Haney Harrison 100Km
Saturday, November 4th, 2006
Harrison Hot Springs, BC, Canada

In the 10th running of the Haney Harrison 100Km, Darin Bentley of
Surrey, BC, took the lead early and never looked back to win the race
for the second straight year in a time of 7:56:22, becoming only the
second runner in the history of this event to break 8 hours and
finishing just 4 minutes off the course record. In the process,
Bentley trimmed almost 22 minutes from his last year's winning time
and knocked more than 15 minutes off his previous best set last month
at the World Cup 100Km in Seoul Korea.
Second place for the second straight year went to Richard Webb of
Calgary in 8:41:29, who knocked just over 5 minutes off his previous
year's time. Third place was captured by fellow World Cup team
member Darren Froese of Victoria in 8:43:57.
Tania Whelan of Surrey was the delighted winner of the women's race
finishing in 10:39:52 competing in her first 100Km. Second place in
the women's race in a time of 11:20:28 went to Rea Blyth of North
Vancouver also in her first 100K and 3rd place was taken by Suzanne
Johnson also of North Vancouver and also completing her first 100K.
The runners endured some of the wettest (and warmest) conditions the
race has ever experienced. Temperatures at the 4 a.m. start were 12C
(54F) and the rain was steady and at times heavy as a "pineapple
express" weather system moved through the region.
The course consists of paved highways following British Columbia's
scenic Sasquatch Drive. Starting just outside Vancouver in Maple
Ridge, the course winds its way over rolling hills, passing through
Mission and into the lush farmlands of the Fraser Valley enroute to
the finish in the idyllic resort community of Harrison Hot Springs.
Of course, if it wasn't for the volunteers, nobody would be running
at all. This year, Cheryl Johnson and Rhonda Schuller came out to
spend their day on the course helping others. Adventure racers Brett
and Kyla Adams and 100 mile trail runner John Machray sacrificed a
training day to see just how much fun a road 100Km can be in the
rain. After all, we do this for fun ... right ? Veteran race
announcer Steve King was on hand for the full day from the very first
finisher to the very last finisher announcing the arrival of each
runner. And of course, I can't forget my own wife, Cathy, who just
loves =:-0 to spend the day standing around drenched to the bone in
monsoon conditions in November making sure that each of the runners
is looked after. The race is held in conjunction with the Haney
Harrison road relay. The efforts of relay race management made the
whole event possible and the contributions of Jerry Tighe, Greg White
and Brian McCalder cannot go unnoticed.
This race was first conceived and started in 1997, because at that
time there were relatively few ultra races on the calendar. This was
a milestone year marking the 10th edition of the event
Full race results are at:
http://www.raceheadquarters.com/results/2006/run/ULTRA.HTM

32 starters
26 finishers

Ron Adams
H2H 100K Ultra Event Director