UBC Triathlon Club: Uphill Run TT Results

On a wet rainy night, the UBCTC approached the running route Spanish with conquest on their minds. This 1km long grueling climb, the venue of the first running test, would surely shake up the standings of the Fall Classic Series.

In a UBCTC Fall Classic series first, we were seeing the introduction of technologically advanced athletic apparel to try and sneak any bit of advantage the racers could get in this ultra competitive contest. From racing flats to cross country spikes and even global positioning systems were all in action on this fateful night.

The atmosphere was set with many of the favorites laying down preventative excuses of too much turkey over the long weekend and no fitness from the days off.

One first time UBCTC Fall Classic participant and generally good looking guy went so far as to lay down a solid foundation of excuses over tired legs as a consequence of running the Victoria Half Marathon on the weekend.

A small surprise met us as the bottom (steepest) part of the climb was closed due to mysterious repairs. With that a quick change to the race was made and the route was cut 200 meters short. This could prove to be a critical change due to the lack of leg burning steepness at the beginning of a 5 minute gruel fest.

Standing in the rain at approximately 6PM Barry Claman started off the racing, setting the tone with a blistering 3:09 clocking. Who would dare to test against this?

Matt Reeve, who suited up with his running flats, was up to the challenge!

Matt possessed pulverizing the spirits of his competitors

As the 23 competitors completed the course, the task could not be summarized in words, and for this the age old saying; "A picture is worth a thousand words" works perfectly. I present Andrew Wight upon completion!

Look at the exhaustion

After much confusion and photo diary replay to conclude the final order of the competitors, the officiating committee finally came up with the non disputable results.

The look of confidence

There was a strong showing in both fields, Male and Female. With 9 competitors in the female division, we don't think the UBCTC has seen a race so close. With 1st and 9th separated by only 29 seconds and the top two only 1 second apart.

Newcomer Kimberly McMurtry took home the glory in the Female division over second place finisher and Overall Female points leader Victoria Gilbert. Unfortunately we don't have a photo of winner McMurtry.

Victoria smiling as she must clearly know she moved up in the overall standings with a stellar performance

In the mens race, sandbagging Matt Reeve dropped his bag of excuses at the starting line and was pounds lighter as a result, soared to victory in a crushing time of 2:59.

Probably the surprise of the day came to Vincent Lavallee, as his iron clad excuse of tired legs was blown away by a Winstorm! It would appear as though Winston Guo took our Windgust jokes to heart and stamped his dominance with a second place finish in the hill time trial despite also having "tired legs" running a PB on the weekend in the Victoria Half Marathon.

Winstorm in his trusty multi-purpose shorts crushing dreams

After todays results, there is a big shake up of the overall standings. Absent Dan Clouston drops down to 6th overall with Matt Reeve holding a 1 point advantage over Victoria Gilbert, and with Lauren Sagadore and Nathaniel Janzen close in their wake.

At an all time high of 42 competitors taking part in one or more events, this proves to be the largest UBCTC Fall Classic in history! With 10 events left, it's still anyone's game.

Men's Results

Matt Reeve