Ultraman Canada History

ULTRAMAN RESULTS

FLORIAN KRAFT
WINS OVERALL AT THE 2008 ULTRAMAN CANADA

The final day of Ultraman Canada 2008 provided great weather conditions for the 84.4km run. The weather remained cool and the winds were mostly from the rear helping guide them from Princeton to the finish at Memorial Park in Summerland. Although the weather was good, the course remained difficult and only the relay run course record was broken. Heather Flaherty of Nevada, Iowa broke her own record, set just last year by running a 9:02:17. Her brilliant effort was not enough however to over take Penny Youngash who ran a 9:24:11 to given Team Pulse the overall victory with a time of 25:34:51. Flaherty and Flock of Team Law and Disorder finished second in the relay division with an overall time of 26:15:07.

The men’s race saw Seattle’s Jeff Geoghagan motor to a first place run finish in a time of 7:55:22. Florian Kraft of Germany ran a 8:06:15 to maintain his lead and claim the men’s overall champion with a total time of 24:46:06. Geoghagan finished second overall with a total time of 27:11:57. Alexandros Strathopoulos of Greece rounded out the top three with an overall time of 29:03:03. The women’s field was led by a strong performance from Penticton’s Sheena Miller who captured the women’s championship by running a time of 10:00:32 for a total time of 30:49:20. The second female of the day was Jenn Dawkins of Maple Ridge, BC with a run time of 10:42:09 giving her a total time of 32:05:33. Rounding out the field of official women’s finishers was Beatrice Van Horne of Reston, VA with a run time of 11:39:02 for a total time of 32:38:33.

All athletes on today’s course were able to make it to the finish line prior to the 12 hour time limit. They were greeted at the finish by their crews, volunteers, and spectators and treated to a wonderful barbeque and camaraderie. Many look forward to their future attempts and participation in next year’s Ultraman Canada.

Ultra man Canada is considered the ultimate qualifier for the Ultraman World Championships which are held in Hawaii each November. Several of the athletes who have just completed the Canadian event are looking forward to the Hawaiian experience.
 

The event attracts individuals who not only thrive on personal challenge and enjoy the thrill of victory, but who come to understand, as did the ancient Hawaiians, (where the Ultraman began in 1983) the importance of the aloha (love), ohana (family) and kokua (help). Individual resources: mental, physical, and spiritual, are shared in an atmosphere where everyone can be a winner, and the pursuit of human excellence is the fundamental rule of the road.