Sports | DrumhellerMail

Dinosaur Valley Half Marathon marks 10 years this September

The Dinosaur Valley Half Marathon is celebrating a milestone this year with the 10th running of the premier road race event in the valley.
   In the 10 years, the event has seen thousands of participants take in the beautiful terrain and vistas the valley has to offer, from lush river valley to rugged badlands. And going into its 10th year the event remains as popular as ever.
   “We are way ahead of where we have been with registration in the last three years at this time,” said Morgan Syvertsen, one of the organizers of this year’s event.
   The event at its heart is a grassroots road race, that features a 5k, 10k and a full 21k half marathon. Over 10 years the course has changed, and in one season they offered a full marathon. Today the 5k enjoys the Red Deer River Valley the 10 and the 21 k are both certified race courses.
   As of Monday, July 22, there are already 326 registered for the event. About 100 are signed up for the 10 K, about 65 for the 5k and about 163 for the half marathon.
   “The cool thing about it is there is as many for the half marathon as the 5k and 10k combined,” said Syvertsen. “Word is getting out there that we have this beautiful course.”
   Syvertsen says the longevity of the event can be attributed to the strong volunteer core.
   “Number one what is making it so good is there are some really committed people on the board and you can’t have a race without that kind of leadership,” he said.
   “And there is the core volunteer group, and without that, we certainly could not do the race at all. Rotary is probably the biggest supplier of that.”
   Many other groups and businesses contribute as sponsors, and volunteers, many adding unique aid stations to cheer on the runners.
   The Dinosaur Valley Half Marathon is on Sunday, September 8. For more information or to register to go to www.dinosaurhalf.com.

Local athletes shine at Alberta 55-plus Games

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Drumheller was well represented at the Alberta 55-plus Summer Games.
   The event took place in Medicine Hat from July 4-7. Zone 2 President Linda Traquair said of the 118 athletes from the zone, eight were from Drumheller, and many posted strong results.
   “There are eight from Drumheller and nine from Cochrane, so if you consider our population, it’s good,” said Traquair.
   Jim Millman competed in 70-plus biking events and placed 2nd in recreational cycling, 2nd in time trials and 2nd in the road race.
   Wendy Laughlin competed in 65-plus track and field events and placed 4th in the 800 metre, 2nd in the 1,500m, and 3,000m.
   “I am really excited we are getting some folks in the track and the cycling,” said Traquair.
   Linda Traquair placed 4th in the 65-plus golf Callaway.
   Ron Keats’ team in military whist placed 5th and Daryl Saboe placed 5th in crib.
   Other competitors included Lloyd Laughlin in crib and Mike and Barb Barker in floor shuffleboard.
   This was the highest medal count ever for Zone 2.

Vintage Motocross take on DORVA track

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If BSA, Can-Am, and Husqvarna are in your motocross vocabulary, you may have been lucky enough to take in a fun day of motocross at DORVA.

Vintage MX Alberta was on the track at the local motocross club for a special moto on Sunday, July 14, where racers with dual shocks and blue two-stroke exhaust dominated the field.

Mitch Brown, secretary for Vintage MX Alberta said the club has about 60 active members and stage about nine races a year across the province. Earlier this week they were slated to race in Westlock but was cancelled due to the weather. They called up DORVA who were able to accommodate the racers.

Brown says the membership is made up of competitive bikers who race to win, but at the same time have a lot of fun.

“I guess you could call it competitive but non-competitive, it’s not serious racing,” chuckles Brown.

What makes the club special is the bikes they bring to the track. The vintage class is typically bikes built earlier than 1974, that have twin or mono-shock suspensions, the EVO class is for bikes generally 1981 and older, and the GP class is for bikes that are up to 1990 and allows disc brakes and water cooled engines.

“We are all ages, all skills, but our motorcycles are all 1990 and prior,” he explains, adding nostalgia plays a part in the charm.

“A lot of guys get to be a certain age and they realize they weren’t part of motorcycle racing. They fell out of bikes while they were in family time.”

He adds it is a cheap alternative to auto racing because you can get into a race ready bike often for less than $3,000.

There was a legend on the track at the race. Steen Hansen is a pioneer of the sport. At 82 he has been racing for almost seven decades and brought Husqvarna to Canada. In 2014 he, along with his wife Marion were inducted into the Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame. There is only a hand full of competitive riders of his age in the world.

This year Hansen is sporting 82 on his number plate, and Brown jokes that every year they have to change his number on his membership to match his age.

Local riders Phil Thompson and James Turner were also on the track with the club on Sunday.

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