Massacre adventure race title goes to home team
A Medicine Hat team won the overall crown at the 11th annual Medicine Hat Massacre adventure race Saturday.
Matt Ward and Jack Liebrecht teamed up to take top spot with 740 points, navigating a more than 80 kilometre route with only a map and compass to help them.
The traditional 4 a.m. start time was attended by 55 teams from as far away as Yellowknife and Montana according to a press release from organizer Gerry Prince. Kayaks, mountain bikes and lots of hiking shoes are the usual apparatus but this year a high ropes course was added and staffed by the YMCA’s Camp Elkwater. A charity component giving bonus points for carrying up to 60 pounds of food one kilometre also benefitted the Medicine Hat Food Bank.
Ward and Liebrecht took the men’s and overall titles, 112 points ahead of the runner-up. Calgarians Bree Rooke and Marnie Anderson took the women’s title with 515 points, beating out Sheila Klotz and Lynn Nicholson by 20 points. In the mixed division, Canmore’s Rich and Lois Petit were first with 655 points, 70 better than Kent Steeves and Zara Schultz.
With near-perfect weather, Prince said in the release that carrying bikes over blown-down trees was the only real X-factor on the day.
If you’re interested in next year’s event visit mhmassacre.ca. Prince and the South Eastern Search and Rescue organize the event every year.