as well.
Once out on to the track along the banks of the Waimak I felt good and when I looked at my Garmin it said 3min 50sec Km's so I was pretty happy as I was still feeling comfortable. The run out down the Waimak is pretty hard as it is about 8km and there are not too may flat areas to run, the riverbed is quite lumpy and you really have to concentrate. I had a bit of a peek behind me a few times but couldn't see anyone. When I arrived at Klondye I checked my watch and I thought I might get close to the record but it is quite amazing how close things can look sometime but they definitely take a while to get to when you are running on the riverbed. I finished the race in a time of 2 hours 28 minutes and 26seconds, this put me in 1st place about 12 minutes ahead of Tane Cambridge. I was very happy to have won again and I'm sure I will be back next year maybe this time with the record in sight.
It would be great next year if a few more multiporters and runners would sign up and give it a go.
Avalanche Peak is a true mountain race with fanastic challenging terrain, awesome views and of course great people.
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