July 1st, 2004, Vancouver – Nearly 1000 runners and walkers came out for the annual Post to Post Canada Day 10k Run and 5k Walk, enjoying the live music, giant flag and giant cake to commemorate the occasion. Hot sunny weather was great for spectators but a little too warm for many of the runners, resulting in slower times than usual on the mostly flat course.

A great battle ensued in the second half of the route between two young runners, a fast-improving Spencer Morrison of Vancouver against David Wambui of Kenya. After breaking away from an earlier pack which included North Vancouver’s Peter Cardle, West Vancouver’s Colin Dignum, and Norm Tinkham of Maple Ridge, Morrison took the lead for a time but was unable to fend off a late charge by Wambui. The Kenyan’s final time was 31:50 with Morrison just 14 seconds back at the line.

The other three men ran most of the way strung out with Tinkham ahead, followed by Cardle then Dignum, with the gaps getting slightly longer as the race went on. Tinkham recorded a 32:32 finish and took top Masters honours, with Cardle a half-minute behind and Dignum trailing Cardle by just slightly more than that. Randy Nelson of Kamloops and Mark Francis of Port Coquitlam nabbed 2nd and 3rd Masters positions in 35:55 and 36:03.

The women’s race was dominated by Coquitlam’s Leah Pells, 1500m track star turned road racer, whose family was in attendance to participate in the 5k in celebration of son Luke’s second birthday. Even after going off course for about 30 seconds due to some mysterious extra cones at an intersection, Pells still managed to build up a 90 second lead over second place Cindy O’Krane of West Vancouver, also a 1500m specialist. Pells time was 35:32, “the slowest I’ve run in about 10 years,” she said later. O’Krane suffered from some stomach troubles in the latter part of the 10k and was nearly overtaken by a fast-closing Nancy Tinari of Coquitlam, just 4 seconds separating the two at the finish. Tinari simply ran out of road in her quest for first masters spot.

Vancouver’s Katrina Blanch held off North Vancouver’s Darcie Montgomery for 5th as the two finished in 37:46 and 38:00 respectively. Canada Post employee Leslie Black of Vancouver was the third female master in 39:36.

All enjoyed great live entertainment by bands along the course, at the start/finish, and at the awards area, where the “Neurotics” kept everyone smiling with their Beatles songs and playful banter. The huge Canada Day cake (chocolate!) was sliced up and served to the crowds along with plenty of water, much in demand in the hot sun.

Full race results are available on the Race Headquarters site. Photos are available in the Series photo gallery.

Next Series event (#11) is the Summerfast 10k in Stanley Park on Saturday, July 24th.

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April 25, 2004, Victoria – Over ten and a half thousand runners and walkers took part in the Times Colonist 10k on Sunday morning, including 920 children in the 1.5K Kids’ Fun Run. Warm sunshine and many colourful flowers typical of Victoria in Spring added to the festive atmosphere of the scenic, mostly waterfront route which started behind the Parliament Buildings and finished at Beacon Hill Park – a net uphill.

Steve Osaduik of Nanaimo and Peter Cardle of Vancouver led the way for the first 5km or so, then Osaduik gradually began to pull ahead, continuing to do so through the second part of the course to build up nearly a one minute gap for a 30:30 victory. Cardle didn’t want to look back as he knew the chase pack was catching up, but he managed to maintain second place as the chasers ran out of distance and time. Cardle’s time was 31:24, followed closely by Joseph Maina of Kenya in 31:35, Nicholas Walker of Victoria in 31:36, Graham Cocksedge of Mission in 31:40, and David Njuguna of Kenya in 31:44.

The women’s race was dominated by Victoria’s Lucy Smith, looking very lean these days, cruising to a 33:51 clocking. Obviously some impromptu belly-dancing lessons at the Expo the day before didn’t impact her running efficiency.

Meghan Day of Victoria was feeling strong in second place for the first 7km, after a week’s recovery from a too-fast start and subsequent bonking at the Sun Run, but Stephanie Mills and Judith Leroy were matching paces a short way behind her. After 7km, Day’s good feeling evaporated and the pace became impossible to maintain. At 8k Mills sped by on the way to a second place finish in 35:01. Leroy outsprinted Day in the last 100m to nab third position (35:24).

