Breakaway’s six-hour MTB relay or not!
Is the 6-Hour Mountain Bike Relay still a relay if you do the whole thing yourself? A name is just a name apparently, for several riders! Marc Rioux, Noah Rioux, Josh Rioux and Marc Larochelle all endured the full six hours on their own and Marc managed to complete 13 laps!
The format of the race is to get in as many laps of the roughly, four-kilometer loop. Every circuit features twisty, single-track with plenty-o-roots and ‘baby heads’, short-sharp-shocked climbs and fast, double-tracked passing lanes.
The mere mortals who had a teammate or a few were absolutely no slouches, giving everything they had on each lap only to try to recover before it was their turn again. There were two teams tied for the most completed laps with 17! The tie-breaker then, is who finishes that lap first. I am not sure if the timer was ready for a photo finish, but it came down to just a one second difference!
The winning team’s name, “Lo-Ellen Sucks” may have been entered without all three of the members’ knowledge! Dane Gibeault, (who will be attending Lo-Ellen again this week) was the lead-out rider and had no idea of the moniker but it didn’t matter! Dane along with Isaac Quackenbush and Alex Anstice edged Team PKP (Paul Guenette, Katie Reid and Peter Van Buren) by the slimmest of margins in 356 minutes and 20 seconds. Team PKP rider, Paul Guenette was hunting down Dane on that last lap but could not pass him before the line, stopping the clock at 356:21! The fastest laps of the day were put in by Alex Anstice, the only rider who had a sub-17-minute traverse and he had three!
Congratulations to all the riders who competed including: Caroline Black, Hannah Brown, Cameron Duff, Jimmy Duff, Brody Larochelle, Charlie Reid, Bill Slaght, Blake Trottier, Ben Quackenbush and Rachel Quackenbush.
That marks the end of the Breakaway events for the year. Next up would be June’s Manitoulin Mountain Bike Challenge unless they throw a Loppet in the interim!
Hockey is hee-ere!
As the local Manitoulin Minor Hockey Associations are prepping for their player signing dates, many players playing off-Island have been skating and signing with their rep teams already!
Priscilla Recollet-Case is one. Having grown up in Wiikwemkoong and Manitowaning she has moved up to the Soo with Mom, Samantha and tried out for U13 B Jr Greyhounds and made it! The Case and Recollet families are super proud and plan on following Priscilla across the north this season!
She has already started her first practice last week and is enrolled with the Hockey Canada Skills academy there with her school (Superior Heights intermediate School) where she’s on ice twice a week during school. Good luck on your season, Priscilla!
The Manitoulin Panthers’ rep hockey has two teams currently registered in the Nickel District League. The U-13 team will be coached by Donald Wassegijig, and a U-15 squad with Scott Stephens at the helm. For more information, visit: www.manitoulinpanthers.com.
Tennis Tourney
The ‘End of Summer’ tournament, hosted by the Manitoulin Tennis Club was a success with a good crowd of participants on a beautiful sunny day on Saturday. Mike McCormick and Cathy (sorry, I don’t have your surname!) took the doubles category, with Ty Hanninen and Arik Theijsmeijer in 2nd place. In the singles division, Jon Best defeated Chris Theijsmeijer in the final. Thanks to all who attended however there will still be a few sessions continuing for those interested on Wednesdays at 6pm and Sundays at 10am. No bugs and no heat stroke, get on out there!
24 Hour Relay racer!
Back in olden times when I was a kid, running for Coach Gerry Holiday, he took us to the 12-hour relay held at the Laurentian Track. Our running club from Central Manitoulin Public School, dubbed the ‘Dirty Dozen Plus One’ by Mr. Holliday, ran 1600m laps over 12 hours. It was a super fun, encouraging and busy atmosphere for us young’uns.
Gerry is now training for a grown-up version this fall. He and his team of a certain age will run 5km laps over a full day. Good luck in your training, coach!
A good sport is good for sports
