Racers came from as far as Montreal, Wisconsin and Ireland to compete in the Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race (MOMAR) last weekend in Sechelt.
The 47 km race featured 12 km of kayaking in Sechelt Inlet, 20 km of mountain biking and 15 km of trail running. Solo racers and teams of two and four must navigate their way to 15 checkpoints.
The MOMAR is in its sixth season. It is a four-race series with other races in Duncan, Ucluelet and the Comox Valley. This was the second year for the MOMAR on the Sunshine Coast.
"It was great to bring the MOMAR back to the Sunshine Coast," said race director Bryan Tasaka. "Local businesses such as On The Edge, Alpha Adventures and the Bayside Campground gave us tremendous support and we also had a good showing of local volunteers and racers."
The Sunshine Coast Lions Club organized the weekend beer garden and raised some good money for their club, added Tasaka.Jason Sanquist of Duncan was the overall winner with a time of 4:59:54. The race had 103 competitors on the start line with 10 of those coming from the Sunshine Coast.
Team Alpha Adventures from Roberts Creek was the top team of two males finishing in 5:31:39. First time MOMAR racer, Gary Fenwick of Sechelt, finished well in 6:16:35, as did Sechelt's Derek Higgins 6:44:22 and Todd Creed who raced in the team 1/4 Bubble off Plumb with Jake Robinson.
Team Over the Age from Halfmoon Bay returned for their second attempt at the MOMAR. This four-person team of Lorina Bates, Marilyn Downey, Dan Horn and Dave Bates finished in 7:29:55.
The Farm Boys, featuring Sechelt's Jack Bryson and Geoff Clements, also raced but were disqualified after only Bryson crossed the finish line. All team members must finish together to remain ranked.
"Racers found the course challenging, and for some regulars of the MOMAR circuit, it was one of the toughest courses to date," said Tasaka. "All but two solo racers and one team of two finished the course."
Last year's winner, professional adventure racer Dave Norona from North Vancouver, was leading the race but went off course twice losing a lot of time and didn't finish the race.
"The top racers went a little too fast at the start and made a few critical errors along the way," said Tasaka. "The final times were a bit slower than I expected. I figured most of the top guys would be in under four hours. But the paddle section was longer, and this is a tough course, especially in terms of navigation. People who took more time to navigate, read their maps and plot out their course ended up doing much better."
Tasaka said he was happy with this year's race but admits they are re-assessing things for next year.
"We love coming to the Sunshine Coast, but we're not sure about next year," he said. "We had a bit of a drop in our numbers and we'd like to see more locals get involved. We may look at other areas of the Sunshine Coast. Maybe Halfmoon Bay or Gibsons, just to mix it up and generate more interest."