The top three Masters men spots were all claimed by out-of-towners, starting with Norm Tinkham of Maple Ridge in 32:08 and eighth position overall. Calgary’s Paul McCloy was next in 32:49 (14th overall), with third place Larry Nightingale of Gibsons feeling somewhat flat for 34:44.

Cindy O’Krane of West Vancouver took the women’s Masters title and 6th female overall in 35:58, followed by Leslie Black of Vancouver (38:46) and Louise Leung of Victoria in 39:28.

Other notable performances included a close top three finish between young Victoria runners in the male 19 & Under division, with Brent Peluso taking first in 35:53, just ahead of Matt Park in 35:59 and Will Stewart in 36:12. In the women’s 19 & Under, Chelsea Bilsbarrow of Victoria recorded an excellent 38:46, over 5 minutes ahead of the next 19 & Under woman.

John Jackson of Vancouver dominated the 50-54 division in 37:17, while Peter Ladner of Vancouver did the same for the 55-59 group in 38:26, both men being about a minute ahead of their competition. In the men’s 70+ division, Victoria’s Maurice Tarrant clocked a terrific 43:16.

For photos see www.vancouverisland.com/TC10K/2004/photos.html, for full results see http://pih.bc.ca/results/tc/tc.php?nYear=2004.

Next Series event (#7) is the Mother’s Day 8k Spring Classic at the Port Moody Recreation Centre, hosted by Phoenix Athletics. This is a new date, new location and new distance for the former Spring Classic 5k held every March. Race day is SATURDAY, May 8th, 9:00am start. Details and entry information on this website.

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April 3, 2004, Vancouver – The switch from the North Shore 5k to the Stanley Park Spring Forward 5k was a success as 100 race day sign-ups brought the number of entrants to nearly 300. A more accessible location plus warmer local climate helped to draw the crowd.

On the mostly-seawall course almost identical to the Scotiabank Vancouver 5K last June, the battle for first place was played out between North Vancouver’s Peter Cardle and Coquitlam’s Brent Corbitt. Cardle was leading at the halfway mark, but Corbitt saved his energy for the latter portion of the race and moved into first place for a 15:12 finish. Cardle maintained second place in 15:22.

A large chase pack right on their heels included first master Norm Tinkham of Maple Ridge, Neil Holm of Courtenay, Jorge Parra of Surrey, Luis Estrada of Vancouver, Jamie Epp of Richmond, Matthew Fedoruk of Vancouver and Bertrand Plouvier of Vancouver. Tinkham took the initiative for awhile and led the chase, but at Lumberman’s Arch it was Holm who managed to kick past and take third by one second in 15:30. Estrada, Epp and Plouvier followed Tinkham closely in 15:33, 15:34 and 15:36, respectively.

The second and third place spots in the masters men’s race were hotly contested, with West Vancouver’s Ed Booth and Anthony Skuce duelling around the seawall. Booth gained three seconds on Skuce but still ended up one second behind second place Louis Murphy’s 16:05.

West Vancouver’s Cindy O’Krane easily won the women’s race, also being first female master, in 17:17. Second place was not so certain. Vancouver’s Gill Walker was in the runner-up position for the first half, but a fast-closing Darcie Montgomery of North Vancouver moved ahead to a six-second lead at the wire in 18:13.

Second to O’Krane among the masters women was host club VFAC member Annette O’Brien of Vancouver in 19:42, with Burnaby’s Glenda Fransen in the 45-49 division picking up third in 22:11.

Full results can be viewed on the BC Athletics website. Photos are now in the archives.

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March 14, 2004, Kamloops BC – Taking his third trip to Kamloops in 4 days (for work), Vancouver’s Kevin O’Connor toed the line of the Spring Run-Off 10k feeling confident about his fitness but fatigued from travel. His recent training showed a “nice improvement” in the past month so he figured a 31:30 was possible, even running alone if necessary.

So O’Connor started off at a fairly fast pace, leading the first kilometre by about five seconds. By the 3k mark, a pack of about 10 rivals caught up to him, at which point he was “really suffering” and feeling lethargic. The group was led by Matthew Fedoruk and Simon Driver of Vancouver, and included Vernon’s Trevor Jordan plus Ed Booth and Luis Estrada of Vancouver.

