MOMAR Sechelt, BC
Sechelt Revisited!
Bryan Tasaka, Race Director / 04.08.2005
There's NOTHING better than waking up on race morning to clear skies. After the first two MOMAR's of the season incurred cold and wet weather, the sun gods were finally kind and gave us ideal racing conditions. This was the second year for the MOMAR on the Sunshine Coast. The race was based out of Sechelt and featured a 45km course. Racers from as a far as Wisconsin, Washington State, Montreal, and Ireland arrived to tackle the MOMAR.
The race started with a 10km kayak stage on the Sechelt Inlet. The water was like glass and the pace was fast. Darrell Sofield and Dave Norona raced neck and neck the whole way. Racers then transitioned to bikes, but didn't ride far before they were pushing their bikes for 10 minutes up a steep section of trail. The bike course was completely unmarked (as was the entire course for that matter) and racers navigated their way along gravel roads to CP 5 -- the top of the Slick Rock Trail. This was the most technical section of trail where only the most skilled could ride it clean. Spectators lined up at the bottom of the trail and cheered the racers as they approached.
At CP 6, racers were surprised with a Mystery Stage where they had to drop their bikes and run up through the Heritage Grove Trails to the top of a rocky knoll. The hornets were out and almost every racer was stung -- some four times! Honestly, I didn't plan that as part of the Mystery Stage! For some teams, this was a simple 20 minute stage, for others it was over an hour.
The navigation was not as easy as it seemed since only the main trails were on the map. Those that followed the goat trails became disoriented.
Eight time MOMAR champ, Dave Norona, was the first to enter the Mystery Stage, but it was Darrell Sofield and Normon Thibault to emerge first. Back on the bikes and quick ride to CP 7 and TA#2, Thibault led the start of the 13km trek. CP 8 featured the best view of the Sunshine Coast and the spot of the second Mystery Challenge -- The Beachcombers Quiz!
The quiz was based on the CBC TV show that ran for 19 years and was set on the Coast. The team that answered the most questions correctly won free entries into their next MOMAR. The local teams had a definite advantage and it was Team Alpha Adventures who answered 100% correctly.
CP 9 was the highest point of the course at 880m. Thibault lead the charge but missed the left turn into the start of Jeckyll and Hyde. His altimetre read 1000m and he knew he had gone too far. Meanwhile, Sofield was mixed up and it was then that Jason Sanquist took the lead and was first back his bike at CP 11.
CP 12 to 14 featured more single-track riding before a fast descent on Dusty Road to the finish. Sanquist held onto his lead to take his first MOMAR title! Sanquist finished in a time of 4:59:54.
A few minutes later, West Vancouver's Sasan Salari also had his best finish ever coming in second. Sofield was third.
Team Frontrunners (Wendy Simms and Dave Nowak) were the top team of 2 and the fastest coed team. Alpha Adventures (Darren Quist and Glenn Kerr) were the top team of 2 male, and The Snot Sisters (Carol Tickner and Tasha Dilay) won ANOTHER team of 2 female title.
Other winners included, Carey Sather as the top solo female, Team SOL in the team of 4 coed category, and Team Live to Tell was the top all male team.
It was Thibault's birthday and the birthday boy racked up the fastest bike splits for all three stages. Sofield was the fastest on the water, and Sanquist had the fastest trek.
As I mentioned, the weather was nothing but sun. Race central had a beer garden flowing with Phillips Brewing Co.'s Phoenix Gold on tap. The tunes were playing and racers and volunteers were hanging out watching racers finish all afternoon. Then it was on to the post-race festivities and a wicked Salmon and Chicken BBQ put on by As You Like it Catering... the awards presentation... cake fight between Thibault and Fontaine... dancing under the stars... Norona plays with fire... one killer harmonica rip by the racer from Ireland... and then a late night smokie session back at campsite #6! This was easily one of the best after-parties in MOMAR's history!!!
Thanks to everyone for coming out and being part of this event. What a blast it was!!! See you in Cumberland!
See All Event Posts
