A year ago, under sunny skies at the 2012 Grizzly Ultra Marathon, Canmore’s Phil Villeneuve sped over snow-dusted trails to set what appeared on the day to be an untouchable course record, tearing through 50 kilometres of gravel trail, winding single-track and harrowing drops in four hours and five minutes.
In warmer climes a valley away, perpetual record smasher Jakub Sumbara made a mental note of the autumn challenge. The owner of Invermere’s Heart of the Rockies triathlon course record and the 50-mile Meet Your Maker record in Whistler smelled another he wished to own.
On Sunday (Oct. 14), he made good on the goal, beating Villeneuve’s record by an astonishing 20 minutes to win the 2013 race in a time of 3:45:39 at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
Originally from the Czech Republic, Sumbara’s background is in orienteering and track and field, where he was a 1,500m specialist. He ran the first 14 km in an astonishing 56 minutes, trying to intimidate his competitors with such a fast pace. The lead group stayed with him until he hit tricky single track, where his competition fell behind.
“I probably started too fast and suffered at the end, like everyone else,” Sumbara said. “Leg three and four single track was the best. I wish there was more of it.”
It was only his third time running at the Nordic Centre.
“Leg five was the hardest part, not knowing how much more was left,” He said. “There was very good competition this year. The times were faster than last year and a lot of good guys came out.”
Sumbara wasn’t the only one on the day to break Villeneuve’s record. Canmore’s Duncan Marsden finished second, finishing in 3:52:28, while former Canmore resident and retired biathlete Francois Leboeuf was third (3:54:28).
“I was in third for most of the way and caught Leboeuf on leg four. I’m getting ready for a marathon and I think I had more miles in my legs,” said Marsden, who was running the event for MitoCanada.
He suffered on leg four, which begins with a two-kilometre climb before snaking through five km of single track.
“I think everyone suffered on there,” he said.
Leboeuf said this was the longest race he’s ever completed and he pushed the lead for as long as he could.
“I’m very happy with the race. The third leg was tricky and I fell back to third. I stayed with Jakob for the first two laps, but he was an animal on the single track,” Leboeuf said.
While her husband finished third overall, Theres Leboeuf of Edmonton was the fastest woman on the day, finishing the race in 4:42:34. Her background is in ski orienteering.
“The goal was to start slow and the first two legs were quite slow, so I was happy with that. I ran with Alissa St. Laurent until the middle of leg four, then I think my head was a little stronger and I tried to get some distance,” she said.
The trail running couple has two young children, which means most of their training includes pushing a stroller, so they ran into some trouble on the technical track, but were still happy with their race. As retired skiers, they knew the wider sections, but the tight trails in the trees were new for them.
“I lived here for two summers and I was scared to run by myself,” Theres said.
St. Laurent finished second with a time of 4:46:55. The ultramarathon runner from Edmonton hadn’t lost a race all season until Sunday.
“I’m happy to have it over with. The last five km got a little rough. The course itself is so much fun. It keeps you going and focused the whole time. I started strong and faded.”
Canmore’s Patricia Mueller finished third.
The event attracted runners of all abilities, including barefoot runner Bob Nicol. Completeing the rock-strewn, root-infested course with no protection, Nicol survived the endeavour with a time of 8:35:19.
The race attracted 230 soloists this year, as the race cap was increased to 1,200 participants. Team Weekend Trail Hogs, consisting of current and retired international level athletes Andrew Chisholm, Adam Kania, Monika Manka and Carsen Campbell, won the team relay event, beating out 185 other teams with a time of 4:03:02.
Visit www.blitzevents.ca for full results.
