Esquimalt Snow to Surf teams dominate military category

Members of the base’s Joint Patrol 2 show off their gold medals after a first place finish in the military category and 11th overall in the Snow to Surf Adventure Relay Race in the Comox Valley, April 23 and 24. MARPAC’s team posted a total time of 4:14:30 with each of its 11-member team participating in a different event: LCdr Rick Kappel (uphill sprint and downhill skiing), Lt(N) Landon Zeeman (snowshoeing), Capt Benoit Godin (nordic skiing), MS Matt Walsh (running), Cpl Dan Jacklin (running), LCdr David Dallin (mountain biking), Capt Scott Macdonald (kayak), Lt(N) Will Corbett (road cycling), LCdr Kat Logan and Cpl Joe Michel (canoeing).

Peter Mallett, Staff Writer ~

They came, they skied, snowshoed, ran, cycled and paddled and eventually conquered at the annual Snow to Surf Adventure Relay Race in the Comox Valley.

The Joint Patrol 2 team, a team representative of athletes from all CFB Esquimalt’s units brought home gold in the Snow to Surf military team competition and also celebrated an 11th overall finish in a field of 127 teams.

Also celebrating a strong showing was a team from HMCS Ottawa who showed their resolve by finishing third in the military competition and 20th overall.

“I’m certainly quite proud of everyone on the team and the way they stepped up in the competition,” said Joint Patrol 2 team manager LCdr David Dallin, who participated in the mountain biking portion of the competition.

“All team members were strong in the individual areas they competed in, and even though we didn’t win the overall title we can’t be disappointed by the results.”

LCdr Dallin noted that despite two last-minute roster adjustments on his 10-member team, the group performed “admirably.” 

Joint Patrol 2 finished the race with a combined time of four hours, 14 minutes and 31 seconds.

It was not good enough to beat overall winners Island Honda Bonzai and their finish of 3:32:27. 

But Joint Patrol  2’s showing was strong enough to eclipse Pararescue 442, a team comprised of personnel from the Victoria-based Transport and Rescue Squadron, who they edged out by more than 12 minutes.

LCdr Dallin noted that putting together the strong finish required “complete focus” and devotion to training and preparing for the event by all members of the team.

HMCS Ottawa finished the race with a combined time of 4:29:02 and were only two minutes behind military runners-up Pararescue 442.

But even more impressive were the challenges Ottawa sailors overcame in preparing for the event because the sailors were deployed on Readiness Training five days per week between Jan. 4 and April 9, according to the Ottawa team’s manager Lt(N) Alexandru Madularu.

“With a small but dedicated pool of members to draw from and with little or no training due to a very busy SAT program, we still managed to overcome those obstacles,” said Lt(N) Madularu.

“Neither the rain, nor cold awaiting the tired muddy and sweaty racers at the finish line could dampen their spirits.”