Arduum Challenge 2009 Results, pics and vids.

Posted: Jun 21, 2009

This past weekend was the 3rd annual Arduum Challenge in Mission BC and after 22 days of sunshine, the word "Challenge" came heavily into play once the skies opened up and let the rain fall. 200 racers braved the toughest course on the BC Cup circuit and despite the mud, there were a ton of big smiles during the awards.

Read on for results and pictures,

On Saturday the weather was about as mint as it could have been and several racers were found taking part in the freelap split time challenge. Upper and lower sections were marked as well as the complete course so we able to see who was killing it where. Each rider received $50 for their section and Ewan took home another $50 for breaking the old course record. Check out freelap to learn more.

Upper Section - Karla Stowards and Ewan Fafard
Lower Section - Kat Popma and Ewan Fafard
New Course record - Ewan Fafard 3:31,50

An unrelated freelap race took place on Saturday night at Mill Pond with the Dunbar Cycles 16" bike, so check back for full race story from that one in the coming days.

On to the main event, Sunday's Arduum Challenge!

Trotter playing it safe in practice:

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Rider realizing that it's a bad idea to send it:

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Sunday morning's practice was misleading to say the least as it was pretty dry and the course was running fast, oh how that would change. The weather held out for practice and about one third of the race field.

Shots from practice courtesy of Dave-M:

Linden Feniak

Riley Suhan

James Zogaris

Geoff Hodson

The race began at 1:00 on the dot and it was Citizen 19-29 ladies on course first. Local rider Karla Stowards chose to run just her Dainese suit for kicks and got some good cheers for it too.

Karla was the second racer down - check the armor:

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U17 racer, Linden Feniak was one of the lucky racers to get down the course before all hell broke loose and was able to find his way to the hot seat with a 3:49,09. His time would keep him in the Hot Seat until the very end of the pro field came down. Good work Linden! In the middle of the U17 racers is when the weather changed things up and let the rain fall. The course became a whole new game from that point on until the awards a few hours later.


Riders that had been hitting up the bottom gap all through practice were now second guessing themselves. Some were still hitting it and breaking parts like shocks, wheels and frames - all for the glory! We all thank them for their guts and empty wallets, it was a great show that all the riders put on. Here are your results for the 2009 Arduum Challenge:

Dan Skogland through the bottom section:

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Ewan Fafard through the last gap:

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The 2009 Arduum Challenge Race Results:

19-29 Citizen Women
1 - Karla Stowards 5:39,41
2 - Jen Mancer

30+ Citizen Women
1 - Kelly Kozevnikov 6:11.80
2 - Colleen Keyland

Carolyn Kavanagh

U19 Citizen Men (15-18 )
1 - Shaun Bucke 4:11,46
2 - Deon Gibson
3 - Christoph Schneffler

19-29 Citizen Men
1 - Jason Sams 3:59,08
2 - Eric Wahn
3 - Jeff Austin

Oliver Kristevic

30+ Citizen Men
1 - Tom Thornton 4:38,00
2 - Dean Wilkes
3 - Brian Onofrichuk

Master 30+ Women
1 - Karaleen Westmoreland 5:32,23
2 - Meghan Illingworth
3 - Kari Mancer

Simon Garstin

Senior Women (19-29)
1 - Jennifer McMillan 5:22,57
2 - Jaime Hill
3 - Michelle Thorne

Master 40-49 Men
1 - Todd Earnshaw 4:31,59
2 - Bryan Gioia
3 - Derek Timmerman

Riley Suhan

U17 Men (15-16)
1 - Linden Feniak 3:49,09
2 - Riley Suhan
3 - Nicholas Geddes

Master 30-39 Men
1 - Simon Stevenson 4:14,91 (Pinkbike.com Alumni)
2 - John Pitton
3 - Cory Leclerc

Ryan Kuhn

Senior Men (19-29)
1 - Kevin Tafts 4:02,31
2 - Ryan Walters
3 - Shannon Rozel

Junior Men (17-18 )
1 - Trenton Zoobkoff 3:59,02 (Pinkbike.com)
2 - Craig Campbell
3 - Chayse Marshall

Elite Women
1 - Bethany Parsons 5:51,32
2 - Miranda Miller
3 - Seana Wright

Elite Men
1 - Tyler Gorz 3:47,35
2 - Justin Terwiel
3 - David Camp

Tyler Gorz through the end section and on his way to the podium:

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When the rain settled and the racing was over it was Tyler Gorz that stood on the podium for men and Bethany Parsons for the ladies. Thanks to all the great sponsors that donated prizing to this year's event, all the amazing volunteers that stood in the rain on Sunday to be sure everyone was safe, Ewan and Taylor for all the building and time they put into this year's course and Denise and Greg from Freeride Dawgs for making it all happen!

Thanks to all the racers for making the journey and be sure to check www.arduumchallenge.com for full results soon.

Big thanks to Dave Mackie for taking pics on Sunday for me. If you'd like to see more of his pictures, please visit his site atwww.davemackie.exposuremanager.com.

More Arduum pics here.

Chris Van Luven's site for pics.

It was another successful race and we all look forward to next year!

Happy Trails,
Ty