This was no walk in the park.
No race that consists of 54 kilometres of trail running over three 18-kilometre loops, each of which gains 3,000 feet in elevation, could be considered a simple stroll.
Despite temperatures that climbed to 29 C at Kenna Cartwright Park in Kamloops, Prince George runners Reid Roberts and Nicole Rishaug each won medals in the Walk in the Park race.
Roberts, 42, finished second overall in the men's event, after five hours 43 minutes 32 seconds of hard running. Rishaug, 35, placed third in the women's race (11th overall) in 8:23:04, fighting off muscle problems that forced her to drop out of the lead, two laps into the race.
"Nicole would have easily won the women's race, but major stomach issues during Lap 2 resulted in her dropping to third," said Roberts. "She sat at the start/finish aid station for 22 minutes between Lap 2 and 3 but refused to quit even after it was recommended, and she powered through the final lap."
Roberts easily beat his 2010 Walk in the Park time of 6:25 but was unable to match the pace of race winner Chris Downie of Burnaby, who won over 16 other racers in 4:45:06.
John Beebe of Prince George, 45, placed 12th overall in 8:38:13.
Roberts was coming off a 10th overall finish in the Elkhorn 80km race in Montana, Aug. 6. His time of 10 hours 20 minutes was the second time of the day to break the masters record of 9:35, set in 2005.
Several Prince George runners are entered in the Mount Robson Marathon on Sunday. Also on the grunge race horizon is the Mad Moose Marathon set for Otway Nordic Centre, Sunday, Sept. 25.
