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PHOTOS: Late champion honoured at Tsawwassen Bathtub Race

Race organizers named the cup after 2018 co-winner Chris Glenn, who passed away on Jan. 11 of cancer
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Trevor Short (right) lets Brian Stoochnow ring the finish bell for first place overall and in the Super Modified category at the Tsawwassen Bathtub Race and Festival at Centennial Beach on Aug. 11, 2019. (Ryan-Alexander McLeod photo)

By Ryan-Alexander McLeod for the North Delta Reporter

As racers took their laps around Boundary Bay for the second annual Tsawwassen Rotary Club Bathtub Races on Aug. 11, someone special was missing.

Last year’s co-winner, Chris Glenn, passed away on Jan. 11 of this year after a short battle with cancer. Glenn, who had many friends in the sport, was honoured on Sunday with organizers naming the championship trophy after him.

This year’s race around the bay, usually about bragging rights, was more a way to remember a friend and competitor: Glenn’s yellow racer (pictured) sat silently at the finish line as racers rang the bell, while Glenn’s wife Sheri cheered them all on.

Melvin Mitchell made the long trip from Powell River with his family to pay tribute to his close friend and race in his honour.

“It was really lumpy out there,” Mitchell said, “but I raced for Chris, one of the nicest guys and tub racers you’d ever meet.”

Sheri Glenn said she was so happy and surprised to see their long-time friend at the race.

“I didn’t know [Mitchell] was coming all this way until I spotted him here,” she said. “If I’d have known, I would have jumped in his pit crew. Chris would have appreciated having Melvin here.”

Some readers might remember last year’s dramatic finish, with Glenn and fellow bathtubber Brian Stoochnow crossing the finish line on Centennial Beach hand-in-hand.

This year, Stoochnow took first place in the Super Modified category and first overall, finishing the race hand-in-hand with fellow racer Trevor Short. Nanaimo’s Chantel Nelson took first in the Stock category.

“We raced yesterday in Kitsilano and I could still hear Chris yelling, ‘Go Stooch! Let’s go buddy.’ We really miss him,” Stoochnow said.

“It was fun,” he added, “but it was definitely emotional.”



editor@northdeltareporter.com

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Sheri Glenn embraces Melvin Mitchell, who was racing to honour his dear friend and Sheri’s late husband, Chris Glenn, after the Tsawwassen Bathtub Race and Festival at Centennial Beach on Aug. 11, 2019. (Ryan-Alexander McLeod photo)
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Sheri Glenn embraces Super Modified category and overall winner Brian Stoochnow after the Tsawwassen Bathtub Race and Festival at Centennial Beach on Aug. 11, 2019. (Ryan-Alexander McLeod photo)
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Event organizers named the championship trophy in honour of Chris Glenn, co-winner of the inaugural Tsawwassen Bathtub Race in 2018 who passed away on Jan. 11, 2019. (Ryan-Alexander McLeod photo)