O’Connor let the pack pull him along for awhile, then put in a surge at 5km to move ahead again by 15 metres. However he still didn’t feel comfortable and eventually drifted back into the pack. He recalled after the race, “I knew by now I was not going to finish with a fast time, so I thought about getting the win and 30 points.” At 7km, Booth split the pack with a surge of his own, and Estrada and O’Connor were the only ones to respond.

With 1 km to go, O’Connor, feeling confident about his ability to out-kick the other two, made his move and steadily increased his lead for a 32:29 finish. Right behind him, it was a close battle right to the line with Booth holding off Estrada 32:45 to 32:46.

Masters title went to Booth, with Gibsons’ Larry Nightingale taking 2nd in the 40+ in 34:05, and Guy Smith of Coquitlam rounding out the top 3 masters in 34:59.

Gillian Moody of Kelowna led the women’s race right from the start, but the second through fourth positions were jockeyed between Winfield’s Sam Saunders, Vernon’s Sarah Clark, Vancouver’s Leslie Black and Kelowna’s Cindy Rhodes. For the first part of the race, Saunders held onto second place, but was overtaken by Clark by 6km.

Black, running a smart race, was right on Saunders’ heels in fourth position, then at about 7km moved ahead of Saunders and started closing in on Clark. During the last kilometer Black passed Clark and nabbed second place in 38:45. Clark held third place in 38:53. Moody’s first place time was 36:52, a great time for a race that she was just using as “tune-up” for a triathlon in Mexico.

In the Masters women’s division, Black was first, with Rhodes second in 39:25 (5th overall) and Vancouver’s Annette O’Brien taking third in 40:43.

Conditions were very good this year, with sunshine and mild temperatures, ensuring a strong turnout of nearly 200 runners.

Full results can be viewed on Interior Road Runners Assoc. website. Next Series event is the Stanley Park Spring Forward 5k, Saturday April 3 at 9:00am (Lumberman’s Arch). See VFAC website for details.

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February 8, 2004, Vancouver — With a superb 1:12:47 clocking, Tina Connelly of Port Coquitlam shattered the women’s course record for the ‘First Half’ Half Marathon, held since 1994 by American Lisa Weidenbach at 1:13:22. Good for 9th place overall this morning, Connelly’s time is also an new BC women’s record for the half-marathon distance (see rankings here).

Connelly’s goal was 1:12:00 from the start. After running through the first half of the seawall course with a few men drafting off her, her split time was 36:30. So she increased the pace. She then picked off the men she could see ahead of her one by one except for Richard Lee, who was busy lowering the masters course record by 2 minutes, hitting Connelly’s goal time of 1:12:00.

In the open men’s race, a few no-shows left Victoria’s Bruce Deacon running a lead solo for almost the whole distance. Completing the course in a modest 1:06:56—over two minutes slower than his own course record set way back in 1992—he noted that it wasn’t a great race for him “but it was okay.” He was disappointed that expected competitors Jon Brown and Scott McClennan were absent. Deacon is preparing for a spring marathon, most likely Rome in late March.

From the first mile the lead group of men had strung themselves out thinly, without the advantage of a pack to pull them through the miles. Almost two minutes after Deacon crossed the line, fellow Victorian Nik Southwell appeared in 1:08:46, followed half a minute later by North Vancouver’s Colin Dignum in 1:09:13 then Burnaby’s Ryan Day in 1:09:38. Dignum was predicting his final time would be faster after a good first mile split, so he was somewhat dismayed to see the pace lagging towards the end.

The race for 5th, the final prize money placing, was hotly contested between Courtenay’s Neil Holm and Vancouver’s Kevin O’Connor. Never more than five metres apart from start to the final kick, “we helped each other out,” noted O’Connor, “and kept kicking to try to lose one another.” Both were aiming for 70 minutes. O’Connor only got away with 200m to go, recording 1:10:20 to Holm’s 1:10:29.

Calgary’s Lisa Harvey, a regular competitor in this event, followed Connelly from a distance in a second pack of men, running her own race. Though somewhat overshadowed by Connelly’s result, Harvey’s second place time of 1:15:11 was her best ever for this event (previous best was 1:15:42 in 2000).

