By Andrew Mitchell
According to one race organizer, the fastest teams in the Haney to Harrison 100 km relay didn’t see any rain on Saturday, always staying two steps ahead of a storm that turned roads into rivers along the race route.
The race consisted of 274 relay teams of eight people, although more than two dozen athletes did the entire course on their own. One of those athletes was Whistler’s Duncan Munro, who placed second overall in the Under 40 ultra category with a time of 11 hours, 37 minutes and 39 seconds.
Munro was ranked second after stage two of the race and held onto that position for the next three legs.
“At about the 50- to 60-K mark things started to go south,” he said. “I couldn’t get any food into me, and then I started having some stomach problems. I dropped from second and over the next few legs fell pretty much off the charts.”
Wet and cold, Munro threw up twice and had a difficult time consuming the energy he needed to keep up his pace. He still managed to keep jogging along at a slower pace, but the race conditions and his physical problems at last took their toll on the difficult seventh leg of the race.
“My muscles basically went into spasms after the last downhill on leg seven, the 11 per cent decline into the valley just destroyed my legs. That’s when things really started happening and I couldn’t even walk.”
But walk he did, finishing the last 12 km at a limping pace. It took him more than two hours and 20 minutes to get through the last stage, just 8.03 km, to the finish line.
Despite the hardship, Munro is happy with his race and is already planning his next ultra run.
“It was awesome, absolutely awesome,” he said. “I had such a good time out there. The last 10-K was a unique experience, definitely hard on my psyche, but I enjoyed the whole race — even getting soaked by trucks going by. Not everybody needs to run a 100-K though.”
Munro had people walk beside him for most of the last stage of the race, and he appreciated the support. If he had been showing any signs of mental stress or a decline in mental awareness he would have been pulled out by race organizers, but he talked and joked with everyone who came by to wish him well.
“I had to stay positive,” he said. “I was mentally there and I was going to finish no matter what. I have to thank people like (Scott Whelan), Tiffany (Whelan), Kevin Titus, John and Grace Blok, and everyone who encouraged me. It was a little embarrassing having the ambulance shadow me, but I knew I was going to do it.”
For his efforts in the Haney to Harrison, Munro was given a spot in the 2007 Western States Endurance Run, which follows a 100-mile trail run through the Rocky Mountains. Munro said the fact it’s a trail run better suits him than road running, although he said he would consider running the Haney to Harrison again.
He also knows he has some learning to do, given that only five out of 26 ultra finishers were under the age of 40.
“It’s not a young man’s sport. In a word it’s about patience,” he said. “Young guys go out fast, while older guys have patience and they know how to pace themselves. That takes experience and mileage. That’s the difference between finishing strong and falling down and having muscle spasms on the Haney to Harrison, but you have to learn that somewhere.”
There were three Whistler relay teams in this year’s Haney to Harrison. The top team was the Busted Up Wanna Be Runners, which placed 11th in Open Mixed category. They completed the race in 7:50:11, averaging a pace of 4:43 per kilometre.
The Busted Up Never Were Runners second team was 13th in the same category in 8:14:34, averaging 4:57 per kilometre.
The Postfontaines — named after legendary runner Steve Prefontaine — were 18th in the Open Mixed category in 8:43:43, averaging 5:15 per kilometre. They could have been called The Replacements, with four runners joining at the last minute.
On Stage One, 9.42 km, Alejandro Dias on the Busted Up Never team was the fastest Whistler runner in 49:59. Georgina Titus on the Busted Up Wanna team was 50:05, and Tracy Ackerman of the Postfontaines was 50:52.
On the 13.51 km second leg Dave Higgins of the Busted Up Wanna team was fastest in 56:47. Brandi Higgins of the Busted Up Never team was 1:16:22, and Tami Mitchell of the Postfontaines was 1:23:22.
The third leg was the longest at 15.12 km. Kevin Titus of Busted Up Never was the fastest in 1:01:32, while Craig Johnson of the Postfontaines was 1:07:47. Marie-Anne Prevost, less than two weeks after Ironman, was 1:09:39 for the Busted Up Wanna team.
The fourth leg was 14.42 km. Grace Blok of the Busted Up Wanna team was fastest in 1:19:11. Andrew Mitchell of the Postfontaines was in at 1:20:23, and an injured Bob Deeks of Busted Up Never finished in 1:24:41.
Scott Whelan of the Postfontaines was fastest on the 13.12 fifth stage in 59:47, while Greg Sandkuhl of the Busted Up Wanna team was in at 1:05:36, and Liane Dunsmuir of Busted Up Never was in at 1:08:19.
Stage six was 13.08 km. Nils Robinson of Busted Up Wanna was the fastest Whistler runner in 56:38, while Jen Keefer of Busted Up Never was 1:02:05, and Lloyd Adams of the Postfontaines passed on the timing chip at 1:11:13.
Stage seven was 13.31 km. Scott Young of the Busted Up Wannas finished in 54:10, John Blok of the Busted Up Nevers was 57:07, and Stuart Carmichael of the Postfontaines was 1:09:31.
Stage eight was the sprint to the finish, measuring 8.03 km. Paul Suter of the Busted Up Never team was in at 33:32, Paul Nicholas of the Busted Up Wanna team was in at 38:11, and Gillian Woodwar of the Posfontaines was in at 40:51.
The fastest team overall was Matt’s Minions of Coquitlam, completing the course in 4:30:06 while averaging 3:19 a kilometre. The Islanders of Victoria were second in 5:35:37, and the Pen Run Island Syndicate third in 5:40:30.
The fastest women’s team was the Hershey Harriers Women in 6:57:04, 10th overall. The VFAC Hustling team was second in 7:09:14, and the LGRR Lionesses third in 7:28:19.
In the ultra run, Darin Bentley of Vancouver was first in 7:56:22, followed by Richard Webb in 8:41:29 and Darren Froese in 8:43:57.
Tania Whelan of Surrey was the fastest solo woman in 10:39:52. Rea Blyth was second in 11:20:28, and Susanne Johnson third in 11:45:05.
Complete results from the Haney to Harrison are posted online at www.raceheadquarters.com. Because of last-minute substitutions and runners switching legs the posted results will not always match the results in this article.
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