The Annual Royal Lepage Snow to Surf Race is a “don’t miss" event

by Keith and Heather Nicol

 The annual Royal Lepage Snow to Surf Race is a bunch of fun and a great way to meet people. It is also the longest

Keith on the xc ski leg

running multi-stage event in Canada and this year celebrated its 37^th anniversary. We had watched this event a couple of years ago but other commitments (including buying a house with a closing date on the same weekend as the event) had prevented us from entering it in the past. Last year I was contacted by a team from Parksville who needed a cross country skier and jumped at the chance to join a team. Island Cycle has been competing for several years and had made the podium in the 40 plus age category (Grand Masters Men) in the some years. This year the Island Cycle team registered late due to injuries and health of some members but in the end we had a great showing with 3 new faces on the team.

Team mate Douw Hattingh on the trail run

For readers that aren’t familiar with the event it starts at Mt Washington Alpine Ski area with an alpine skier , who then touches cross country skier. The next 2 legs are run legs followed by a mountain biker who passes to a sea kayaker. The final legs are a taken over by a road biker, followed by a short run which connects to the final stage- canoeing down the Puntledge River to the Comox Marina. This year there were 139 teams and so in all there are close to 1000 athletes involved. And they come from all over Vancouver Island with some teams coming from the mainland. This year the fastest teams came across the finish line in just 3:04.42!!  Our team came in 19^th overall and we were about an hour behind the winners. Our time of 4 03.02 was good enough for 4^th in our age class out of 11 teams so no podium this year. In “justifying” our overall time our team captain did point out that we were the 9^th oldest teams in the event so perhaps 19th out of 139 teams wasn’t too bad. Also the stellar weather this year made for fast snow conditions and ideal spectator viewing. 

A runner along the scenic ocean front in Courtenay

The whole event finishes with an awards ceremony and social/beer garden in the Comox Marina Park which was a perfect way to rehash the event and chat to other teams.  If you can do one of these activities listed above and have not been in this event, think about putting in a team for next year. Or if you can’t create a team, teams are often looking for specific people to fill in for certain spots so you can join a team like I did. For more information on this event check out this web site: http://www.snowtosurf.com/

You couldn't find a more picturesque course in Canada

The Snowbirds even did a flyby at the finish line