Cochrane’s Calum Neff and Canmore’s Sara Hewitt pushed the pace to claim gold on a tough 5 Peaks trail running race Saturday (June 8) at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
The 500-plus runners were greeted with dry trails and sunny skies for a knee-pounding day.
Neff, who recently made the Canadian National Trail Running team with a fourth place finish at a qualifying race in Quebec, handily won the 11 kilometre race with a time of 38:50, good enough for a pace of 3:42 per kilometre.
Oliver Hatheway, a medical school student from Calgary, finished second with a time of 39:26. Travis Cummings was third (40:32). Jess Simpson was the second fastest woman (47:17), followed by Kim McMurtry of Calgary in third (48:31).
Hatheway surprised Neff by sticking with him until the final 2.5 km, when Neff turned on the jets, using a hill finish to his advantage.
“I had a few guys come with me this time. I let them carry the pace early on. The second place guy took it all the way to the second last water station and then I broke away there. The course has a good downhill finish so I could roll it in,” Neff said.
The race was a training day for Neff, who will attend the trail running world championships in Poland this September.
“It’s like a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to be on the national team and wear the Canadian jersey,” Neff said.
Neff has been running for 25 years and said there are a few simple principles to follow when it comes to trail running.
“Being able to recover on your feet is key – not pushing too hard on the hills so you’re able to crest those hills feeling fresh. Staying on your feet is also key,” said Neff, who had a bad fall in last year’s 5 Peaks half marathon.
Canmore’s Hewitt is no stranger herself to the trail running gambit. This was her fourth race in four weeks’ time after completing the 5 Peaks race in Calgary, the Nipika trail run and the Ski to Sea race in Washington.
“I wasn’t sure how my energy would be, but I felt fine out there. I felt good on the hills,” Hewitt said. “I tried to keep high knees on the downhill.”
In the six km sport division, Travis Roske of Regina, Sask. won the men’s event with a time of 21:39, while teenager Emma Cook-Clarke of Calgary was the top female with a time of 23:06.
Roske finished ahead of Nicholas Wang (23:43) and Chris Butler (23:59) in the men’s division, while Cook-Clarke finished ahead of Ski Ninjas Zoe Roy (24:07) and Amanda Ammar (25:04) in the women’s division.
The event kicks off the trail running circuit in the Bow Valley and is the second of the year for the 5 Peaks series, which was recently purchased by Canmorite Amy Golumbia.
Full results are available at 5peaks.com
