It turned out to be a case of home-trail advantage for Nick Elson.
The 麻豆社国产resident used his vast knowledge of local trails to take first place in the Enduro division at the second annual Five Peaks Trail Race at Alice Lake on Saturday (June 8).
"I definitely know the trails," Elson said with a smile after crossing the finish line. "It was a great course out there today and I had a lot of fun."
Elson shattered the race record, shaving one minute, 45 seconds off of last year's top time set by Squamish's Jason Loutitt. He blazed through the 11-kilometre course in 47:02. Elson said he pulled away shortly after the Credit Line portion of the race.
Victoria's Adam Campbell placed second with a time of 48:43, with Vancouver's Mike McMillan finishing in third.
Morgan Arritola from Idaho posted the fastest female time in the Enduro race. Just like Elson, she set a new course record for females with a time of 51:16. Arritola is the first female to complete the course in less than an hour.
"It was really fun out there today," she said, noting it was her first time competing at the event. "It was hard but it's really a runner's course which suits me well."
Her time placed her seventh overall and she finished almost five minutes ahead of second-place female, Chesa Adsitt-Morris of Vancouver. Whistler's Tara Gorman placed third.
Elson wasn't the only local with a strong showing as Squamish's Silas Wiefelspuett placed sixth. Julia Gerlitz of 麻豆社国产also fared well, winning the female 30 to 39 age division with a time of 1:08:38.
Mark Bertoia from New Westminster won the 6.9 km Sport race, setting a course record of 30:29. He beat out second-place finisher A.J. Ballou from Bowen Island and North Vancouver's Keegan Freeland.
Kimberly Taylor from Vancouver established a record for females in the Sport race at 36:49. Her time was also the fifth fastest time on the course. Second place went to Vancouver's Rachel Sanchez, with Surrey's Lisa Steele coming in third.
The top local time belonged to Hunter Sones, who had the seventh-fastest time at 37:23. Brenda Davison from Garibaldi Highlands was the only other local with a top three-finish in her age group, as she placed third in the 50 to 59 female age division.
This year's edition of the race also featured the debut of a three km kids race. Dylan Uhrich won with a time of 12:48. Coming in second was Eugenie Schmidt from Port Moody. Placing third and with the fastest local youth time was Sofie Hill from Garibaldi Highlands. Hill completed the course in 14:18.
For complete results from the race, visit www.5peaks.com.
