1992 was to provide me with my first opportunity to participate in the Knee Knacker since our inaugural group run in 1989. Co-founder Shane Collins took over the organizing reins and left me free to see how all our efforts the past couple of years had manifested themselves on race day. You'll probably also notice other names that have distinguished themselves not only as athletes, but also as builders of the sport - Neil Wakelin, Ean Jackson, Ron Nicholl, ... Now on to the 1992 race. Once again, I'll rely mostly on a post-race report I produced for Ultrarunning magazine. Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run - July 11, 1992 The fourth edition of the Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run was once again the source for some dramatic moments as the race drew to a conclusion in the mountains which grace the north shore of the city of Vancouver. In past years, most of the drama had been provided by the athletes themselves, as they battled one another and the clock to achieve their own personal victories. While these elements were still present within the race itself, they were somewhat overshadowed by events which transpired during the closing hours of the event, in the immediate vicinity of the Baden-Powell trail. Of the 99 runners toeing the line at the start in Horseshoe Bay, all but 7 made it to the finish in Deep Cove within the 10 hour cut-off. This represented the highest number of finishers, and the highest finishing percentage, in race history. The percentage of runners getting into the race, however, reached an all-time low, as Shane had to turn away at least as many runners once the race limit of 100 was reached at the end of April. His advice for next year is to enter early, as Canada's largest ultramarathon will likely fill up even sooner.
Before I go on, I just want to point out some of the entrants that were drawn to our race in 1990 and 1991. Have a look at some of the names in the 1990 results and 1991 results. For many of these, the Knee Knacker was an introduction to the sport of ultrarunning. With very few events to choose from in the local area, these "pioneers" took it upon themselves to start their own events over the next few years. They included:
With the race cut-off time of 10 hours less than 2 hours away, I was basking in the warm sunshine on the beach in Deep Cove, next to the finish area of the race, sipping refreshments and swapping lies with fellow competitors. With Shane Collins taking over race director duties this year, I had the good fortune to partake in this year's event with no responsibilities. All I had to do on race day was run 30 miles, gaining 8,000 feet in the process, and descending another 8,300 feet! As I'm sure all race directors out there already know, this really is a piece of cake compared to the worries and headaches an R.D. experiences in the days leading up to, and including, race day itself.
The months of preparation and planning put in by Shane and his race committee were quite evident throughout the weekend's activities, and especially during the race itself. Of course, no race director could ever be expected to plan for the possibility of an armed gunman with hostages appearing near the trail during the race. This extremely unlikely event turned into a bizarre reality with about an hour-and-a-half to go in the race. The phone call Shane received from the police was rather vague, but the concern showed on his face, as about a dozen runners were still on the trail. He immediately called a pow-wow with the race committee members present and myself. While there was a sense of urgency in getting more information and ensuring the safety of our runners, Shane remained calm in getting us all organized to deal with the situation. The minutes on the clock seemed like hours as we waited for the remaining runners to come down the trail. You could feel a collective sigh of relief as each one arrived in Deep Cove unscathed. Finally, with 13 minutes to spare, the last runner made his way to the beach escorted by the posse of runners put together to head back up the trail and try to help everyone get out safely.
While these events were going on, the race was not a priority in anyone's mind, but since this is a running publication, let's look at what happened in the race itself. Being a middle-of-the-pack participant in the race, I did not get a first-hand look at the front-runners in either the of the men's or women's divisions. After crossing the finish line, however, I donned my investigative journalist's hat to sniff out the facts, and this is my story.
With the defending champions returning in all divisions, and excellent conditions on the trail, everyone was expecting some great competition on race day, and we weren't disappointed. Course records were lowered in all but the open mens division, and overall times were lower than in previous years, with 40% of the runners finishing in under 7 hours.
To nobody's surprise, the first person to reach the finish line was Peter Findlay for the third consecutive year. While his time was slightly off his course record from last year, he still squeaked in under 5 hours, and now owns the 3 fastest times ever on the course. His strategy was quite different from last year, as he was content to have others set the pace for the first half, before blowing everyone away in the last 15 miles. His winning margin turned out to be over 23 minutes by the end. Once again, his victory was achieved a mere 2 weeks after competing in the Western States 100. Unfortunately, he was not as successful at WS this year, with a DNF at 80 miles after last year's third place finish. However, there were 3 other runners who had fairly successful results at WS this year, followed up with excellent results at Knee Knackering 2 weeks later. It makes us think that Western States appears to be a great training run for our event, and we'd like to thank Norm Klein for continuing to schedule his excellent event 2 weeks before the Knee Knackering race.
Over on the women's side, Debbie Findlay (related to Peter, only because she married him) came back with a strong performance after a DNF last year. She was surprised to find herself in the lead early on, as defending champion and course record holder, Mary Nicell, called it a day at the 7.5 mile aid station. With a strong race right to the finish, Debbie claimed third place overall this year, 10 minutes behind co-champions Nola Patterson and Marcia Winger, who crossed the finish line together in 6:32:45. Nola and Marcia are both long-time members of the very strong Chilliwack "Y" Running Club, and ran the entire race together to establish new course records in both the open and masters divisions. They are both relative newcomers to the ultra scene, and we can expect to see a lot more of them at the top of the results in years to come. Defending masters champion Gail Bazeley finished second this year, but managed to knock off over 2 hours from her time of last year.
The final course record was set in the mens masters division, as Neil Wakelin prevailed for the third consecutive year. His winning time of 5:37:58 was a minute faster than last year. Neil finished sixth overall, but obviously had his sights set much higher, as he was in the lead for most of the first half of the race. He hung in pretty tough at the end, though, as he may have heard the footsteps of second-place finisher Brian Patterson (yes, he's Nola's husband - one of 5 husband/wife teams to complete the race this year).
There were many other highlights this year. On a personal note, I got a great deal of satisfaction out of being able to compete in an event which Shane and I created just three short years ago. I was able to experience just what the runners had been raving about the last couple of years - a tough, challenging run with some of the best aid stations and volunteers you could hope for. Shane managed to talk Murray Carpenter and Blair Maclean into serving on the race committee this year. Both were consistently high finishers in previous years, but sacrificed their entry this year to help out with the race, and their efforts were greatly appreciated by all. Murray managed to set a new standard for marking the trail. He even made it a family affair by getting his kids, Ryan, Matthew, and even 5-year-old Brady, involved in putting up and taking down ribbons as well as clearing fallen logs.
There were a couple of new features introduced this year. First were the handsome finishers buckles awarded to all finishers under 10 hours. Secondly, there were 2 new awards to recognize outstanding contributions and efforts made by both a volunteer and a competitor. Chris Scholermann has co-ordinated and cooked up a tremendous pasta feed for each of the last 3 years, and won the volunteer award. Chris has also distinguished himself on the Knee Knackering battlefield, however, as he was a finisher in the race 2 years ago.
The competitors award also went to another Chris - Chris (short for Christina) Ralph from the state of Washington. Chris has provided inspiration for many a runner as she has made her way into the running scene in the Pacific Northwest over the last few years. Last year she came up to do our race, and was quite apprehensive as it was her first really tough trail ultra. It was a rough day for her, but she gamely made it to the half-way checkpoint. This year she came back, and I don't think anything or anybody was going to stop her from seeing the second-half of the trail, and especially the finish line in Deep Cove. Congratulations, Chris, and thanks for being a part of our event. Shane and I hope that you and all the other runners and volunteers will join us once again on July 10, 1993 for the Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
1992 - Enzo gets to race again
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