Running in the Skeena River Relay was a breeze this year compared to last — at least, when it comes to weather.
“It was the perfect day,” said Derek Flynn from the winning Out for a Rip team.
Last year “all the teams really struggled in the heat, and there were some really close calls with heat stroke. I almost passed out last year on my last leg,” he said.
But this year weather was nice and cool, the forecasted rain held off and the sun even peaked out.
The ten-person Out for a Rip team won the Skeena River Relay for the third year in a row, finishing the 142 kilometre run in 10:22:38.
Originating in Hazelton, with several members now living in Thornhill and Terrace, the team has changed since it came together three years ago. Four members, Derek Flynn, Ted McCreery, Natasha Papachristoforou, and Tom Lee, have been with the team since it started.
Other runners this year included Fraser Bjornson, Lisa Perry, Krista Johnstone, Aliye Tuzlak, Danny McCreery and Tim Sullivan.
Flynn says the team doesn’t train together, but they are “always bugging each other to get out and run” and most of them have been training since January.
With 30 teams competing, the 142-kilometre Skeena River Relay is split into ten legs of the journey ranging from 10K to 21K along Highway 16 from Prince Rupert to Terrace.
Runners each take a leg of the journey, cheered on by team mates and fellow runners who travel stretch by stretch along each leg.
