Some competitors at the Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race in Cumberland last weekend got more of an adventure than they’d bargained for.
But Nanaimo’s fastest team stayed on course and won its division last Saturday.
The Lumpy Space Princesses – Darren Rinaldi and Kristenn Magnusson – were the first co-ed team to reach the finish line of the 50-kilometre enduro course, finishing the kayaking, trekking, mountain biking and orienteering segments in five hours, 45 minutes, 25 seconds.
MOMAR courses never go in a straight line, as some teams learned.
“Many racers got lost between checkpoints three and four by running past one of the turns,” said Bryan Tasaka, race director, in a press release. “Some teams were lost for up to two hours in the dense coastal forest.”
Everyone made it out on their own, safe and sound, he reported.
The Lantzville team of Emmanuel Lint and Derrick Georgeson finished third in their division and sixth overall with a time of 5:30:42.The top Nanaimo solo male was Ron Hewitson, eighth in 6:36:07, and Shannon Wilson and three Ladysmith teammates came second in their division in 7:51:23. Nanaimo’s Erin Canty was part of the second-place women’s team in the 30km course, finishing in 5:16:32. Garfield Harvey and John Ronald were seventh in their division in 6:09:20.