PORT ANGELES — A total of 48 ironman athletes and 68 two- , three- and four-person teams took on the annual Big Hurt in and around Port Angeles with repeat winners for both individuals and the master’s team.
The Big Hurt is a multi-discipline event with 16 miles of downhill mountain biking into the city of Port Angeles, 2.6 miles of kayaking through Port Angeles Harbor, 30 miles of road cycling west of Port Angeles, ending with a 10K run along the Olympic Discovery Trail east of town and back. In all, the race is nearly 55 miles long.
In all, about 250 athletes took on this challenge, put on by Peninsula Adventure Sports, which also puts on the Frosty Moss Relays, the Olympic Adventure Trail run and the Great Olympic Adventure Trail run. The event had near perfect weather this year with cool temps, little wind or fog and no rain.
Michael Finley won, coming from well behind after two stages, with a time of 3 hours, 38.13 minutes. Finley also won in 2021 and 2022. Coming in second was Joey Gish with a time of 3:40.36. Gish finished second last year.
Gish had a 3-minute lead on Finley after the mountain bike stage. Gish came in first at 59:08 while Finley was third at 1:01.54.
Gish opened up his lead to 10½ minutes after a spectacular 25:57 kayaking stage, taking first in this stage by a large margin. Finley was well back in the pack at 33:25.
Finley dominated the road bike, doing this leg in 1:21.56 and cutting 8½ minutes off Gish’s big lead. Gish did the cycling in 1:30.22, which was a solid second. No one else did this stretch in under 100 minutes. Finally, on the 10K, Finley again crushed it, doing this distance is just 40:58, four minutes ahead of Gish’s time of 45:09.
In the end, Gish was first in the mountain bike and kayaking legs, while Finley won the cycling and 10K legs by large margins.
Coming in third overall was Henry Nelson in a time of 3:55.59. He was second in the mountain bike, fifth in the kayak, third in the road bike and second in the 10K. None of the other ironman competitors were under 4:20 as these three athletes dominated.
For the women, the winner was Candace Bourque, who finished in a time of 4:18.15, good for fourth among all competitors. She led throughout, winning the mountain bike by four minutes and then the kayak stage by 7½ minutes, giving her a healthy cushion. She was second in the road bike and second in the 10K and won the overall by 17 minutes.
Second was Krista Pangman in a time of 4:35:46 and third was Samone Blunk in 4:49.55. Pangman won the road bike stage and Blunk the 10K.
Winning the ironman master’s female race was Rachel Kimler in a time of 6:11:03, and winning the male ironman master’s was Dave Fitzpatrick in 4:27:18, good for seventh among all competitors. Jake Crabtree was a close second at 4:28:26 and Thomas Risse was third at 4:52:19.
Only one ironman competitor out of 49 was not able to finish the grueling event. Every team that started finished.
The top two-person team was Hurtin4Certain! in a time of 4:10:46 with CT2B second at 4:13:00 and Bunny’s Pizzeria third at 4:13:51.
The three- and four-person team was the biggest category with a total of 40 teams. CRTC took first in 4:10:32 while Motley Tu Tu was second at 4:12:02. Duzy Deuce was third at 4:13:29.
The top mountain bike was In No RUSH in 1:05:01. The top kayak was teaM Egg teAm Team in 28:42. The top cycling leg was by Team Ouch in 1:27:27 and the best 10K was by The Beardsley Baddies in a fantastic time of 35:57.
The top master’s team was a repeat winner, Old Fart Racing, which finished in a time of 4:05:41. Old Fart Racing also won in 2022 and 2021. Fifty Is the New Sixty was second at 4:31:44 and Team Harbinger was third at 4:37:41.
The top high school team was the Subalpine Racing team in 4:09:24. In second was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at 5:00:49.
People can find full results at https://tinyurl.com/BigHurt2024Results.
The next event for Peninsula Adventure Sports is the Salt Creek 24, a series of 24-hour endurance events at the Salt Creek Recreation Area on Oct. 27-28.