Leading the rest of the women in third place was Lindsay McLaren (from Vancouver but currently living in Calgary), staying clear of a small pack that included Darcie Montgomery, Nancy Tinari and Joan McGrath. McLaren’s 1:19:22 was a personal best by 2 minutes.

The other three women ran together until about the eight mile mark where Montgomery, who had surprisingly never done a half-marathon before today, began to step up the pace and move ahead, leaving masters Tinari and McGrath to work in tandem. By the time they returned to the Roundhouse Community Centre, Montgomery was exactly 1 minute ahead, recording an excellent first-time 1:20:16. Tinari edged out McGrath by eight seconds to take the masters title.

Many personal bests were set, probably due to the ideal conditions this year: windless, dry and not too cold. A rare occurrence for Vancouver in early February!

Full race results can be viewed at www.pacificroadrunners.ca/firsthalf/. Next Timex Series race is the Spring Run-Off 10k in Kamloops on March 14th, starting 10:00am at McArthur Island Park. Details and entry form at www.bcathletics.org/RRSeries/.

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February 1, 2004, Steveston—The first race of the 2004 Series presented an updated race route and start/finish location, which was well-received by the 292 runners who completed the waterfront course under sunny skies at the Steveston Run Inn Ice-Breaker 8k.

Leading the pack home was North Vancouver’s Peter Cardle in 25:02, after taking the lead at about 2 km and holding on, at times uncertainly, for the next 6 km. He was being chased by West Vancouver’s Colin Dignum (2nd, 25:13) and Vancouver’s Kevin O’Connor (3rd, 25:25). First master was Larry Nightingale (Gibsons) who placed 6th overall in 26:43.

From the start, 5000m track specialist Michael Simpson of North Vancouver took off fast, accompanied by O’Connor and Dignum, with Cardle holding steady a little way back. When the leaders started to slow down, Cardle immediately made his move, passing and then quickly gaining a 20m lead. Then it was just a matter of holding that lead for another 6 km. On the way back with about 2 km to go, “I could hear them gaining on me—they had momentum and I was starting to die,” recalled Cardle. “I could hear Colin’s breathing and got quite worried he’d catch me.” But with just 1 km left he dug a little deeper and held off the challenge.

Dignum had moved ahead of the other two after he and O’Connor had followed Simpson for the first 6 km or so. When Simpson slowed his pace a bit, O’Connor made a move along with Dignum. O’Connor was particularly pleased with a third place finish after a year-long recovery from IT band problems. He, Dignum and Cardle have been training together on the track on Tuesday nights, so he knew before the race started that those two were slightly fitter than him at the moment.

In the women’s race, West Vancouver’s Cindy O’Krane cruised through the course, looking very comfortable at the finish line clocking 28:03. O’Krane was also first female master, having turned 40 recently. Second overall and second master was Coquitlam’s Nancy Tinari who ran hard but could not catch O’Krane. Darcie Montgomery (North Vancouver) rounded out the top three in 29:22.

O’Krane enjoyed the flat course and mild weather. She has been trying to fit in one to two workouts a week, between working full time and being a mum.

Tinari was not really happy to be beaten by so much, but considering O’Krane’s abilities she was satisfied that she did the best she could. Following an even slower start than normal (Tinari typically negative splits her races), after the turnaround she tried to concentrate on narrowing the gap but it only got bigger. “She was running her pace, I was running mine—and she was running faster,” stated Tinari.

See the Kajaks website for full race results and age-graded results, plus mother/daughter category winners.

Next Timex Series race is the Pacific Road Runners “First Half” Half Marathon, Sunday February 8th, 8:30am at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Vancouver. See preview article below.

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Submitted by Maurice Wilson

The Pacific Road Runners “First Half” Half Marathon on February 8th promises to be one of the most competitive in the 16-year history of the event. Included in the entries are at least three athletes who are hoping to compete in this years Olympics in Athens. There will also be eight former winners of the race lining up at the start, plus many more of BC’s best distance runners.

The top entries include Englishman Jon Brown who finished 4th in the 2000 Olympic marathon, Canada’s top marathoner Bruce Deacon, Somalian Mohamed Abukar, and locals Scott McClennan, Mark Bomba, Neil Holm, Colin Dignum, Jorge Parra, Shane Bilodeau and Bertrand Plouvier.

