1 Brady Dunne 2:32:20
2 Ray Boucher 2:56:04
3 Larry Tomie 3:04:37
4 Mario Festival 3:22:17
5 Grahame Gordon 4:17:00
6 Robert Mears 4:17:00
7 Kari Tikka 1:18:50 (26K) skied a total of 38K
8 Eric Piscopo (38K)
9 Tenho Tikka (26K)
10 Mike Fadock (14K)
The Crystal 50 used the Crystal Trail System at Hiawatha Highlands starting with the 2K trail and then followed by 4 laps of the Crystal 12K loop (including all the extensions: Hiawatha, Inner Loop, Olympic). The format for the race is simple: no fees, no awards, no aid and no wimps!
With 6 finishers and a number of other participants, the event, in its third year, is starting to grow in popularity.
Brady Dunne, competing in the Crystal 50 for the first time, smoked the course and set a new course record. The weather played into his hands. The race was originally scheduled for the previous day but was postponed because the weather forecast called for temperatures of +5 and fresh snow followed by rain. Dunne had not planned to ski on Saturday because of other commitments but was more than happy to oblige on Sunday. Sunday's weather was close to perfect with sunny skies and a start temperature of -11 C rising to -7 C by noon.
This was Dunne's first race in two years and his first attempt at 50K. Kari Tiikka set a fast pace for the first two laps, then Dunne took over the lead at the start of the third lap and never looked back.
Ray Boucher had orginally been DQ'ed but was finally awarded the silver after bribing the judges with hot coffer after the race. Boucher, in an attempt to stay ahead of the groomer, who was on the course during the event, skied some of the extensions out of order but still skied the entire 50K distance. The fact that Boucher was up at 5 AM grooming the course also counted in his favour.
Larry Tomie was not at the top of his game. One week prior to the Crystal 50, Tomie broke a pole at the Crimson Ridge sprints. Then only days before the 50, he broke a strap on his replacement poles. Not using his normal equipment and waiting for the proverbial hat trick of bad luck, Tomie was a couple of minutes off his best time. Mario Festival also experienced equipment problems this year with a broken ski at the Canadian Ski Marathon. It is no wonder that Tomie and Festival are having difficulty lining up a ski equipment sponsor; no one can afford them.
