Though they may have a new team name and some new faces, the winners of the 2019 Royal LePage Comox Valley Snow to Surf Adventure Relay race are no strangers to the top of the podium.
Just over three hours after the start of the race, Bill Brett with Island Honda Bonzai hopped out of his canoe to ring the bell at the Comox Marina after completing the last leg of the multi-sport relay.
The race started early Sunday morning at Mount Washington, and participants skied, ran, mountain biked, kayaked, cycled and canoed their way to the finish line.
With a time of 3:04, Brett said the team beat their 2018 winning time by 12 minutes. Island Honda Bonzai was in first place for most of the race, despite their mountain biker getting a flat tire early on his route.
“We had a really strong team,” said Brett. “Our mountain biker probably had the biggest struggle, but he still came in first. He had a flat tire after 3km. He pedaled 9 km with a front flat tire. Pretty gutsy.”
This is the race’s 37th year and Brett, who is 60-year-old, has been competing since the very start. This is his 25th win.
Race director Rick Gibson said this year’s event went off without a hitch.
“The miracle we had this year is we had the nordic ski, which three days ago we thought it was going to be a run,” he said. “But it happened and we really had to thank Mount Washington for that because they just pulled out the stops and made the nordic event for us.”
139 teams participated in this year’s race.