Close behind will be top masters runners Norm Tinkham, Richard Lee and Anthony Skuce, who might all be under the current masters course record.

On women’s side expect a three-way battle between BC’s Tina Connelly and Lucy Smith and Alberta’s Lisa Harvey, all former winners of the race. They will be hotly pursued by top master Nancy Tinari.

There will be equally competitive races through all the age groups, but most of the 2000 runners will be aiming for their own personal glory.

The event sold out in December, but spectators are very welcome. Event proceeds benefit Variety—the Children’s Charity. The race starts at 8:30am with the winner expected shortly after 9:30am. Start and finish are at the Roundhouse Community Centre, downtown Vancouver, with the race route following the seawall around Stanley Park.

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August 31, 2003, Steveston, BC – The Labour Day Weekend 8k, final race of the 2003 Timex BC Road Running Series, went off with a bang on a breezy morning in the waterfront community of Steveston.

With a tailwind moving everyone along briskly for the first half of the out-and-back course, Shane Bilodeau of Vancouver was leading after the first kilometre. He soon relinquished the lead to a small pack consisting of David Njuguna of Kenya, Richard Lee of Port Coquitlam, and Neil Holm of Courtenay. For the next 5 km these three raced together, then Lee dropped off the pace leaving Njuguna and Holm to trade off the lead as they battled strong headwinds. Finally with about half a mile left the Kenyan blasted away to win in 25:28, with Holm not far behind in 25:40.

Lee hung on to maintain third place in 25:54. He was being chased by Mexico’s Jaime Munoz and North Vancouver’s Colin Dignum who both clocked 26:01. Dignum was using this race as a training run so had started out back in 10th place, moving his way up through the field while staying relaxed. He knew he only had to finish within a few places of Bilodeau to secure second place in the overall Series awards.

The women’s race was dominated by Joan McGrath of New Westminster, who keyed off the men around her to keep up the intensity and stay on course. Sprinting in for the finish just ahead of Vancouverite Gordon Carscadden she recorded 29:28, nearly a minute and a half ahead of the second place woman. That was Leslie Black of Vancouver, after passing Kelowna’s Cindy Rhodes (who like several others had taken a wrong turn at a poorly marked intersection on the way back) and Vancouver’s Lisa Polizzi who was heading up the chase pack at the half-way mark. It is worth noting that the top three women finishers are all masters (40+).

In the men’s masters competition it was Lee taking top spot. Vancouver’s Ed Booth was hoping to give him a run for his money, but his legs just weren’t cooperating on this particular day. “My plan was to run very hard to the 4 km mark, hopefully stay with the lead group,” confessed Booth, “then tuck in behind someone and stay out of the wind. Unfortunately I think everyone else had the same idea.” His legs were much more tired than he expected after three weekends of 10k racing and he ended up recording 27:01. Forty seconds behind Booth was third master Mike Moon of Vancouver.

In the men’s junior division there was a close race for first with Joel Primus prevailing in 26:48, just ahead of Vancouver’s Spencer Morrison in 26:51. Jessica Bruhn took top honours in the women’s junior category with a 35:13 clocking.

For complete race results click here. Photos are in the Gallery Archives.

This concludes the 2003 Timex BC Road Running Series. Thanks to all who participated! Overall and age group winners for the Series are listed here. Top 3 men and women in the overall rankings are first in line for selection to the Timex National 10k Road Race Championships in Fredericton, New Brunswick, September 28th.

August 23, 2003, Bowen Island – Predictions of rain fell through as another day dawned bright and clear for this year’s Run for the Ferry, the second-to-last race of the Timex BC Road Running Series. Because of its position in the Series, the 10k race draws a large number of Series competitors in need of more races or more points. But today they were all beaten by a couple of non-“Series regulars”.

Starting at the ferry dock, competitors in both the 10k and the accompanying 5k set off in a blur, led by Coquitlam’s Brent Corbitt and Vancouver’s Scott McClennan who left everyone else behind in short order. These two were never more than 2 metres apart during the entire 10k distance, which Corbitt described later as “a pretty tough course with lots of ups and downs.” It could have been either man’s race but Corbitt was fortunate enough to have a slight lead as they came off the final hill and saw the finish line appear suddenly before them. “I didn’t know it was that close,” said Corbitt, who is getting ready for cross country season and was looking for a road race to break things up a bit. “I was able to get the quick jump and [McClennan] wasn’t able to come back on me.” They were clocked at 31:39.

