The odds of a record being broken at Saturday's 15th annual Diez Vista 50 km ultra race on the trails of Belcarra and Anmore are extremely high.
How high? About as high as the extra 1,000-plus feet in elevation that's been added to the already gruelling, goat-geared mountainous course.
The change by event organizers was not an elective one but rather a necessary one due to extremely high waters on Buntzen Lake that have boosted the winding, treacherous trek from a peak climb in elevation of about 6,200 feet to roughly 7,300, estimates race co-director George Forshaw of Port Moody.
A fair chunk of the run that formerly encompassed the beach area and floating bridge at Buntzen's south end can no longer be navigated on foot at present, Forshaw said, shifting that portion of the race primarily to the considerably steeper Lakeview Trail on the lake's west side.
"The race is still 50 kilometres in length but adding 1,000 feet or so of elevation is going to make it even tougher, I would think," Forshaw said. "Mind you, some of these runners are just amazing on hills and never seem to be fazed by them but... I think the chances [of a new record] are slim."
The current record in the men's division is held by North Vancouver's Gary Robbins, who set a new mark of four hours, 10 minutes and 38 seconds last year. Robbins will not be able to attend this year's race due to injury, although Suzanne Evans of New Westminster will be back to defend her record in the women's division of 4:43:04 set in 2006.
A total of 126 runners have entered Saturday's gigantic journey.
Robbins' absence combined with a rash of recent cool weather that included snow earlier this week on higher elevations has left the men's category "pretty wide open," Forshaw believes.
"I'm looking at the list [of men's entries] and I think it's going to be an interesting race," he said.
The race begins 7:30 a.m. at Sasamat Lake's parking lot 'A', near White Pines Beach. The ascent soon begins up the rocky, root-ridden Diez Vista (10 views) trail, which offers majestic viewpoints of Indian Arm, surrounding mountain ranges and various nearby lakes.
There will be six aid stations along the course for competitors to rest and/or replenish, with the last finisher(s) expected to reach the end about 4:30 p.m., Forshaw said.
FINISH LINE: Only two runners have completed all 14 of the previous Diez Vista ultras -- 52-year-old Peter Zubrick of Port Moody and Kelowna's Judy Kotopski, 63 -- and both have registered for Saturday's 15th edition of the race. Also returning is long-time Diez Vista competitor Rob Lang, a 54-year-old Surrey resident who won the event its first two years (1997 and '98).
