Tearing up the Naughton trails as part of fitness challenge

Hot on the heels of the Ian McCloy Island Swim, the latest event in the Sudbury Fitness Challenge (SFC) series welcomed Sudburians of all ages to the Naughton Trails on Sunday, the site of the Mountain Bike Tour.

Riders enjoyed the same venue that had served as host in both 2013 and 2014 to the Canada Cup circuit, competitions which featured some of the same athletes who went on to medal this summer at the 2015 Pan American Games.

Capturing first place in the 20-kilometre event was Walden Mountain Bike Club veteran racer Alex Anstice, who maintained a healthy perspective to an event that is far more recreational in nature.

"This was just for fun," said Anstice, a 31-year-old native of Manitoulin Island.

"I came to race against myself, push hard, and do it as a training session. The aim of this race was just to get people out and participating, and that’s what I saw out there."

Still, as an accomplished rider who has competed as a member of the WMBC Wolfpak in years gone by, Anstice appreciated trail conditions that were pretty much as good as he's seen them.

"The course was great today," said Anstice. "It can get kind of sandy and loose here, but today was nice and tacky on the corners, which means that you can really rail the corners. I was pleasantly surprised with that."

For his part, 10-year-old Alex Pharand was not about to "rail the corners" quite as much as Anstice. Not that it stopped him from finishing in first place in the five-kilometre distance.

"My whole family, all five of us, are here today," said Pharand. "Everybody is cycling. Usually, me and my mom and a friend come here on Mondays. We bike here a lot. Sometimes, my brother comes – my sister and my dad usually don’t come. My mom knew about it (Naughton Trails), and we started coming, and it’s a lot of fun."

Posting a time of 18:28 on the five kilometre single loop, Pharand finished just ahead of Ryan Ricci (18:34), as well as younger brother Joel Pharand (21:11).

"I was going in for racing," said Pharand. "I wanted to win, but it’s also for fun. There was a guy that was pretty fast, he was my challenge. But I stayed in front of him the whole race. He would come close, then I would go fast."

The Mountain Bike Challenge is the fifth event in the seven-part series that is the Sudbury Fitness Challenge.

Many of the same faces on hand on Sunday will also make the trek to Moonlight Beach on Aug. 9, site of the 2015 Beaton Classic. The SFC wraps up in October with the Turkey Gobbler, as athletes return to Naughton for the final race of the year.

Following is a listing of age group winners for the various distances that were contested on the weekend:

20 kilometres
12 & under (F) - Paris Macey (1:49:15)
12 & under (M) - Alain Dufresne (1:34:50)
13 - 19 (M) - Colin Roos (1:03:27)
20 - 29 (M) - James Alexander (1:00:34)
30 - 39 (F) - Suzanne Halet (1:09:31)
30 - 39 (M) - Alex Anstice (50:01)
40 - 49 (F) - Wanda Dewulf (1:08:58)
40 - 49 (M) - Mika Jylha (59:45)
50 - 59 (M) - Brent Walker (1:01:52)
60 - 69 (M) - Willy Kohl (1:33:18)

10 kilometres
12 & under (M) - Avery Chisholm (42:52)
13 - 19 (M) - Neal Younggregoris (35:37)
20 - 29 (F) - Caroline Black (35:53)
20 - 29 (M) - Daniel Meyer (34:40)
30 - 39 (F) - Julie Rathwell (37:39)
30 - 39 (M) - Al Paquette (35:02)
40 - 49 (F) - Eva Maciaszek (34:15)
40 - 49 (M) - Scott Hopkins (39:58)
50 - 59 (F) - Karen Broughton (40:02)

5 kilometres
12 & under (F) - Kalia Pharand (24:06)
12 & under (M) - Alex Pharand (18:28)
13 - 19 (F) - Lela Hopper (21:59)
30 - 39 (M) - Marc Pharand (24:06)
40 - 49 (F) - Carol Mourre (22:21)
50 - 59 (F) - Karen Renault (27:22)

Relay - 4 X 5kms
1st - The old and beautiful (Marc Larochelle, Jody Waddell) - 54:19
2nd - The HOOG's (Andrew Iwanicki, Ross Paterson, Patrick Thomson, Dave Welsh) - 1:17:54
3rd - Palista Loca (Katharine McClosky, Allison White) - 1:23:09

Kids - 350m (one lap)
9 & under (F) - Kalia Pharand (2:46)
9 & under (M) - Caleb Hood (6:10)