Dodds shatters 50-km mark in Hills

The men’s records fell again at Race the North Face Brandon Hills on Saturday, with one of the marks being absolutely shattered.

Scott Dodds, 30, of Winnipeg, finished the 50-kilometre race in three hours 55 minutes eight seconds, beating the old mark of 4:08:52 set by Steffan Reimer by more than 13 minutes. It was his first time at the event, although he drove out to run the Brandon Hills once to get a sense of the course.

“I definitely didn’t think I was going to run that fast,” Dodds said with a chuckle. “I didn’t really look at the time too much. On the second lap, I was checking at the end to see how much there was. I’m definitely super happy with the result but didn’t think I was going to do it.”

It was a chilly 4 C when the 50-km race began at 8 a.m., but as it turned out, that was the perfect conditions for Dodds. He did the race in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts.

“It was super nice conditions,” Dodds said. “It was nice and cool in the morning and then basically stayed pretty cool, so not too hot. It was perfect running conditions out there.”

Dodds ran with Reimer and Holden Reich for the first 25 kilometres, something he said was nice because they helped set the pace while providing some companionship.

“I knew the start was going to be pretty tough,” Dodds said. “I figured we were going to go out pretty fast so my mindset going in was ‘OK, stick with it, it’s going to be hard at the start but just try to hold on as long as you can and hope you can stick it out and keep going.’”

After the midway point, Dodds took off from the other two.

“Basically right out of the aid station I took the lead and then stayed in the lead from there,” Dodds said.

Reich finished second in 4:16:08, while Gavin Owens of McAllister, Mont., was third in 4:34:32. In the women’s race, three Winnipeggers swept the podium, with Mallory Richard first in 5:14:31, Natalie Hamm second in 5:26:43 and Lauren Murray third in 5:50:15.

“It’s a difficult course, lots of ups and downs,” Dodds said. “Basically it seems like you’re constantly either climbing or descending. It’s definitely tough on the legs.”

Dodds, who also set a course record in winning the Suffer on Centennial 100-km race at West Hawk Lake in May, began running a couple of years ago, and took up trail running a year ago.

Dodds chuckles when asked about the appeal of endurance running.

“Coming out here, it’s such a nice course,” Dodds said. “Just being out on the trails is super nice and then I would say the other thing is there are so many nice people out. Everyone is so nice. Especially doing the second lap, you see everyone doing the 25- and 10k too. It’s just a nice community in trail running.”

Dodds absolutely expects to return, saying race director Kristian Andres, his wife Nicole Wotton and their team of volunteers do an outstanding job.

“Everyone does such a nice job of organizing,” Dodds said. “The course is so well marked out and the event is so well put on. There are so many volunteers out there, course marshals and then at the aid stations.

“Everyone is so nice. It’s an awesome event.”

25-KM RACE

Neepawa product Daniel Heschuk, 29, who is in the process of moving from Winnipeg to Brandon, rewrote the 25-km race mark of 1:34.52 by finishing in 1:33:43.

The race was a tuneup for Heschuk, who is competing for Canada in the six-kilometre vertical uphill race and the 14-kilometre classic up-and-down event at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Spain from Sept. 25–28.

“I was pretty happy with that,” Heschuk said of his morning in the Brandon Hills. “It was a pretty big confidence booster going into the world championships just to have that little confidence boost, something to tell you ‘Ya, you’re fit, you’re ready to go.”

He led the race from start to finish on Saturday: Heschuk was accompanied by his training partner Mike Wood early on but soon pulled away and ran most of the race by himself.

“I decided to take him out to check out the Brandon Hills, my new stomping ground, and show him the place,” Heschuk said. “I think he really liked it. It’s super special to share it with somebody you’ve been training with for all these years.”

In the 25-km race, Wood finished second in 1:44:37, with Joshua Markham of Winnipeg in third at 1:56:28. On the women’s side, Jenna Cross of Winnipeg won in 2:26:21, Olivia Penner of Steinbach was second in 2:27:17 and Sarah Vanderveen of Sanford was third in 2:30:20.

Heschuk, 29, also liked the cool day.

“It was actually perfect conditions,” Heschuk said. “Three degrees C when you get out, it feels chilly when you’re standing at the line waiting for the gun to go off. You are cold, but you warm up super quickly once you get going. You’re cold at the beginning but it ends up being perfect for the rest of the race because you’re not sweating or expending any energy to cool yourself down.”

He said the result was likely a product of the fitness he’s built after having a full summer of training under his belt along with the perfect day to run.

And it didn’t hurt the event is one he loves.

“It’s probably one of the best,” Heschuk said. “It’s so well organized. Kristian and Nicole put their heart and soul into this race. It’s like a family deal. You have Kristian’s parents out here, his mom making the beaver tales, which adds a special family sort of touch to it. They’re serving pizza and cutting up watermelon. It’s so well organized, they have excellent volunteers, the course is so perfectly marked.

“They’re really making sure they’re putting on a world-class race in a small community like Brandon. I’m amazed by what they’ve been able to accomplish with this. Kudos to them, it’s such a pleasure to run this race.”

10-KM RACE

Greg Penner of Steinbach won the men’s 10-km race in a record-setting 43:46, breaking Jonas Pazer’s 2023 record of 44:53. He was followed by Tyler Enns of Brandon in 49:21 and Mathew Kucheravy-Logan of Winnipeg in 49:46.

On the women’s side, Steinbach’s Mia Warkentin, who is just 11, finished in 55:11, just ahead of Aralin Warkentin (56:28) and Kassy Bouchard of Winnipeg in 56:38.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com