Mar.17/02, Kamloops — Having a mid-March race in the interior is always a dicey proposition with the weather: could be balmy and spring-like as in some recent years or freeze-your-buns-off cold. This morning’s “Spring Run-Off 10k” was the latter, with the double insult of a strong north wind on top of already freezing (and snowy) conditions, creating a wind chill reading of -17°C or so. It must be pay-off time for the mild winter we’ve experienced this year! Whatever the reason, those brave enough to venture out were greeted with strong headwinds for the first 2 km, not getting a chance to “warm up” until the final return portion of the mostly out-and-back course.
One might think that a local runner would be best equipped to deal with such conditions, and in the overall race Mark Bomba proved this to be correct, prevailing over Vancouver’s Colin Dignum with a 32:13 clocking. Bomba currently lives in New Westminster but he hails from the Kamloops area. Dignum, having lived in Ontario for 25 years, had never raced at that temperature although he had trained in much worse. “It actually wasn’t that cold (with tights, hats, sweatshirts etc), but was pretty windy.” Dignum stayed with Bomba for the first 6 km, passing the halfway point in a slow 16:40 against the wind. Then Bomba surged away to a 22 second lead by the time they reached the finish line.
David Polisi of Burnaby led the rest of the field for a third-place time of 35:06, followed by first master Ken Bell of Maple Ridge in 35:32. Rounding out the top three masters positions were Perry Grunenberg of Lac le Jeune and Mike Moon of Vancouver.
In the women’s race however it was Sheila Mullins making the trip from Vancouver to best the local field, overcoming the harsh conditions to record a 38:15 performance, good for 12th place overall. Sarah Clark of Vernon ran against the clock for second place in 39:23, too far back to chase Mullins but well ahead of 108 Mile Ranch’s Patti Poirier (40:21). The masters women’s competition was dominated by Cornelia Cappus of Kelowna (44:11), with Lisa Bowman of 108 Mile Ranch taking second in 46:50 and Kersten Brisch of Penticton third in 47:24.
Next Series race is April 6th, the North Shore 5k in Seymour Demonstration Forest, North Vancouver (in conjunction with the “Second Half” 1/2 Marathon). Maybe by that time spring will have made an appearance? We can only hope!
Click here to see full race results (the “unofficial” site of the Interior Road Race Series).
Mohamed of Vancouver, in training towards the goal of a top Sun Run finish next month, breezed around the 2-lap route in just 15:10, leaving the rest of the field in his wake. Mohamed was “just having fun today”, running for himself and not against the competition — not surprising, considering his best time for the distance (run on the track) is well over a minute faster. Having lived until recently in a much warmer climate, Mohamed also noted that the low temperature during today’s race affected his ability to perform at his best.
In the women’s race, Alison Rendell of Vancouver led from start to finish in 17:13. A relative newcomer to the elite running scene, Rendell noted that this was her first 5k race — not a bad way to start! Last summer she turned a few heads with some speedy 10k’s late in the Series, following through with a 4th place performance at the National 10k Championships in Ontario. Later in the fall Rendell finished 8th at the Canadian Cross Country Championships, qualifying for the Worlds coming up later this month. An injury over the Christmas season kept her from training until a month ago, so today was her first race in quite a while. Rendell was pleased to report she felt fine and that today was “a good tune-up for the World XC.”
