Knee Knacker 2011 Press Release

For Immediate Release

West Vancouver, British Columbia – The Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run is at hand once again, bringing together a field of some of the world’s top ultra-marathoners to run 30 miles on the trails of West and North Vancouver. The twenty-third edition of the Knee Knacker takes place on Saturday, July 9, 2011, starting at Horseshoe Bay and ending at Panorama Park in Deep Cove.

This year’s race will host a competitive field, as the 2010 winner, Victoria’s Adam Campbell, will return to defend his winning sub-five-hour victory time against Aaron Heidt of Vernon, Oliver Utting of Burnaby, Vancouver’s Mark Bennett, and Peter Findlay of Kamloops. In the women’s field, previous winner Suzanne Evans is back and she’ll be facing off against Lisa Polizzi of Vancouver as well as Brooke Spence and Nicola Gildersleeve, both of North Vancouver. In total, over 350 entrants applied to the March lottery to attain one of the coveted 200 spots at the starting line.

The roots of the race trace back to an original field of eight participants in 1989, when the sport of ultra-marathoning (races longer than a 26.2 mile marathon) had not yet reached the level of popularity it has now. While there are races over distances longer than the Knee Knacker’s 30 miles, not many are tougher in North America. Over the years top ultra-marathoners have challenged themselves in what is referred to as the “knarliest” trail race in Canada. However, the great appeal of the race is that it caters to runners of all levels testing the limits of their endurance and not just elite competitors.

 As one of Canada’s largest ultra-marathon races, it takes participants from Horseshoe Bay to Deep Cove along the 30-mile (48.6 km) Baden-Powell trail. Runners go up, over, and around the major North Shore mountains – Cypress, Grouse, and Seymour – gaining over 8,000 feet (2,400 m) in elevation along the way for a total elevation change of over 16,000 feet (4,800 m). With the North Shore’s unique weather conditions, runners can expect hot and humid conditions on the lower sections of the course combined with snowpack at the peaks of some of the mountains they will be climbing.

In 2011, five athletes are registered to run the Knee Knacker for their tenth time: Francine Hong, Sharon Hope, Patricia Jensen, Desmond Mott, and Dave Whitworth. This feat has been accomplished by only 35 others to date.

The race starts at 6:00am Saturday, July 9 just above Horseshoe Bay at Exit #4 off of Westport Road, and all runners must arrive at the Panorama Park beach in Deep Cove by the race cut-off time of 4:00pm. The following is an estimated schedule of where and when to catch the runners in action:

A schedule of race activities is available at www.kneeknacker.com and members of the media are invited and encouraged to attend any or all of the activities posted. A good opportunity to meet the runners is at the registration and race briefing on Friday, July 8th from 5:30pm to 8:00pm at North Shore Athletics, located at #101-1200 Lonsdale Avenue in North Vancouver.

The Knee Knacker is a volunteer-run, non-profit race that has donated $53,000 to local community organizations since its inception. Proceeds from this year’s race will benefit the North Shore Search and Rescue team.

 For further information, please contact:
Kelsy Trigg, Race Director (604-787-8097, rd@kneeknacker.com)