The organizer of the first-ever Clearwheezin Backyard Sufferfest is excited about seeing it carry on into the future.
Held on Sunday, June 22, the race was styled on the Backyard Ultra competition format and involved five-kilometre laps of the Clearwater Ski Hill, with approximately 300m of elevation gain per lap, said Ben Louwerse.
“The competition is a last-runner-standing format with competitors doing one lap every hour on the hour until only one competitor remains,” he explained. “It’s a really fun format as it ends up being very social and very supportive since it’s not about speed. So you can have high performance athletes running alongside and encouraging those who are running their first race.”
The run attracted 24 competitors.
Scott Sych took overall win with seven laps, and Amanda Svenson Mann garnered the women’s win with four laps.
Clearwater Fitness supplied an aid station at the ski lodge where competitors could refuel while also mingling with spectators and there was a barbecue with burgers while the bar was open for spectators and competitors.
Prizes were sponsored by Backcountry Bowls, and race photography was sponsored by Holly Louwerse Photography.
“This first edition was something of a trial run that was planned and organized without much lead time, but was considered a huge success by all involved and we look forward to seeing what we can do with this event in future years with more time," Ben Louwerse said.
Louwerse is a volunteer director on the board for the local nonprofit ski hill and said they have been struggling as a hill for quite a few years with inconsistent snow.
"We have been able to cover much of our operating costs through renting out the lodge for events, but we have been trying to find ways to still provide recreational benefits to the community even without snow."
He has done a few endurance events himself and said he thought the hill could be a great venue for such an event.
"I did a lot of wandering around the hill thinking what format would work best, and this is what I came up with. I wanted it to be something that all abilities could get involved in, not just long distance marathon runners."
He said he also wanted it to be something where non-competitors/spectators could feel part of it, so the shorter laps, and the aid station being at the lodge meant competitors and spectators got to mingle throughout the day.
"Next year I would like to try and include some mini child friendly activities or events as well," he added.
We got really lucky with the weather! The forecast was for thunderstorms, but they all seemed to miss us and it was mostly a beautiful day, not too hot, with a very welcome sprinkle of rain in the afternoon.
