Boy, was it a wet one.
This year, Squamish 50 organizers might have had to call their ultra-marathon event a swim rather than a run.For the first time, the summertime run took place in October. With the change in season came a change in weather.
The event, which took place this past weekend, was drenched in what meteorologists called an atmospheric river.The bottom line was that rainfall and flood warnings were issued, and the weather delivered on that promise.
About 180 millimetres of rain fell from Oct. 14 to Oct. 17, according to readings from the Squamish airport.
However, that didn't keep athletes from giving it their all.
This year, the annual race had a 50-kilometre contest, a 50-mile challenge and, finally, a gruelling 50-kilometre-plus-50-mile combined category.
The podium finishers in the men's 50-mile race were Mike Sidic with a gold-winning time of 7:43:47; Nick Elson with silver, running at 7:44:18; and Marcus Ribi with bronze at 7:55:03
For the women, the winners in that challenge were Anne-Marie Madden with gold at 9:44:36; Marieve Legrand with silver at 10:04:53; and Tara Barry with bronze at 10:07:40.
The 50 kilometre mens' winners were: Brendan Hunt in first with 5:12:03; James Tilley in second at 5:12:40; and Etienne Robert at 5:14:23.Katherine Short took the win in the women's division with a time of 5:41:24, which also placed her fourth overall among both men and women.
Coming in second was Alexandra Harriss, clocking in at 6:03:32, while Lisa Perrett took third at 6:24:06.
For the final category, the combined 50-kilometre and 50-mile rankings, the winner in the male's category was James Newby, pulling in a time of 15:41:45.
John Harrisoon Pockler captured silver by punching out at 16:10:36, and Colin Miller managed to take bronze with a time of 16:46:09.Marieve Legrand captured the women's podium with a time of 17:53:40, followed by
Katherine Butcher, who took a silver with 18:27:11.
The female bronze finalist was Birgitte Marthinsen, who clocked a time of 22:05:01.
The Chief reached out to organizers of the race for more information but didn't hear back by press deadline. If we hear back, we will update this story.
