Two Comox Valley Road Runners did their imitation of mountain goats in the Emperor's Challenge, a half marathon held Aug. 6 in Tumbler Ridge.
This challenging race begins at the treeline then goes straight up to the summit of Babcock Mountain. Here runners are challenged by rocky, open terrain before tackling the steep and trecherous descent back to the finish line.
CVRR veteran John Ingram placed second in the Grand Masters M50-69 age division while partner Cathy Clarke showed her strength, finishing first in the Grand Masters F50-59 age division.
In other CVRR news, extreme racers Robyn Dicesare and Karen Siblely took on the Warrior Dash in Whistler on Aug. 6. This 5,000- metre race takes challenging to a whole new level. The race course is referred to as a battlefield, and for good reason. Racers cover rugged terrain with multiple obstacles including leaping through fire, climbing over walls and cargo fencing, crawling through mud pits and under barb wire fencing.
Dicesare has run hundreds of races and was quoted as saying, “This is the most fun race I have ever done." The local warriors definitely showed their toughness with Dicesare finishing first in the W45-50 age group and 53rd overall out of 4,500 runners and Siblely finishing second in the W50-59 age group and 92nd overall.
Former Valley runner Robin Poirier finished an amazing second overall in this competition. They will all wear their fuzzy Viking hats, mementos of the race, with pride.
In other news, Gordon Harris and his team "Wii not so Fit" came 42/177 in the mixed division of the 125km Canadian Death Race in Grand Cache Alberta in a total time was 17:04:43 while Ken Richadson recently returned from the World Masters Athletic Championships with a seventh place finish in the M65-70 marathon.
– Comox Valley Road Runners