Under smoky skies on Saturday, Aug. 19, runners took on a challenging 50-mile race for the Squamish 50.
Despite the haziness outside, the top two male runners finished with elite times. Karl Augsten finished first with a blitzing 7:14:39, a new course record by over 15 minutes.
Augsten clutched his knees for a moment upon finishing and was visibly emotional.
“It was awesome,” said Augsten after the race. “I knew there was going to be carnage though.”
Augsten said it was “hard right from the start” and on the first hill runners were getting stung by wasps, but he fortunately did not. Race director Gary Robbins joked that it was a good tactic letting wasps loose on the other runners, which received a hearty laugh from the crowd.
Chris Balestrini came in second and would have had a course record if not for Augsten, as he finished at 7:22:27. Brandon Miller came in third at 7:34:33.
Emilie Mann came in first for the female runners, finishing at 8:38:21.
After being crowned Canadian champion crossing the finish line, Mann said that sounded “pretty good.”
“It’ll feel better in five minutes,” she joked.
Hailing from Kelowna, Mann said she was happy she chose to race despite the wildfire activity happening in the Interior.
“It was definitely emotional,” Mann said. “But I am really happy I decided to race.”
Imogene Scott came in second for the women at 8:54:33. Mercedes Vince came in third for the women at 9:09:56.
50-km and 23-km races
The 50-kilometre and 23-kilometre race took place on Sunday, Aug. 20.
In the 50-kilometre race, another new course record was set by Brandon Gardiner who finished at 4:45:11. Shaun Stephens-Whale was shortly behind him in second, and Marc Fawcett-Atkinson followed in third.
Robyn Mildren came in first for the women with a 5:30:26, and Alexandra Harriss and Caitlin Schindel followed in second and third.
In the 23-kilometre race, Daniel Heschuk took first overall with a 1:43:21 and Curtis Jung and Liam Hobbs in second and third. Anne-Marie Madden took first for the women with a 2:01:56 finish and Tiffany Phillips and Christy Drever came in second and third.
50/50 race
A familiar face came in first overall for the stifling 50/50 race, which sees races take on the 50-mile and 50-kilometre over the course of the two days.
Squamish runner John Dean finished first once again in the 50/50 race, making him a back-to-back champion in the category. He finished at 14:04:17, topping his 2022 mark by a couple of minutes.
Oskar Michalak, another Squamish-based runner, finished second for the males and Alexandre Campbell finished third.
Winnipeg-based runner, Jennie Labrie, finished first for the women at 16:39:13. A pair of Americans, Christine Mosley and Teresa Kaiser, finished in second and third.
See all the final race results at squamish50.com.
**Please note that this story as updated after it was first posted to include second-day race results.
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