Trails in Kimberley will be getting another big boost, as the Round the Mountain event this past weekend raised over $10,000 for the trail network.
There is no better event to showcase Kimberley’s trails than the Round the Mountain Festival, which invites competitors to run, bike and trek around North Star Mountain.
Jim Webster, one of the volunteers who makes the event happen, is full of superlatives about this year’s race.
“It was by far the best attended, had the nicest weather and was the best organized event in the six years in which it has been held,” Webster said.
One of the nice things about this year’s rendition, he says, is that many more long time Kimberley residents participated.
“Fire Chief Allan Collision even completed the 20K Trek with his family in a record breaking seven plus hours,” Webster said. “The event attracted a good mix of locals and out-of town visitors, with a family from Hawaii having travelled the furthest.
Each year the organizers try to improve upon the year before by tweaking the format, adding new trail enhancements and fine-tuning their organization.
“Each year we have a stronger, more experienced core of volunteers that are able to offer the best experience they can for those taking part. The big hit of the day was watermelon which was followed closely by the chips, always a popular snack at the Aid Stations along the route.
“Round the Mountain is truly a community event and for 2016 even the Kimberley Pipe Band was in attendance leading off the trekkers at their 7 a.m. start. The organizers want to thank all the organizations, businesses, participants and volunteers that help to make this a special day in Kimberley. Well done everyone.”
Here are some of the results:
In the 20K Mountain Bike - female - we had a local winner, Naomi Humenny, who finished the course in 1:31:17. She was followed 4:56 minutes later by Stephanie McGregor of Cranbrook. The 20 K MTB Female Master was won by Lisa Grey of Harvie Heights, followed by Zoe Ramdin of Kimberley.
In the 20K Mountain Bike Male, another local winner, Craig DeMars of Kimberley finished in 1:12:59, followed by Ryan Hamilton of Cranbrook only 36 seconds behind. A special shout out to Kimberley City Councillor Nigel Kitto who finished a very respectable tenth out of 60 racers.
The Male MTB 20K Master was won by Brian Huppie of Kimberley, followed by Tim Cooney of Lethbridge.
Kieran Ackermann, Riley Payne, Eli Ambrosio and Mark Van Zyl, all of Kimberley went one, two, three, four in the 20K MTB Jr.
Cherie Cooper of Kimberley continued the fine local showing with a win in the 10K run with a time of 46:58. Second was Abby Kokolski of Radium.
Duncan Macleod of Kimberley took the Male 10K with a time of 52:12. Brett Grainger of Kimberley was only 12 seconds behind.
Cindi McNabb of Cranbrook took the Female 10K Master in 56:36, followed by Laurie Stewart of Kimberley, in 1:02:27.
In the Male 10K Master, Don Liddell of Cranbrook ran the course in 56:33. Second place went to Lorrin Mayes of Kimberley with a time of 2:09:16.
The 8K Junior Relay Male was won by Cooper Boehm of Kimberley (30:17), followed by Ericsson Foley of Kimberley, 1:20 later.
In the 10K Jr Run Female, the winner was Sierra Cooper of Kimberley in 46:37, with Darah Clarke of Kimberley second.
On the boy’s side Joel Miller of Kimberley won in 51:55 followed by Reid Ambrosio.
8K Duo - Male
Justin Sommer (Marysville) - 30:03
Reid Ambrosio (Kimberley) - 52:14
8K-Duo-Female
Megan Howe (Kimberley) 34:22
Beverlee Murdoch (Kimberley) - 35:58
Michelle Katchur Roberts of Canmore took the 20K Run Female in 1:49:54, followed by Suzy Witty of Invermere in 1:53:15.
Colin Ferrie of Kimberley did the 20K run Male in 1:34 for first place, with Michael Mitchell of Kimberley only 23 seconds behind.
In the Masters Female, Karen Martino of Calgary was first, and Claire Allison, also of Calgary was second.
Masters Male saw Peter Laycock of Rossland first, with Bill Wallace of Riondel second.
The 40K Duo Female was taken by Tanis Tomlin of Crnabrook in 3:35:48 with Haley Wright of Kimberley second in 4:04:59.
Frank Ackermann of Kimberley won the 40K Duo Male in 3:10:36 with Aaron Glover of Fernie second in 3:11:09.
The 20K Trek Female was taken by Nancy Reid of Fernie in 2:26:10, followed by Debbie Macleod of Kimberley in 2:49.
Scott Rurak of Calgary took the 20K Trek Male in 2:56:19 with Scott Stephenson of Kimberley second in 3:09:58.
Round the Mountain is hosted by by the Kootenay Orienteering Club, the Kimberley Trails Society, and the Kootenay Freewheelers’ Cycling Club.