Squamish's Jason Loutitt continued his strong running season with a win at Squamish's first-ever Salomon 5 Peaks trail running race on Saturday (June 9).
Loutitt cleaned up in the 11-kilometre Enduro race with a time of 48 minutes 47 seconds, beating out second-place Nathan Detroit-Barre by nearly two minutes.
"The course was really nice and I love the technical parts of this race," he said. "Midway through I started to pick up my speed a little bit but early on, I was a little surprised that a couple guys just took off at the start. I managed to pass them after one of the inclines."
It's been a good past few weeks for Loutitt, who placed second at the Whistler Half Marathon on June 2. It's all in preparation for the Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc (UTMB) at the end of August. He'll also take part in the Canadian Mountain Running Championships (CMRC) in July.
Jim Sandford from Garibaldi Highlands was the next best local with a time of 57:30, good for 14th overall, while Ryan Robertson, also from the Highlands, was 16th with a time of 58:29.
The top female time in the Enduro was Lauren Babineau from Belcarra, who posted a time of just over an hour.
"It went really well for me today obviously," she said. "It's a gorgeous course and I think I maybe had an advantage because I'm strong on hills."
Babineau said she plans to compete in the next 5 Peaks race in Cypress in July, as well as the two other races in the series later this summer. Squamish's Megan Illingworth was the top local female with a time of 1:06, good for seventh among all women and 62nd overall. Garibaldi Highlands resident Christina Rice also had a strong showing with a time of 1:13, finishing in 104th place.
In the 6.8 km race, Marcus Ribi from Richmond grabbed first place with a time of 32:18. He said it was a fun day on the trails.
"It was a pretty good race and the weather was really nice," he said. "The course is quite technical at some points but I did know beforehand that there's quite a bit of uphill running."
Ribi added he plans to compete in the three other 5 Peaks races and that he's enjoying the competition on the series. A.J. Ballou from Bowen Island placed second, with a time of 32:37.
The top female time was posted by Sara Treloar of Vancouver. She crossed the finish line at 37:53, beating out Emily Van Ooyen from Maple Ridge by nearly four minutes.
Jody Parry had the top local time, as the 麻豆社国产resident finished in 35:43, good for fifth overall. Jessica Palmer was the top local female with a time of 50:15 and finished 81st overall.
For more details and complete results from the race, visit www.5peaks.com.
Those wanting to train with Loutitt now have an opportunity to do so. He told The Chief that he's starting up a bootcamp style set of running sessions starting on Monday (June 18).
The camp will run weekdays from June 18 to June 29 and begin at 5:30 a.m. at Nexen Beach. The classes will be about an hour in length and Loutitt will be accepting donations for his worldwide running excursions. For more information on the camp, email Loutitt ([email protected]).
