Shortly after the Women’s Marathon completes at the PanAm Games in Toronto on Saturday morning, the Summerfast 10K will get underway in Vancouver’s Stanley Park. The race, hosted by VFAC, is also the 2015 BC 10K Championship, plus the final event in the 2015 BC Road Running Series presented by Timex, as well as race #9 in the Lower Mainland Road Race Series. Consequently fast times and keen competition are anticipated.
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‘Go Jane go’: Kenya’s Murage wins third title in Times Colonist 10K
Thrice was nice as Jane Murage completed the women’s three-peat Sunday in the 26th Times Colonist 10K through the streets of the capital.
“People know me now and were shouting: ‘Go Jane go,’ ” said the 28-year-old professional runner from Kenya, who won in 33 minutes and 07 seconds.
“The crowd was so supportive and that motivated me to move.”
Meanwhile, Kelly Wiebe of Vancouver found that besting Kenyans in running can be famishing work.
“I’m really hungry and going to eat a lot of food for brunch,” said Wiebe, after winning the men’s Times Colonist 10K championship in 29:08.
Vancouver Sun Run 10k 2015 Reports
“They’re tough”: Vancouver Sun Run winner Luke Puskedra was worried about Kenyan runners
VANCOUVER — He really only had to worry about a handful of lithe Kenyans, but Luke Puskedra said the mass of humanity at the start of Sunday’s Vancouver Sun Run 10K was certainly a motivating factor.
“I mean, when you’re running against 45,000 people chasing you, you’ve got to run fast out there, right,” he said with a wry grin.
Puskedra was off by about 5,000 on the runner count. But the multiple-time track All-American at the University of Oregon proved fast enough on a sun-splashed day to stay in front of them all, including the talented Kenyans.
Two-time Vancouver Sun Run winner Natasha Wodak happy with “personal best” after clocking in second
VANCOUVER — Plagued by injury in 2014, two-time Vancouver Sun Run winner Natasha Wodak was delighted to run a personal best time for the 10K on Sunday. It still wasn’t good enough, however, to catch Kenyan Risper Gesabwa, who made her Sun Run debut a winning one.
Gesbawa, who has raced 10Ks all over the U.S. the last few years and was coming off a third-place finish in New Orleans two weeks ago, was also making her first visit to Canada. And she’ll leave $3,000 Cdn richer after winning in a time of 32 minutes, 28 seconds.
Wodak, who won in 2012 and 2013 but didn’t race last year while battling plantar fasciitis in a foot, was seven seconds back, while Kenyan Jane Murage was third in 33:17.
Harriers Craig Odermatt and Claire Morgan win Comox Valley RV Half Marathon
(Victoria, BC – March 23, 2015) The sixth race in the Frontrunners Island Race Series – Comox Valley RV Half Marathon – took place yesterday. Hosted by the Comox Valley Road Runners, the Half Marathon was part of the Timex BC Road Running Series. There were 459 finishers.
The race was won by Craig Odermatt (Prairie Inn Harriers) in 1:12:04, second was Jeremy Clegg (Bastion Running Club) in 1:12:27, and third was Nick Walker (Frontrunners Athletic Club) in 1:12:32. Odermatt was also the top Master.
The women’s race was won by Claire Morgan (Prairie Inn Harriers) in 1:22:53, second was Kristin Smart (Vancouver Falcons Athletic Club) in 1:25:21, and third was Yana Hempler in1:28:15. Morgan was also the top female Master.
BMO St. Patrick’s Day 5K: Wiebe and Cliff Prevail
The 2015 BMO St. Patrick’s Day 5K took place today under cloudy skies and mild temperatures. The torrential rain that pummeled Vancouver through the night and into the morning cleared up shortly before the race started.
The winners were Vancouver’s Kelly Wiebe and Rachel Cliff, who repeated her 2014 record-setting performance. They finished the race in 14:27 and 16:15, respectively, while the top-three overall were rounded out by Luc Bruchet, who finished in 14:35 and the 2014 winner Geoff Martinson who finished in 14:39. Dayna Pidhoresky finished the race in second place with a time of 16:37, while Erin Burrett of Nanaimo finished in 16:58.
