West Vancouver, British Columbia – The thirteenth annual Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run took place on Saturday, July 14 in near prefect running conditions. Temperatures were below normal, and cloud cover protected runners from the sun most of the day. This lead to a high finishing rate of almost 95%, and very fast times.

A record number 180 ultramarathon runners from across North America started the "Race Across the North Shore" at 6:00 a.m., just above Horseshoe Bay. The goal for most was to reach the finish line, 30 miles later in Deep Cove, within the 10-hour race limit. 170 runners achieved their goal on this day, more finishers than in any previous year.

The leading performances were turned in on the women’s side this year. North Vancouver’s Alexandra Watson improved upon her third place finish last year in taking the women’s championship, and placing in seventh place overall. Her time of 5 hours 45 minutes and 35 seconds also broke the women’s course record by 1 second. Marcia Boulanger from Chilliwack also bettered her own course record in the women’s Veterans (over 50 years) division. In completing her seventh Knee Knacker race in a time of 6:25:08, Boulanger knocked almost 12 minutes off the previous best time for Veteran women.

On the men’s side, the story of the day was the collective power and speed of the older runners. Seven of the first nine finishers were from the Masters (40 – 49 years) division, including overall race winner Keith Wakelin from Courtenay. Wakelin completed the race in a time of 5:21:42 to take his first title in eight Knee Knacker attempts. Second place went to the 26-year-old Eric Langhjelm of North Vancouver in a time of 5:37:45. In his first ever Knee Knacker attempt, Langhjelm was the only male under 40 to crack the top nine finishers.

North Vancouver’s Ean Jackson and Bill Cook of Coquitlam became the seventh and eighth individuals to complete the race at least ten times.