2018 Si of Relief Climb

British Columbia runner sets women’s record at annual Mount Si climb

NORTH BEND, Wash. – For the first time a female trail runner has captured the overall Si of Relief Climb for Time title in the annual race up Washington state’s Mount Si.  And the North Vancouver, B.C. runner did it in record-setting pace on Sunday morning, breaking away from the starting group at the half-mile mark and never looking back to ascend nearly 3,000 feet in just over an hour and set the women’s mark in the annual race up the popular hiking trail in the Cascade foothills.

Forty-seven-year-old Karen Bond of North Vancouver reached the base of the 4,167-foot peak’s first scramble with a time of 1:03.29.  The native of Warrick, England shaved 31 seconds off the previous women’s record set in 2017 by 23-year-old Toni Carlstrom.

“This was fantastic, I was dodging people all along the trail,” said the ultra-marathon runner who logs over 100 km a week on trails around Vancouver, B.C. 

Pacing herself in second position for the first half-mile behind men’s runner-up Mike McQuaid of Seattle, Bond finally broke away and never looked back after crossing the 1,000-foot mark with some 200-vertical feet behind her.

“I was just going steady.  I didn’t want to go off to fast at the start,” said Bond, who also set a personal record on the popular hiking trail just a 45-minute drive east of Seattle.

Nathan Magnusson of Seattle was the top men’s finisher crossing the line some 10-minutes off Bond’s gold-medal pace.

Running in his first Si of Relief Climb for Time, Magnusson logged a 1:12.30 on the 4-mile, ascent for second place overall after trailing McQuaid through the 2-mile mark. 

The 37-year-old said his greatest challenge was navigating the Mount Si trail for the first time.

“The rocks were tough in the last 10 minutes of the climb,” said Magnusson, who is no stranger to a challenge, training as a boxer on the weekends at a Seattle gym. “I heard different things from different people (about the trail), but I just jumped in.”

McQuaid, a four-year veteran of the climb, was the second-place finisher in men’s competition.  The 54-year-old marathoner and Ironman veteran from Seattle finished just 1:34 behind Magnusson, clocking a 1:13.34 for third overall.

Charleston, South Carolina resident Melissa Kriza was the runner-up in women’s competition.  The 40-year-old, who traveled some 2,415 miles to compete on Sunday, finished in 1:33.00 in her first attempt at the switchback Mount Si trail.

“The climb was as beautiful and challenging as any climb I’ve done,” said Kriza, who is a regular on her native South Carolina trails and has taken on ascents on multiple continents including Indonesia’s 5,633-foot Mt. Batur and the challenging 3,558-foot Table Mountain climb near Cape Town, South Africa.

Runners from throughout the Puget Sound region, British Columbia and South Carolina competed in the annual trail running competition for time.

The 2019 Si of Relief Climb for Time takes place Sunday, April 14, 2019. The official start is 9:30 a.m. PT at the Mount Si Trailhead near North Bend, Wash.

To learn more visit http://www.facebook.com/siofreliefclimb.

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