PHOTO COURTESY OF HARI SINGH PHOTOGRAPHY
Team 965 “Hope We Don’t Sink” leads a pack of bikers towards the next checkpoint in this weekend’s Medicine Hat Massacre at Cypress Hills park.
The 15th annual SEASAR Medicine Hat Massacre race had a record turnout this weekend traversing Cypress Hills Park.
There were 110 teams comprising 235 participants from across Western Canada aged anywhere from 14 to 74. Race organizer Paul MacKenzie said this was many racers’ first big event.
This year’s Big Race involved hiking in the untracked wilderness east of Reesor Lake, then biking back to the ski hill to try out the new bike trails there before finishing by paddling on Elkwater Lake.
The Lite Race started with paddling, then did a combination of biking and hiking through the Elkwater trail system.
“An adventure race is an outdoor endurance event involving hiking, bike and paddling. Teams use map and compass (beginners can use a GPS) to find their way to checkpoints we place throughout the park using the clues we give them,” said course designer Gerry Prince. “Our race is flexible enough that anybody can participate. We actually have a race within a race. Our regular nine-hour race starts in the dark at 0400 (hours), and our new Lite race starts at 0830, which is much more friendly for families or beginners who want to just try it out. We have amazing athletes that go hard continuously for nine hours but we also have families with teenagers, couples that want to try something different and a variety of folks that just love being outdoors. They just take it at their own pace and have fun.”
“We look forward to this race every year,” said Kent Steeves, a veteran racer on team ‘No Match for a Rascal’. “My partner Zara Schultz and I had a great race, lots of ground covered and still more that could have been covered. There are a lot of great biking trails out there.”
Their Edmonton team finished first in the mixed division Big Race. In the women’s division, team ‘Lake Tornados’ took first and ‘Rocky Mountain AR’ won first in the men’s. The overall winner of the Big Race was team ‘Hilarious’.
Team EpiK won the overall lite race with ‘Cool beans’ capturing the mixed-lite title, ‘Like a Mother’ taking first in the women’s and ‘TBD’ winning the mens Lite Race.
Plans are already underway for next year’s event, traditionally held the second Saturday in May.
