Less than six weeks until the second edition of the Burnaby MOMAR takes off in...well Burnaby of course.
Last year we had a solid debut in a slightly unconventional location, at least compared to the majority of the areas the MOMAR has historically visited. Burnaby Mountain out at SFU made for a fantastic mid-point of the race as we truly had a unique urban orienteering stage throughout the university's architecture. Many competitors referred to it as the highlight of the day for them.
Overall, competitors in the first ever Burnaby MOMAR seemed impressed, if not amazed, at the varied landscape and combined elevation profile which proved to be much hillier terrain than most envisioned possible. As a course director I was pumped on our kayaking stage as it brought racers back into the waters of Deep Cove, which as anyone who's frequented the area can attest to is one of the most scenic paddling locations in BC's lower mainland.
From there I found that I was content with the climbing offered throughout our race and that the singletrack riding really rounded out what I believed was necessary to brand this as a MOMAR worthy event. My only true complaint as a course designer last year was that I was somewhat resigned to a few too many necessary urban road connections when I truly desired to incorporate more mud, dirt, and forest. Thankfully, The City of Burnaby did us as racers and them as a city a major favor during the 11 months since last year's event...the built more trails! Really nice, buffed out, professional grade stuff that links together this years course in ways we could have only wished for just one year ago. As such we are able to say that almost 35% of the trails we're including in this, the second edition of the Burnaby MOMAR, either weren't touched last year or simply did not exist. As a course designer it's hard to ask for much more than that!
I'm confident that no matter how familiar you may think you are with the terrain around SFU, you'll thoroughly enjoy what we're pieced together for you on June 2nd.
Bryan and I had a bit of fun a few weeks ago and created a short video of our day out on course. Check it out along with a few pics I snapped back in Feb and we hope to see you out come race day.
MOMAR Race Page
GR
Overall, competitors in the first ever Burnaby MOMAR seemed impressed, if not amazed, at the varied landscape and combined elevation profile which proved to be much hillier terrain than most envisioned possible. As a course director I was pumped on our kayaking stage as it brought racers back into the waters of Deep Cove, which as anyone who's frequented the area can attest to is one of the most scenic paddling locations in BC's lower mainland.
I'm confident that no matter how familiar you may think you are with the terrain around SFU, you'll thoroughly enjoy what we're pieced together for you on June 2nd.
Bryan and I had a bit of fun a few weeks ago and created a short video of our day out on course. Check it out along with a few pics I snapped back in Feb and we hope to see you out come race day.
MOMAR Race Page
GR