Records fall at Brandon Hills race

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This article was published 11/09/2023 (802 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The records fell in dramatic fashion on Saturday in the fourth running of the Race the North Face Brandon Hills

In the 50-kilometre race, 34-year-old Steffan Reimer of Blumenort shattered Patricia Roney’s 2022 mark of four hours 28 minutes 44 seconds by nearly 20 minutes, finishing the two 25-km laps in a blistering 4:08:52.

“This was honestly my ‘fun race’ of the year,” said Reimer, who had run in the Brandon Hills before but never raced there. “I was really focusing on the marathons this year.”

He ran three of the 42.2-km marathons this summer, hitting his goal of finishing under 2:30 when he dropped a 2:28 at the Edmonton Marathon three weeks ago.

“This was a very quick turn-around,” Reimer said. “I was just going out to see what the body could do today.”

Clearly it was a lot.

Second-place finisher Christian Baun of Brandon also broke the previous record with a time of 4:26:59. He had once held the 50-km record with a time of 4:34:18 in 2021.

Heading into the race, Reimer and Baun were seen as the favourites and they lived up to the advance billing.

“We ran together probably for about the first 15 kilometres,” Reimer said. “I felt like he was maybe slowing down a little bit so I made the pass and I didn’t see him again after that.

“It was early and I was a little concerned. When I pulled away, I was ‘Oh, did I go too soon?’ I didn’t know because I was coming off three weeks recovery from a peak race so I was really hoping the legs would hold out. “The legs were definitely cramping up by the end and I was slowing down a lot but I managed to hold on and come across first.”

Since the 50-km athletes begin an hour earlier than anyone else, that made the rest of the lap after his pass a lonely one. But Reimer saw plenty of athletes on the single track on his second lap after the other two distances also started their races.

“Once you get into the second lap and you’re a little ways in, you pass a couple of the back-end 10s right off the hop but then they branch off,” Reimer said. “On the second half of the second loop, you start getting into the back of the 25 k and I started passing some people, which is fine.

“I ran so much by myself it’s nice to see people and have them say ‘Good job!’ and you say ‘Great job!’ to them too. I respect everyone out here, it doesn’t matter how fast you’re going. If you’re running 25 k on trails, that’s an accomplishment.”

Aaron Wilson was third in 4:33:43.

Roney’s 50-km women’s mark did stay intact, since Mallory Richard crossed in 4:57:52, followed by Caroline Fisher (5:16:00) and Karissa Murphy (5:26:15)

In the 25-km race, the men and women’s records were absolutely obliterated.

Mikail Gerylo’s overall and men’s mark of 1:52:11 he set in 2020 was cut to 1:34:52 by Neepawa’s Daniel Heschuk, who made his trail running debut earlier this summer.

“Honestly, the goal for sure is that you have to respect the distance and you also have to respect the train you’re on,” said Heschuk, who thought it was cool to set the new record. “I went into it making sure to kind of relax, which is sometimes a hard thing to comprehend when you’re running a race, but actually relaxing so that you can give it your best effort. “When it came to some of these hills, it did mean making sure that you were able to give the correct amount of effort and making sure that you have enough gas left in the tank to finish strong.”“ Cory Funk was second in 2:01:47, and Joshua Markham was third in 2:01:57.

On the women’s side Karly Tardiff had the women’s record of 2:23:20 in 2022, but Roney, who raced 25 km instead of 50 on Saturday, finished in 1:53:12 to break the previous mark by more than half an hour. Jessica Wylychenko also beat the old record, finishing in 2:14:33, while Alice Sherwin was third in 2:23:44.

Roney was aware of Tardiff’s record and had set a goal between two hours and 2:05 based on her splits in the 50-km race in 2022.

“Realistically, I thought 2:00 or 2:05 is fine and anything under two is not possible for me right now,” Roney said. “When I came through the halfway mark I looked at my watch and it was ‘OK, I’m a few minutes faster than what I expected — two-and-a-half or three minutes faster — and then I ended up coming through in 1:53. I surprised myself.”

She said there is a massive difference between doing two loops in the 50-km race and one in the 25k.

“I know I can push myself a little bit more,” Roney said. “It’s just more of a chance to test your speed.”

In the 10-km race, Jonas Pazer broke the overall and men’s record of 47:29 that he set in 2021, completing the event in 44:53.

Cole Gudmundson (45:05) and Thomas Eros (45:29) also broke the old record, finishing in second and third.

Finally, all three of the top women’s 10-km finishers shattered Erin Selci’s 2021 mark of 50:58.

Hailee Morisseau was first in 46:26, Zoe Penno was second in 46:59 and Karly Tardiff was third in 49:57.

Race director Kristian Andres said there is a big reason why the times were so good “There were a number of records broken by a lot,” Andres said. “The women’s 25-k record was broken by close to 30 minutes, the men’s 25-k was around 15, the men’s 50 k was 20 minutes, and both the men and women’s 10k were broken as well.

“The talent that is out here is absolutely insane.”

It also didn’t hurt that the conditions were perfect. The good weather even included a break from the smoky conditions that have been so abundant this summer.

At 8 o’clock when the 50-race started, it was just 7 C out, but it was 12 C within an hour and 21 C by noon.

“Honestly, I couldn’t ask for a better day,” Andres said. “We’ve been super lucky out here. Every year we’ve had some solid weather. Even the turning of the leaves, everything is beautiful out there and that’s a big part of trail running, the scenery and nature.”

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