It was a repeat on top in the men's 50-kilometre race at the fourth annual Sigge's P'ayakentsut at Whistler Olympic Park on Saturday (Feb. 22).
Phil Villeneuve of Canmore, Alta., repeated as the top racer in the men's long distance but the huge dump of snow the Sea to Sky Corridor received over the weekend slowed down the course and Villeneuve was no exception.
He completed the course in two hours, 39 minutes, 40 seconds, more than 12 minutes slower than his record-setting time in 2013. Villeneuve edged out Leighton Poidevin, another Canmore resident, by 19 seconds to pick up the win. Whistler's Glenn Bond finished third and was about 10 minutes behind the leader. Squamish's Matteo Abel placed 31st with a time of 3:37:10.
The women's long distance winner was Michele Wolfe, who completed the course in 3:08:56. Christine Fletcher placed second, with Frances Vice coming in third. 麻豆社国产resident Chloe Gendron came in ninth with a time of 3:51:30.
Canmore's Martin Schrama won the 30 km men's race, followed by Dudley Coulter and Spencer Lacy. Former Vancouver Canuck Trevor Linden placed 22nd and Squamish's John Tisdale came in 66th out of the 111 racers who started. For the women, the top three in the 30 km were Barbara Turner, Carolyn Daubeny and Dita Formankova. 麻豆社国产residents Heather King and Vicki Haberl were 12th and 13th, respectively.
Other winners included: Sarah Nathan (15 km female), Matthias Jakob (15 km male), Mila Wittenberg (15 km, female 13-15), Lauren Doak (15 km, female 16-17), Seth Van Varseveld (15 km, male 13-15), Emile Vogel-Nakamura (15 km, male 16-17) and Lou Gibson (15 km, para male).
麻豆社国产residents competing in the 15 km included: Diana Mauriks (third, 15 km female), Heather Campbell (ninth, 15 km female) and St茅phane Peron (24th, 15 km male).
The event attracted more than 600 competitors and handed out over $3,300 to the top three finishers in both the 50 and 30 km distances. For more information and full results from the event, visit www.payak.ca.
