The trail running gods blessed the northern Alberta 5 Peaks series yet again with an awesome day of trail running out at the Sunridge Ski area for the second race of the season. 

Runners awoke to sunny skies and a warm morning and as the start of the race approached, the temperature kept climbing and the sun was packing an extra punch. 

Some 511 registered runners mingled around enjoying their coffee and catching up with fellow loyal 5 Peak runners.  With so many runners and so much single track, the race was started in waves, with the fastest of the fast going off first followed by successive groups of 50 runners chasing them down.  

Now, you’d expect that a trail race held at a ski hill might have a few hills.  This race course certainly would not disappoint and would keep all those looking for a solid Canadian Death Race training race satisfied!  A short 100m or so out of the gate and the course turned left and headed straight up to the highest point around.  Each wave of runners raced for the top, eager to claim the King and Queen of the peak prizes.  

After a couple kilometers of relative flatness, the course got interesting and the quads began their pounding.  The trail dropped off into the valley below, only to immediately turn around and head straight back up the hill, gaining every last foot of elevation that the runners had just lost.  

There was little relief once on top, as the trail turned straight back down the hill.  A punishing drop indeed, made only worse by the fact that runners had to climb straight back up for the second consecutive time.  All but a few were reduced to a slow, painful crawl up this long, steep climb.  

From atop the hill, runners headed back towards the start/finish area where fans got a chance to cheer their runners just as they dropped back down into the valley for the 3rd time in less than 4 kms.  The trail finally flattened out for a bit for an enjoyable section along the river before the third and final major climb back up the valley wall.  

From the top, runners were funneled through a spaghetti-like mix of winding single track that tested the ankles and technical running abilities of all.  After a brief run through an open field and another bit of twisty trail, runners shot out into the start/finish area.  For Sport runners this marked the beginning of their sprint to the finish, for Enduro runners this marked merely the half-way point and the harsh realization that they had to go up and down all those hills one more time.

Despite the hills, there were many strong performances and fast times.  Marc Meunier and Annett Kamenz both repeated as overall Enduro winners after winning the first race of the season at Terwillegar Park.  Marc needed a strong, fast sprint to hold off David Corbett at the finish line.  Annett’s margin of victory was little more comfortable.  

The men’s battle for third also saw a tight race, with Kurt Mueller nipping Kevin Masters at the line by 3 seconds.  In the Sport event, Evan Smelquist improved on his second place from Terwillegar to take top honors, while Shannon Maisano took first in the women’s race beating out Terwillegar race winner Emma Neigel.  Among the other interesting notes from the podium was the 4 second spread between first and third in the men’s 20-29 Enduro race, and the oldest racer of the day, Henry Resta (Men’s 70+), showing everyone what real endurance is all about, finishing the Enduro in just over 2 hours.

No matter how you look at it, it was a big day for all.  Big hills, big accomplishment, big fun and big smiles!  Congrats to all runners and a huge thanks to Kam and his army of volunteers for putting on an awesome show!

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