The second running of the Guats Logs, Rocks and Steel (LRS) Multisport Race was about change, and some dark horse that took last year’s course record and crushed it.

Although the race, which winds through the Highlands of Haliburton in Ontario, is a fixed course

 (the same course as the previous year) those who competed last year will attest that this edition was a whole lot of different. No seasonal swamps, not so wet and wicked fast.

Jakob Van Dorp, unfamiliar to many of the competitors and spectators, crushed the record for Solo Male set by Andrew Cameron in 2008. Cameron, unable to race this year due to injury, managed to knock off the 2008 LRS course in just under 7.5 hours. Van Dorp pulled in to the finish at only five hours, 29 minutes.

Van Dorp, carries an impressive athletic profile with him, which includes cross country skiing and quadrathlon, however he has had little experience with off-road multisport racing. So when Van Dorp pulled across the finish from the mountain bike section it through a few of the regulars to multisport racing in Ontario for a loop.

{rokbox title=|Van Dorp Quote 1| thumb=|images/stories/audio.png|}images/stories/content/2009-09-07_LRS/Audio/VanDorp_new.mp3{/rokbox}  : Van Dorp on his new-to-the-scene status.

Van Dorp’s training up to the Guats Logs, Rocks and Steel has been mainly trail running and kayaking. Mountain Bike Racing was relatively new to him so he was a little surprised at the impressive outcome.

{rokbox title=|Van Dorp Quote 2| thumb=|images/stories/audio.png|}images/stories/content/2009-09-07_LRS/Audio/VanDorp_expectations.mp3{/rokbox}: VanDorp on his expectations of the race outcome. 

For the women, it was Leanne Mueller that took first place in the solo category, completing the championship course in six hours, 17 minutes, a little more than four hours ahead of last year’s record set by Sophia Tsouros. Earlier in the year Mueller, with her Team, Salomon ATP won entry to the Adventure Racing World Championships in Portugal.

Another change to this edition of LRS came with the prizing. The Solo category winners would be awarded an entry into the Speight’s Coast to Coast World Multisport Championships in New Zealand. Three out of the past four years it has been a Canadian, Emily Miazga, who won the World Championships. So the pressure for the Canadians to do well again is high.

Results for the Guats Logs, Rocks and Steel:

Solo Male:

First:                Jakob Van Dorp (5h:29min)

            Second:           Bill Wells (5h:34min)

            Second:           James Galipeau (5h:34min)

Solo Female:

            First:                Leanne Mueller (6h:17min)

            Second:           Sarah Caylor (6h:39min)

            Third:              Ursula Tracz (7h:01min)

{rokbox title=|Van Dorp Interview| thumb=|images/stories/audio.png|}images/stories/content/2009-09-07_LRS/Audio/vandorp_interview.mp3{/rokbox} : Full interview with Jakob Van Dorp