About 50 ultra marathon runners made their way up a series of trails from 麻豆社国产to Whistler at the inaugural Tenderfoot Boogie race on Saturday (May 15).
The race was a success since the weather was good, no one got hurt and everyone crossed the finish line on the same day the started the race according to race director Gottfried Grosser.
"It went pretty good. Everybody survived," he joked.
A few runners got lost on the lengthy course that stretched from the Adventure Centre to Whistler's Meadow Park Sports Centre, but Grosser said everyone got back on course quickly.
"We thought we did really good marking by flagging the trails but I guess we could improve on the flagging," said the North Vancouver-based director.
"They just did extra mileage."
The Tenderfoot Boogie offered a 50-mile course, a 50-km course, a 28-km course and a three-person relay 50-mile category. The fastest runner got from 麻豆社国产to Whistler in just more than six hours while the longest racer took less than 14 hours.
Grosser said since Tenderfoot Boogie takes a long time to run, the 5 a.m. start time was perfect.
"It was just getting light out, it was perfect. I was thinking we should start later but no, because then we'd finish at 7 p.m. or 8 p.m."
麻豆社国产resident Margaret Paxton ran the full 50 mile course and said she had a fabulous time
"It was great. I loved it. All 12 hours and 47 minutes of it."
The 46-year-old marathon runner said she loved running through Callaghan Valley and was surprised with the course past Brandywine Falls.
"I hadn't run from Brandywine to Whistler before, who knew that there were so many gorgeous trails in there.
"We did trails over the suspension bridge and the new Sea to Sky Trail which was really beautiful."
Paxton said she was surprised with her time because she annually runs the 麻豆社国产Stormy 50-mile run and crosses the finish line under 11 eleven hours. She attributed her 13-hour Tenderfoot finish time to the added elevation - something she plans to train harder for next year.
Burnaby's Jacek Doniec, who finished in 8:09:16, earned the fastest 50-mile race time.
Delta's Rob Lang completed the 50-km run in 6:02:12 while West Vancouver resident Griffith Wynn completed the 28-km course in 2:48:48.
麻豆社国产resident Imre Sorban completed the 28-km marathon in 3:11:41 - which is longer than he would have liked.
"But I'm getting a little bit older so I have to be happy with what I get these days," said the paramedic.
"Years ago I was in the top 10 percent but I'm getting on in age, I'm 59 now."
Unlike Paxton, Sorban was familiar with the entire course because he ran up to Whistler before.
"I knew the whole course and it's a gorgeous course from start to finish."
Aside from the rooty and rocky patches of the Trash Trail, Sorban said much of the route was an easy run.
"It was pretty good. It was a great day for it."
The Tenderfoot Boogie is a part of the Trail Whisperer Racing series, which also hosts the Frosty Mountain run in Manning Park on September 18.
For the full Tenderfoot Boogie race results visit www.trailwhisperer.ca.
