Here are the final results for the 2008 MOMAR Squamish.  Teams were ranked first by the number of CPs found and then by fastest time.

The Dirty Girlz signed up solo but stayed together the entire race and finished with a time of 8:11:11 and 16 CPs found.

Lesley-Ann Marriott and Heather MacIntosh of the Mountain Devils

Thomas Casarella from NYC and Suneel Mandava from Chicago flew in just for the MOMAR experience. Thanks for making the trip!

Unfortunately, due to some technical delays, the final results will not be posted until late Monday night. However, Tony Austin, official photographer of the MOMAR, has posted his photo gallery online. Go to www.pbase.com/autie to view and purchase. Other photo galleries will be posted as they go live. In the meantime, here are a few great shots from the weekend!

And a Happy Mother’s Day to all the MOMAR mommies with a special shout out to the Chilliwack Yummy Mummies who were the winners of the Denis Fontaine Spirit Award presented by Keen Footwear (see photo below)…

It’s Sunday morning and the MOMAR organizing crew is tired and slightly hungover as we get ready to pack things up and head back home.  Yesterday’s MOMAR was another great success and the course designed by Jen Segger really tested the limits for everyone who took on the challenging 45km course.  The after-party was awesome and the Hairfarmers and DJ Q-PID kept the dance floor packed. What a day it was!

I’ll post up the results and links to photos hopefully later tonight.  I can tell you that Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island (Justin Mark & Jeff Reimer) narrowly beat defending champs Helly Hansen / MOMAR (Gary Robbins & Todd Nowack) just over a minute.  Bart Jarmula and Sarah Seads were the top male and females respectively.

Keep checking the MOMAR blog regularily for more news on this weekend’s race.

It has been almost four years since professional adventure racer, Dave Norona, race competitively but this past weekend, Dave made a brief (one time?) exit out of retirement to race in Scotland’s Drambuie Pursuit. Racing with Frank Wolf, Kevin Vallely, and Greg Inkster, Dave and his team took on teams from around the world in this one day adventure race. Here’s an excerpt from Dave’s newsletter:

We arrived in London for a pint and then on to Inverness, Scotland. The first evening we were given food and then taken out to a giant castle for the prologue - an Archery section. We placed 4th on the night with two impressive sessions by Greg and Frank. Over the next day we mountain biked, ran, canoed, and did a section on dune buggies and Zap Kats which are inflatable speed boats that go 50 miles per hour and push 3 G’s in the corners. We were the passengers in this section and the goal was to try and not fall out. After a wicked day of hard racing we arrived at the finish line in first place overall. We celebrated with the other teams well into the night with lots of amazing Drambuie Drinks and fine food.

So, does this mean Dave is officially out of retirement? Well, he will be at the Squamish MOMAR, but as the event’s MC. For those of you that have never heard of Dave, he has won 8 overall MOMAR titles between 2000 and 2004. He’s raced in almost all of the big adventure races around the world and is super fun guy. He’s going to keep you entertained at the finish line and he will be on the dance floor all night.

It’s time to size up the competition for this weekend’s MOMAR in Squamish. Over 200 racers will be on the start line for the Jen Segger designed course including racers from Australia, New York, Texas, Illonios, Washington State, Alberta, and from all parts of BC.  Click here to view the list of registered racers.

Can Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR’s Gary Robbins and Todd Nowack continue where they left off last year? They are fresh off a win at the Suburban Rush and last year, they won all three MOMARs. Who will challenge? Frontrunners Normon Thibault should be up there and you may even see Jason Sanquist (although he claims that he is not as fit as he would to be).

In the Team of 4 category, watch for solid battle between Team Player, Mergeo.com and last year’s top team Live to Tell. And in the team of 2 female category, my money is on the Chilliwack Chicks to be on the podium, but the Just Two Cool Chicks could be up there as well.

But this is an Adventure Race and anything can happen. Over the past 24 MOMARs (holy crap, has it been that many!?) I’ve seen it all — from mechanicals, to injuries, to getting lost (the most common) the race is never over until it’s over. That’s what makes this sport so great.

Volunteers are still needed! If you would like to be part of the MOMAR, please go to the Volunteer Page and sign up.

MOMAR in six days!

The MEC Big Chop Summer Paddle Series start this Thursday! After a very successful inaugural season, we are excited to head back onto the water for paddle races that pits kayaks against outriggers and canoes. Paddlers can enter in either the 7-10km ‘Big’ Chop or the 4-5km ‘Little’ Chop.

Race registration is only $8 and include a post race smokie and drinks! We also give out a TON of great draw prizes. The season ends with a big party and we are giving away two kayaks (one Think Evo surfski and one Seaward Infiniti TX kayak) to two lucky winners.

When: Thursday, May 1st (and then every two weeks after that)
Time: 6:00pm registration, 7pm start, 8:00 Smokies, 8:30 Awards
Where: Vanier Park, Vancouver, BC (under the Burrard Street Bridge)
Kayak Rentals Available

This is a great way to get ready for the final two MOMAR races that have a kayaking stage. The race is owned and operated by the MOMAR and Vancouver Ocean Sports. For more info, go to www.bigchop.ca.