July 22, 2013 (Canmore, AB) – More than 1,600 mountain bike racers and 5,000 spectators spent the weekend soaking up the sunshine at the 18th annual 24 Hours of Adrenalin event at the Canmore Nordic Centre.

This year’s event – co-presented by The Bike Shop and Planet Foods – featured solo racers and teams of up to 10 people completing as many trail laps as possible over a 24-hour period. Riders, friends, family and supporters spent the weekend camping at the Canmore Nordic Centre, taking in festivities that included bands, a corn roast and a kids’ race – 24 Minutes of Adrenalin – which raised almost $10,000 for the Right To Play charity.

Organizers dedicated the 18th event held in Canmore to the memory of longtime participant David Stadnyk, 57, from Regina – known as “Solo Santa” because he competed in a Santa Claus costume – after he recently passed away following a battle with cancer. Stadnyk’s number – #25, after Dec. 25 – was retired in a special ceremony on Saturday.

“It was a fantastic weekend with beautiful summer weather. The spirit of the participants was outstanding – it seemed like everyone really enjoyed it,” said Stuart Dorland, founder of 24 Hours of Adrenalin.

“Sometimes you are reminded about what’s important in life and unfortunately ‘Solo Santa’ passed away last Saturday. He had been coming here since 1999 and he was a middle-aged guy who just showed up and raced as a soloist in a Santa Claus suit. We dedicated the event to his spirit and retired his number.”

Although there was some minor damage to the trails at the Canmore Nordic Centre due to the recent Alberta floods, repairs were made and the race went ahead as planned. More than 300 volunteers helped to stage the event, which featured the Honey Stinger V-Lounge – a special area dedicated to offering volunteers Planet Foods products and a place to relax.

“I feel a lot of gratitude for the fact that we were able to pull off such a successful event at a time when several communities in Alberta are still dealing with the after-effects of the flooding,” said Dorland.

More than 100 children took part in Saturday’s 24 Minutes of Adrenalin kids’ race. Martin Parnell, representing Right To Play alongside Olympic speedskater Kristina Groves, was delighted with the turnout.

“We signed up over 100 kids and pulled in $9,600, which is fantastic for a kids’ race,” said Parnell, who is currently trying to raise $1 million through ’10 Quests’ over five years after previously completing 250 marathons in one year.

“I was part of a team that did the 24 Hours relay,” added Parnell, whose Chamois Royal with Cheese team finished 14th in the corporate 6-10 people category. “With running I can get into a zone and look at the scenery but with this I was always looking down. I was nervous – it was hard!”

Parnell was one of a number of participants who spent the weekend raising funds for good causes. Greg Van Tighem, a fire chief from Jasper, competed in the solo category as part of his “endMS93.com” project, which recently saw him bike from Wickenburg, Arizona, to Jasper along Route 93. Van Tighem wiped out after seven laps and ended up passing out after hitting his head, but he later managed two more laps and was content to raise about $5,000 thanks to his efforts throughout the weekend.

“A friend of mine has multiple sclerosis and I’m trying to raise $93,000,” Van Tighem said. “I knocked my head into the bank and my helmet got all munched up so I’m going to be very sore tomorrow, but I’ll be fine in a few days. People who have MS go through much more.”

Although 24 Hours of Adrenalin™ is aimed more at weekend warriors than elite racers there were some impressive performances throughout the weekend. Nadine Mueller won the women’s solo category with an impressive 16 laps – with each lap about 17.5 kilometres in length – while Joal Boggard was first among men under 40, also with 16. Dave Franks, a 45-year-old project manager from Calgary, took the men’s over 40 solo category with 18 laps.

“It was a tough, tough race. We had really tough competition,” said Franks. “It was a race right to the end. I loved the trails and the volunteers were awesome.”

A Fast and Female team won the five-person female category despite competing on single speed bikes.

“We’ve done this race before and the course was good so we thought we could do it,” said rider Martha Handford, of Canmore. “We got pushed really hard by the team behind us but it was awesome. It couldn’t have gone better.”

Clay Gillies, founder of Planet Foods, said the event was a great success.

“I’ve been doing this for 15 years and there’s not a better event out there,” he said. “Having everyone come together in a compound-type atmosphere for a 24-hour period works really well. Every point of activation brought something different and there’s really nothing else out there of this magnitude.”

Full results are available here.

Registration for next year’s 19th annual 24 Hours of Adrenalin™ event opens Monday here.