October 3, 2008 (Cleburn, Texas) – On September 25-27 Canadians Dallas Morris (H&R Block) and Caroline van den Bulk dominated The Texas Time Trials, an ultra marathon cycling event in Cleburn, Texas. In doing so, they also both qualified for the Race Across America (RAAM). The race took place on a 32km/20-mile loop, where they completed the 800km/500-mile ride solo.

Dallas Morris completed the Tejas 500 in a record time of 27:18, well below the 36-hour time limit and beat the old record of 29:59. It was a relatively close race, with Lary Ide, the previous record holder, finished 24 minutes behind Morris. Paul Carpenter placed third.

Dallas went into this event relatively unknown in the realm of competitive ultracycling. He showed up alone and unsupported. “I never went there with any intention to win, only to participate and represent my team, and country in a sportsmanlike manner,” said Dallas. Now with a course record and qualification for RAAM, he would like to try his hand at a couple more Rando events “to really get the feel of what I’d be up against,” before doing RAAM.

In the women’s category Caroline van den Bulk of Ontario, crushed the old course record of 41:32, finishing in only 32:05. This amazing ride would have also put her in 5th place in the men’s category. Shellene Foster was second and Sharon Stevens was third.

Van den Bulk is a previous RAAM competitor, but fell just short of the cut-off time for an official finish in 2008. She opted to continue to complete the race, and as such was the only female to finish the entire RAAM distance this year.

As for whether or not these two crazy Canucks will be heading south of the border to compete in the 2009 RAAM is yet to be determined. The start of the event is scheduled for June 17, 2009, but qualifiers have a three-year window in which they may compete. They will have some time to think about and prepare for it, and hopefully we can cheer them on in the future.