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Race Report





The Hardwood Single Track Challenge on May 28th was a fantastic event. This was the 4th year that I competed and I was hoping to get my 4th consecutive race win. It was a hot and sunny day witch was great for racing. The start of the 50km race went off and I was feeling great and the trails were in fabulous shape. I rode with lots of fast guys and at the end of the race I placed 1st in my division of 15-18 men. It was an even better day considering it was my 17th birthday.









@ Hardwood Ski & Bike
The next two races were both Canada Cups. My coach Andrew Watson had developed a plan and he said that he wanted me to do the two Canada Cups as training races since he is peaking me for my up and coming marathon race. The following weekend I headed over to Horseshoe Resort for Ontario / Canada Cup #3. The night before the race it rained quite hard so all of the racers were worried that it was going to be muddy. I knew that I would have to have my climbing legs on for this race. The Junior race went off at 1:30 pm with a lot of really hard competition from all over North America. Unfortunately I had a rough race, I crashed 4 times and I didn't seem to have all of my power. Even though I had a bad race I couldn't let it get to me since I had another Canada Cup at Hardwood Ski & Bike the following weekend.
@ Hardwood Ski & Bike
On June 12 the Ontario / Canada Cup # 4 was on its way. I was really pumped up for this event since Hardwood has a great course with lots of features. I started at the back of the starting grid since my coach was working with me on my pacing over the 4 lap race. It was a really fast start and within the first few km everyone was spaced out. I ended up racing the entire race with a couple of good friends and we all had a blast. It was a fantastic day of racing and my coach and I were very happy with how my performance was.


Coming across the finish line

The last race of my 6 week race block was a 70 km marathon that was held at North Humberland forest. It was the third XC Marathon race and I was very excited to be racing at this venue again. I have raced this event 3 times before and it is always  very fast and exciting. The day prior to the event I had a couple of unexpected events happen so I was quite stressed coming into this race. The event had 64 racers in the full marathon so it was a big start. The race started and there were three of us that lead it out, we kept the same position for the first lap. The second lap was a bit different when my two competitors launched a couple of attacks, I was able to maintain 2nd place. With the last 4km to go I caught up to the leader and powered by him. I finished very strong with a 1st place win. I was extremely happy with my performance and it was my first marathon win in my career. With such a great performance I even  picked up a new sponsor. I am also now the XC Marathon Series Leader with one race to go. It was a fabulous day and I can't get wait to race my next marathon in Quebec.


On the winning step of the 35 and under men category


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