Jasper-Banff Relay
20th Anniversary run
June 5 & 6, 1999
For the two teams in this year's Jasper-Banff Relay, the primary goal was to have fun. The secondary goal was to have fun and finish in under 24 hours. Both conditions were met, but not without some help from a determined grizzly bear.
A mother and two cubs had taken up residence near Waterfowl Lake, part way up section 11. The first teams were able to get through the area while daylight prevailed but when the darkness set in, Park wardens lost track of them. Race officials aired wisely on the side of safety and closed the section. Runners were transported to the top of Bow Summit where the race picked up again on leg 12.
Team times were scored to the end of section 10 and then picked up again at the start of section 12. Organizers took the time at the end of section 10, then determined the elapsed time from the beginning of 12 until the end of 17. These times was added together to come up wit a finish time.
The Wapiti Striders Original #1 team crossed the finish line in 22:41:44 while the Grande Prairie Triathletes finished in 23:32:06. The adjusted times were 21:15:15 and 22:28:30.
Runners scheduled to run #11 were allowed to run other sections - Paul Oostra split section 13 with Ken Bonertz on the Original Team while Triathlete Joe Radench moved ahead to do section 12, allowing Francois Fournier to split #13 with Craig Sharun.
Weather conditions also played a part. The first five sections were run in warm temperatures and partly cloudy skies. A blizzard hit section 6 runners at the Sunwapta Pass and near the Icefields, making for brutal running conditions. Marlene Corcoran finished that section running in shorts and T-shirt but other runners were seen covering up with everything, including garbage bags.
The sun came out again during section 7 and runners who had started with layers of clothing, were soon discarding them. The weather cooperated throughout the remaining sections.
All runners ran strong sections with many of them running faster than their projected time. Bill Corcoran had a very strong section 2. He started with the team in 60th place, then passed 34 runners to move to 26th.
A number of runners have competed in 10 or more races with Bill Corcoran and Bryan Peacock taking part in 18, not all with the Striders. Ten runners were competing in their first relay.
The Yamanashi Gakuin University team from Japan returned after a one year hiatus and won handily with an adjusted time of 15:40:02.
Original #1 Team
(We were the first team to enter the original relay in 1980 and wore number 1 that year. Seven of this year's members are from that original team)
| Runner | elapsed time | total time | pace | team position | individual position |
| Andy Beal* | 1:27:40 | 1:27:40 | 7:19 | 60 | 60 |
| Bill Corcoran | 1:16:12 | 2:43:54 | 6:42 | 26 | 15 |
| Cal White | 1:11:13 | 3:55:05 | 7:51 | 27 | 41 |
| Bryan Peacock* | 1:14:29 | 5:09:34 | 7:32 | 27 | 34 |
| Kyle White | 1:17:57 | 6:27:31 | 7:23 | 24 | 33 |
| Marlene Corcoran | 1:22:21 | 7:49:52 | 7:56 | 25 | 43 |
| Henry Chojnacki* | 1:18:57 | 9:08:49 | 7:57 | 31 | 85 |
| Jeannette Brooks | 1:23:30 | 10:32:19 | 7:46 | 31 | 66 |
| Liske de Waal | 1:17:38 | 11:49:57 | 7:37 | 28 | 42 |
| Ken Haley | 1:20:05 | 13:10:02 | 7:00 | 26 | 21 |
| Paul Oostra** | ** | ** | ** | ** | |
| Aaron Ruptash +++ | 1:12:32 | 15:49:02 | 7:15 | 47 | 37 |
| Ken Bonertz*/Paul Oostra*** | 1:30:10 | 17:19:12 | 7:09 | 47 | 43 |
| Patrick Bonertz* | 1:09:36 | 18:28:48 | 8:25 | 46 | 77 |
| Harvey Biehn | 1:26:09 | 19:54:57 | 8:09 | 49 | 95 |
| Eric Chislett* | 1:14:29 | 21:09:26 | 8:38 | 53 | 98 |
| Leigh Goldie* | 1:32:17 | 22:41:43 | 7:19 | 52## | 69 |
## Team actually finished in 37th place in the adjusted results; places from section 12 on are based on the starting position of section 12.
Adjusted running time: 21:15:15
* Original members from 1980
**Section 11 cancelled because of grizzly bear.
***Ken ran first 6.7km, Paul ran last 13.3km.
+++ Aaron started run at 14:36??
Grande Prairie Triathletes
(Team is made up of triathletes and other members)
| runner | elapsed time | total time | pace | team position | individual position |
| Todd Wilson | 1:27:53 | 1:27:53 | 7:20 | 61 | 61 |
| Drake Houssian | 1:27:51 | 2:55:44 | 7:44 | 69 | 78 |
| Mike Crawford | 1:19:51 | 4:15:35 | 8:48 | 88 | 102 |
| Bob MacNeill | 1:32:02 | 5:47:37 | 9:19 | 99 | 113 |
| Rhonda Howard | 1:28:44 | 7:16:21 | 8:24 | 99 | 86 |
| Leonard Scharbach | 1:22:31 | 8:38:52 | 7:57 | 98 | 47 |
| Steve Dunk | 1:10:10 | 9:49:02 | 7:04 | 89 | 29 |
| Janet Honing | 1:37:14 | 11:26:16 | 9:03 | 97 | 112 |
| Jim Smith | 1:24:43 | 12:50:59 | 8:19 | 98 | 87 |
| Mike Dutove | 1:37:24 | 14:28:23 | 8:31 | 97 | 97 |
| Joe Radench* | * | * | * | * | |
| Joe Radench*** | 1:05:14 | 16:37:14 | 6:31 | 108 | 9 |
| Francois Fournier/ Craig Sharun | 1:42:08 | 18:19:22 | 8:06 | 107 | 97 |
| Shirley Olson | 1:09:23 | 19:28:45 | 8:24 | 105 | 75 |
| Harvey Syrota | 1:22:58 | 20:51:43 | 7:51 | 106 | 78 |
| Ken Hawrylenko | 1:02:41 | 21:54:24 | 7:16 | 102 | 33 |
| Mike Carson | 1:37:43 | 23:32:07 | 7:45 | 103## | 96 |
## Team actually finished in 96th place in the adjusted results; places from section 12 on are based on the starting position of section 12.
* Section 11 cancelled because of grizzly bear.
** Joe ran section 12
*** Francois moved from section 12 to 13 and split the section with Craig