Brackendale's Brandi Heisterman had one of the biggest wins of her career at the Nimby Fifty in Pemberton on Saturday (May 26).
Sure, she's won races before, but Heisterman managed to beat out Olympian and three-time Test of Metal winner Catharine Pendrel by 28 seconds to take gold in the 40-kilometre race.
Heisterman said she was racing a strong race but when she was heading down the Moby Dick trail, near the end of the race, she flew past Pendrel who was pulled over.
"I started down Moby Dick, and that is when the race made an unexpected turn," she stated on her blog. "I saw Catharine Pendrel, pulled over, putting her gloves on. I have never seen Catharine in a race, and I probably never will again. But the pleasure it gave me was almost overwhelming. Not only did I have a chance to win$1,000, but I could beatCatharine."
Pendral had two flat tires during the race. Heisterman had three kilometres of road to go when she passed Pendral and Heisterman knew that Pendrel had the ability to close the gap.
"I still had three kilometres of road to the finish, and into a headwind," she said. "My legs were shot, I was panicked andI kept turning around and wondering, is she there? I knew Catharine could bury me on the road. Some dude came by me, like a bat out of hell andI needed him, I missed his wheel.I called to him, '$50 if you let me suck your wheel to the finish.'He turned around, I closed the gap to his wheel and he pulled me to the finish."
Heisterman said she was stunned and humbled by the win.
"I rode across the line, winning the race, in disbelief," she said, noting that she finished the race in a time of 2 hours, 33 minutes, 39 seconds. "I had to ask the timekeeper if I actually won. I never thought winning was an option,second to me was my first because Pendrel is in another class. That last 10 minutes of the race was the most exciting racing of my career - hands down. Thank you Catharine, for making my day, or maybe even my racing career."
On the men's side, Squamish's Neal Kindree was unsuccessful in defending his championship, finishing just over three minutes behind winner Max Plaxton. Other local male finishers in the top 100 included: Dwayne Kress (13th), Davey Mitchell (38th), Nathan Mckay (43rd), Jordan Tesluk (45th), Nicholas Bruce (49th), Rhys Verner (64th), Luc Kazimirski (68th), Mike Jones (81st), Eric Goodwin (95th) and Michael Kilby (98th).
Heisterman wasn't the only local female that made an impact at the race, as Rua Read from Garibaldi Highlands placed 12th with a time of 3:08:25. Read was directly followed by Squamish's Linda Robichaud who finished 13th. Other 麻豆社国产female finishers included: Regan Kohlhardt (21st), Sarah Greenwood (41st), Carena Dean (42nd) and Nichole Murray (49th).
For complete results from the race, visit www.nimbyfifty.com.
