Knee Knacker 2010 Post-Race Press Release
Greenwood smashes Knee Knacker Women’s Course Record and newcomer Campbell takes Men’s title
West Vancouver, British Columbia – Saturday, July 10th marked the twenty-second annual running of the Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run (a.k.a. “Knee Knacker”). Good weather greeted the runners and volunteers on this occasion with clear skies in the morning and warm temperatures throughout the day. Course conditions were excellent, with minimal snow in the high country and limited patches of mud, however the 26C heat and high humidity were likely a factor.
These conditions didn’t hinder Knee Knacker newcomer, and elite athlete Adam Campbell of Victoria who took the overall title in a time of 4:58:13. Campbell ran a smart, tactical race, letting 2009 winner and current record holder Aaron Heidt of Vernon and 2008 under 40’s winner Oliver Utting set the pace through the first half. Heidt and Utting were a minute ahead of record pace at the first quarter and came in to the half-way point stride for stride. In the second half, Campbell made his move along with Jacek Doniec, who continued to close the gap and finished just over 1 minute behind Campbell to take second place overall. Campbell and Doniec were the only 2 athletes to break the coveted 5 hour mark on this day. Heidt took 3rd place overall in a time of 5:04:07, Gary Robbins took 4th place in a time of 5:05:52. In age-group competition, Mark Bennett took the 40-49 title in 5:10:00, Peter Findlay of Kamloops took the 50-59 title in a time of 5:15:47 and Neil Wakelin took the 60 and over title in 7:43:50.
The story of the day, however, was in the Women’s division with Ellie Greenwood’s performance. Greenwood smashed the Women’s course record by over 12 minutes, and took 5th overall in a blazing time of 5:06:09. Greenwood ran an aggressive and smart race, continuing to get stronger as the day went on. At the 1/2 way mark at Cleveland Dam, Greenwood was leading the women’s race by a significant margin and in 10th place overall. She closed this gap and in the 4th quarter posted the fastest overall time in the race. The women’s race for second and third place was tight throughout the day with Brooke Spence and Martina Ramage battling it out. Ramage led with a small margin for most of the day, but Spence closed this gap and took second place by a mere 16 seconds. Susan Reynolds won the 40-49 division with a time of 6:14:59 and Rosemary Westie took the 50-59 title in 7:27:42.
Three people also completed an impressive milestone this day – finishing their 20th Knee Knacker. Neil Wakelin, David Brown and Ron Adams are now the only people to have accomplished this feat.
Four people also finished their 10th Knee Knacker – Lori Wong, John Hebron, Darren Lauscher and Judy Kindrachuck joined an exclusive group of 31 other people who have attained this milestone.
206 ultramarathon runners started the “Race Across the North Shore” at 6:00am, just above Horseshoe Bay. The goal for most was to reach the finish line, 30 miles later in Deep Cove, within the 10-hour race limit. 192 of the runners achieved their goal on this day, making for a finishing rate of 93% percent.
Complete results are available at http://www.raceheadquarters.com/results/2010/run/KKNSTR2010OA.html.
Proceeds from the race benefit the North Shore Rescue Team. The event has raised over $51,000 for local charities.
Kelsy Trigg, Race Director
Tel: 604-787-8097
e-mail: rd@kneeknacker.com
