Start of Storm the Hill Sunday At NSC. 250 News photo

Prince George, B.C. – Weather conditions were just about perfect for Sunday’s third annual Storm the Hill at the Northern Sport Centre.

A somewhat overcast sky and a temperature of about 14 degrees made things comfortable for the runners, walkers, wheelchair athletes and cyclists who took part in the event. Just prior to start time there were 108 registered individual participants plus teams entered for Storm the Hill.

Competitors did a lap of the university and then had their respective courses to cover. Those in the 5km event ran to a point a little before the crest of the hill on University Way, where tables with water were set up and then they headed back toward the university. 10km entrants had to run to the bottom of University Way at Foothills Boulevard and then did the return, and tougher, jaunt up the hill and back to the NSC. And the Duathlon consisted of a 5km run, 20km bike ride and another 5km run.

The Guardian Angels provided excellent traffic control for the event, and entrants were told at the pre-race briefing that Ipods and other devices with earphones were not permitted out of safety concerns.

One side note: it was interesting to see the reaction of some of the competitors, most of whom were in pretty good shape, when first aid guy stood at the back of the crowd puffing on a cigarette during the briefing. Several heads swiveled and eyeballs bore holes into the fellow as the smell of the smoke wafted through the air.