MOMAR Ucluelet, BC
This year’s MOMAR course
Jacqueline Windh / 10.05.2006
Pre-race report Tuesday 9 May, 2006The Mind Over Mountain (MOMAR) series of races, organized by Mind Over Mountain Events Co, is in its 7th season! There are usually three or four one-day races (course length 40-50 km) each year. This is the second year that there has been a race in Ucluelet.
This year’s Ucluelet race consists of a course of about 50 km, as follows:
10 km sea-kayak
11 km trail run
4 km coastal hike, some navigation required
25 km non-technical mountain bike
The organizers will tell us what order these events are in the night before the race, and will only distribute route information on the morning of the race.
Other events of the MOMAR 2006 series will be in Duncan on June 24 and in Cumberland on September 30, both on the east side of Vancouver Island.
The MOMAR accepts teams of four, teams of two, and solo racers. So far, 120 racers are entered in the Ucluelet race:
3 solo females
11 solo males
35 pairs (mixed, all-male and all-female)
9 teams of four (mixed, all-male and all-female)
I have just heard that star racer DAVE NORONA, who was registered for this MOMAR, will not be racing in Ucluelet this year after all. Dave won the Ucluelet race last year, and has actually won eight of the eleven MOMARs that he has entered. Dave was by far the favourite to win this race, so his absence at the start-line will now leave the field wide open.
Notable entries this year are TEAM MIND OVER MOUNTAIN, who will be racing Primal Quest next month, TEAM TESTOSTERONE, a pair of 16-year-old lads from Duncan, and the three four-woman teams, all of whom are “mature� racers in their thirties and forties.
Weather forecast
The long-range forecast here is always a bit doubtful... things change a quickly here on the outer coast. Right now the weather is beautiful – I went for a gorgeous run on the Wild Pacific Trail yesterday, and it was really hard to keep going, and not stop at each of the many spectacular viewpoints – in the distance a raging turquoise sea, with huge swell exploding upon the rocks below me.
The five-day forecast at the moment is calling for a chance of showers in the days preceding the race, but for a mixture of sun and cloud on race day, with a high of 15 degrees. That’s pretty warm for here! And no rain, that’s pretty good too (since this is rainforest).
Tide changes that day will be fairly small, at about 8.5 feet. There will be a moderately high tide at 2:00 pm on race day. Depending upon the hiking route (organizers say it will be along the coast), if there is a big ocean swell running like there was yesterday, it could affect the choice of route for slower racers (myself?).
See All Event Posts
