Close to 250 racers “grinded it out” at the fourth annual Sunshine Coast Mountain Grind last Saturday among the hydro lines of Pender Harbour. “It went amazingly well,” said race director Meredith Frost. “The weather, the band, the food, the racers, everything just flowed beautifully.”
The first-place female finisher was Ester Gomez from Vancouver, who completed the 10-km race in a time of 52:39, while North Vancouver’s Damian Towns came in first of the men with a time of 45:58. Other racers hailed from Winnipeg, Japan and Kamloops. “It brings a lot of people to the Sunshine Coast,” Frost said.
About 500 people attended the event, which Frost said is slightly down from years prior. “I think last year’s weather kind of scared people off from registering.” Last year the race was hit by a windstorm so fierce that it ruined tents.
Last Saturday racers competed under full sun but the mountain was still drenched, making for “nice muddy puddles,” Frost said. And while the usual waterslide wasn’t included, the course did get what Frost called “the electric slide,” in which racers waded through one pond to another, crawling underneath a metal wire to get there. “If they touched the metal wire they got an electrical zap … kind of like a finger on a nine-volt battery.” She said the racers loved it, even though it wasn’t intentional.
In addition to live music at the racing village, organizers also introduced an expanded children’s race for the 10-and-under set. “We expanded that course … with shrunken-down obstacles that mum and dad were doing on the course, so that they really felt like they were part of the race,” Frost said. At the finish line, kids crafted their own medallions made of alder wood, which Frost prepared by hand. Close to 75 children participated.
This year the three IGA stores on the Coast acted as the race’s presenting sponsors. “We couldn’t have done it without our sponsors,” Frost said.
At least 50 people volunteered their time for the race, but Frost said organizers are more comfortable with 80. “We had enough, but more is always better … our volunteers are like diamonds to us. We can’t run the event without them and they were stellar that day,” she said.
Frost said while they are taking a break for this year, she and race builder Bryan Rossiter are already trading ideas for next year’s obstacles. “It’s bittersweet. You’re glad that it’s over but you’re sad that it’s over,” said Frost, who is using her freed-up time to train for an Ironman race.
See more photos in our online galleries at www.coastreporter.net/photos-videos
