The Mountain Grind obstacle course race in Pender Harbour was back for a second year on April 23, with a longer track, new obstacles and more people.
“It was a great event,” first-place winner Matthew Petranic said. “I was here last year as well and it was better this year, I found. I really liked the route this year. It was a little bit longer – not a lot – and I liked how they varied it.”
The route was longer this year, but only about one kilometre longer. Last year’s race – which followed almost the same course – was nine kilometres, but to make it more scenic, Mountain Grind organizers Silke Linnmann and Amanda Peterson decided to send runners above the electrical substation instead of below it.
“We led the racers above it so they don’t see it, they don’t have to really put up with the humming,” Linnmann said. “So it was even more beautiful than last year.”
Linnmann said organizers decided to cap registration at 350 people this year, and they found that most of the people who registered actually showed up to race despite the cool, rainy weather. According to sportstats.ca, 291 racers were out on Saturday, which Linnmann said is a higher percentage than normal.
“That made us proud; people really wanted to do it,” Linnmann said.
There were 10 obstacles on the course – some returned from last year, and there were also new ones. Several of the returning obstacles were augmented from last year; the water slide, for instance, was longer and had deeper pools.
Richard Avedon-Savage, who ran on the winning team, said the waterslide was his favourite obstacle.
“It was impressive how fast and deep the plunge pools were. Really fun,” Avedon-Savage said. “They had a cheering squad at the bottom. It was really great.”
Not everyone liked the waterslide as much as Avedon-Savage, but the fast drop into ice-cold water – not once, but twice – certainly left an impression on all of the racers.
Many people found the monkey bars the most challenging, and the most unpleasant – due to the straw-filled mud pit underneath.
“Honestly, the monkey bars were the worst,” participant Erin Haupt said. “I couldn’t even do them. But the race was really good, I’m really glad I did it.”
Haupt added that the finish line was her favourite obstacle.
Linnmann said she wants to see the Mountain Grind continue as an annual tradition in Pender Harbour, but they will need more volunteers to do it again next year.
“It took 70 volunteers for this, and this is Pender Harbour – we don’t have that many people living here,” Linnmann said. “I want to do it, we just have to see how we can do it. But I’m very determined.
“We would not have been able to do this without the support from the community or our volunteers, and of course all the participants,” Linnmann said. “They believe in us and as long as they believe in us, we can pull these things off.”
See www.mountaingrind.ca for more information on the Mountain Grind. Click here for results of the race, and check us out online for more photos from the Mountain Grind at www.coastreporter.net