Seventeen Year Old Wins Bazan Bay 5k
(Victoria, BC – March 9, 2015) The fifth race in the Frontrunners Island Race Series –
Synergy Health Management Ltd Bazan Bay 5K – took place yesterday under warm,
spring conditions. The race, hosted by Team West Coast, had 618 finishers, and was the
fourth race in the BC Road Running Series presented by Timex.
Stefan Daniel from the University of Calgary Athletic Club won the race in 15:11, second
was University of Victoria Vikes athlete Ben Weir in 15:18, closely followed by team mate
Shoayb Bascal in 15:24. Seventeen year-old Daniel is a para-triathlete and is the 2014
Canadian Cross Country Youth Champion.
The ladies field was won by Olympian Hilary Stellingwerff in 16:26, second was Victoria’s
Alison Hooper in 16:37 and third was Nanaimo’s Erin Burrett in 16:47. Top female
Master was Marilyn Arsenault finishing in 17:20.
Olympians and World Champions to race the First Half
(Vancouver, BC – February 9, 2015) The 26th Anniversary Pacific Road Runners “First Half” Half Marathon on February 15th will feature some of Canada’s top endurance runners. The race, which originated in 1989, will additionally host the 2015 BC Half Marathon Championship and is the third race in the 2015 BC Road Race Series presented by Timex.
Clear favourite for the men’s race is Olympic marathoner Dylan Wykes. Wykes set the event record of 1:04:22 in 2012, in building up to the London Olympics. This year he is training for the Boston Marathon in April, with the objective of qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
The women’s race will likely be a three-way battle, featuring BMO Vancouver Marathon champion Kimberley Doerksen, Oasis Rock ‘n’ Roll Vancouver Half Marathon runner-up Dayna Pidhoresky, and Canadian Half Marathon Championship runner-up Erin Burrett. All ran close to 1:15 in 2014.
Hunt and Wodak first BC Champions of 2015. Maurice Tarrant sets Canadian age record
Damp, misty conditions greeted participants in the 2015 BC 8K Championship, also the first race of the Frontrunners Island Race Series and the BC Road Running Series — the Harriers Pioneer 8K. The race started and finished at Saanich Fairgrounds, and was hosted by the Prairie Inn Harriers (PIH). There were 606 finishers.
Vancouver’s Theo Hunt won the 36th Annual event in 24:59, 47 seconds off his personal best. Second was Port Moody’s John Corbit in 25:02 and third was Victoria’s Jim Finlayson in 25:47. Finlayson was also the top Master.
The women’s race was won by course record holder Natasha Wodak in 26:37. She dominated the field beating out last year’s winner Erin Burrett, who finished second, in 27:16. Burrett runs for the Bastion Running Club in Nanaimo. Third and top women’s master was Victoria’s Marilyn Arsenault, finishing in 28:19.
Martinson Repeats as Doerksen Triumphs for the First Time
It came down to the final few seconds after 7 months of competition to determine the winners of the 2014 Timex BC Road Running Series. After Kimberley Doerksen crossed the finish line in 35:17 at the Summerfast 10K she had to wait to see if it was quick enough to surpass Catherine Watkins in the rankings. As the clock ticked past 35:24 Watkins would be unable to improve her existing point score, and so Doerksen moved to the top of the podium, and with it collected $1,000.
…On the men’s side, Prairie Inn Harrier Geoff Martinson was untouchable, winning 4 of his 5 races outright, and scoring a record 4527 points – the first time anyone has exceeded 4500 points. The battle for second was much closer, and was only decided at the final race.
Summerfast 2014 Race Report
July 19, 2014 – Weeks of uninterrupted warmth and sunshine came to a screeching halt just in time for the 2014 edition of the Summerfast 10K. This may have come as a disappointment to the organizers, but Vancouverites are accustomed to racing in the rain, and were perhaps grateful for the cooler temperatures as they set off on a loop around the iconic Stanley Park seawall.
Kelly Wiebe made his return to racing following his “brush with death” this spring and claimed victory in the men’s open division for a second straight year with a time of 30:17. Not too shabby for a rust buster, Kelly. Meanwhile, Rachel Cliff continued her great season by chopping more than a minute off the course record in taking the women’s title in 33:58. It was the only course record to fall this year.
