Racing in his 5th 24 hour solo world championship, Syndicate team member Mark Hendershot described the weather conditions at Whistler, BC this year as "horrible, absolutely horrible, just the way I like it". Henderhot placed 5th, behind 6 time winner Chris Eatough, Ernesto Marenchin (2nd), Nat Ross (3rd), and Josh Street (4th).

It rained for 22 hours of the race, beginning before the noon start on Saturday Sept. 3rd. A few stars popped out during the night, long enough for spectators to line a section of singletrack with candles. "The candles were magical", remarked Hendershot, "but I was wondering how they stayed lit. I was so wet I never noticed that it stopped raining". The downpour resumed by 4 a.m. and lasted right on through Sunday's noon finish. When the sun emerged Sunday evening the only signs of the drenching weekend were fresh snow on the mountains and a muddy swath through the forest.

The 15 km course was slightly different from previous years due to construction for the 2010 Olympics, but still contained a mix of singletrack and cinder bike trails as it wound down Blackcomb mountain, along the village of Whistler, and back up to the start/finish. Hendershot's Blur XCs were "superbly efficient and handled beautifully through the greasy mud and rocky singletrack, and over the flat, fast cinder trails". "I was stoked about my equipment. Kenda's Karisma tubeless tires were perfect for these course conditions. And with Lupine Edison lights on my helmet and bars the rain and fog never impeded my visibility".

"The trail was always rideable, if you kept it together. The technical stuff got pretty slick. It got really cold though. My fingers got so cold I had to break out my expedition weight mitts. That meant I had to shift with my palms. Thank goodness for the SRAM trigger shifters. Then my brain froze, and for a few moments I forgot how to shift altogether".

As he's done for 6 years straight, Eatough led from start to finish. Second place finisher Marenchin kept the pressure on the entire race, and was just 27 minutes back. Nat Ross, in his 32nd solo event, finished 3rd. Hendershot was solidly in 4th until late Sunday morning when he was passed by Australian National 24 hour champ Josh Street. Street finished the race in the same, albeit muddier, jersey and tights that he started in. Feollow Aussie David Osmond finished 6th, just beating out Sloane Anderson. Marg Fedyna (Edmonton, AB) won the women's event,

with Monique Sawicki in 2nd.