Jones, Jackson win Whistler Half-Marathon

Now in its third year, The North Face Whistler Half-Marathon had itself another sell-out success over the weekend.

Abbotsford’s David Jackson was the favourite going into the race, and he didn’t disappoint, cruising to a 1:11:24 victory. This year’s event saw some of the best talent in B.C. travel to the picturesque ski town for the highly popular race.

New Zealander Nicholas Browne, coming off a solid performance at last month’s BMO Vancouver Marathon where he placed fifth, was second place in 1:14:39.

“I raced last weekend, a half-marathon in Abbotsford,” Jackson said after the race. “I usually don’t want to race two weekends in a row, but I thought Whistler would be a nice place to come to.” The 37-year-old was celebrating his birthday at the event, and the crowd sang happy birthday to him when he received his trophy on stage. “That’s something I will never forget,” Jackson said.

Mountain and trail runner Ed McCarthy of Ottawa took the final podium spot in 1:15:23. He was happy to come back to the race, even though he’s not usually a road runner. “I love this course, it’s the third time I’ve run it,” McCarthy said in the Whistler Village during the post-race party. “I like running on trails and this [course] has more of a trail feel to me even though it’s a road race.  It’s scenic, one of my buddies saw a bear at the halfway point, but the locals didn’t care,” McCarthy said with a smile. Black bears are a common sight on the trails around Whistler, but seldom pose a threat. Nevertheless, organizers did provide info on what to do during a bear encounter before the race began.

This year, Clark and his team wanted to grow the event further and respond to the overwhelming demand. “We went to 1100 in the half this year, but the biggest addition was our new 10K event, where we sold out the 500 spots as well,” Clark said after the race.

Clark indicated that his event is becoming a destination race for Canadians and runners from places as far away as Guatemala and Sweden. “We had people from eight of the provinces and 12 states, as far away as Florida.”

As for next year, Clark says he wants to make sure he puts on the best possible event and continues carefully grow the half-marathon and the new 10K event, as well as the highly popular kid’s run.

“We’re always looking for ways to improve,” Clark said about his race, now in its third year. “We are always looking to fix all the little issues. Feedback from our runners is really important for us. We are already a couple of years ahead in terms of growth of our five year business plan. We want to take what we’ve got and refine it.”

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Destination Race — Whistler Half-Marathon

Clark did say that they have applied to be the host of the 2014 B.C. half-marathon championships. “We’re hoping that it puts it out there that we’re serious about what we are doing.”