Behind them, the chase pack included Series competitors Kevin O’Connor, Shane Bilodeau, Jaime Munoz, Ed Booth, Colin Dignum and Richard Lee. Dignum and Lee were hanging back while the others took turns leading the group. At the halfway point O’Connor and Booth were slightly ahead, but when O’Connor took a quick glance back “they were all closing down on us.” The pack came together again about 20 minutes into the race, after which Munoz set the pace for a while, throwing in a few surges here and there. With a little over a mile to go, Dignum made his move followed by Bilodeau, Munoz and Lee, with O’Connor catching Booth at the back. In that order, they all finished within a few seconds of each other (32:37 to 32:51).

Dignum, who is currently training hard for the World Mountain Running Trophy in Alaska on September 20th, knew he was locked into second place for the Series. He ran hard today but not all-out, so he felt pretty good. Obviously the hills on this course were not a problem for someone ready for mountain racing!

Another racer who wasn’t slowed down by the hills was O’Connor, who enjoyed his best race (and time) in the last 2 years. “I knew it was hilly, but I felt really good, really strong, and there was a good group to work with,” said O’Connor. “The tough course really tells you how your fitness is.”

In the women’s division, defending champ Nancy Tinari of Coquitlam was expecting a close battle between herself and Victoria’s Stephanie Mills. But it turned out Mills was taking things a bit easy after a really good track season, so Tinari found herself running alone. “Even the men I usually race with weren’t there today,” noted Tinari. She found she was catching people in the first half but after that she couldn’t even see a 10k runner—there was about a one minute gap ahead of her. The diminutive master focused on catching the back of the pack 5k runners instead, enjoying the feeling of being able to relax and not give her usual over-the-top effort. Still, she recorded a speedy 35:51. “I knew I was really fit so I wasn’t surprised I ran faster than last year,” she added. “It’s always good when you can do a 10k that isn’t torture!”

Mills took it easy but still ran hard enough to stay just ahead of New Westminster’s Joan McGrath, 38:15 to 38:23. McGrath particularly enjoyed the rural aspects of the course, commenting that the trails were really nice: “Really beautiful—like Burnaby Lake, and we ran along a footpath through a big grass field.”

With Tinari and McGrath taking the top 2 women’s masters positions, that left Glenda Fransen of Burnaby to pick up third spot, way back in 46:42. In the men’s masters arena, Lee was the victor, with Booth in second. “I felt like I ran well, but I was disappointed that Richard beat me,” confessed Booth. “We’ve been back and forth in the Series points.” Third male master was Roy Howes of North Vancouver (36:26).

After the awards ceremony participants stayed around to enjoy the small but very entertaining Bowfest parade as they ate their free pancake breakfast. Congratulations to first-time race director Sonia Usmiani for putting on a great event.

Next and FINAL Series 2003 race is Sunday August 31st, the Labour Day Weekend 8k in Steveston. Start time is 8:30 at the Steveston Community Centre, with awards at 10:30 followed by Series awards upstairs in the Tyee Room. Top 4 overall male and female Series winners receive cash prizes from Timex, while top 3 age group winners each receive valuable New Balance merchandise prizes from Peninsula Runners.

August 3, 2003 – On a perfect summer day at the 2003 Squamish Days 10k, defending Series champ Colin Dignum returned to the 2003 Timex Series with a win after missing the last few races. On the women’s side Darcie Montgomery ran a fine race to easily take first place in 36:38, over a minute ahead of the rest of the field.

Breaking away from a tight pack of four in the final mile, Dignum managed to surprise a few of his competitors who weren’t really sure of his fitness level as a result of his recent absence from the Series. The others in the lead pack were current Series leader Jorge Parra, Post-to-Post runner-up Ken Myers, and masters competitor Ed Booth. After a 4:50 first mile by Myers (who was hoping to break 30 minutes so “took it out fast and died a bit in the second mile”) and another master Dave Reed (who was practising for the 800m & 1500m at the upcoming National Masters T&F Championships August 16-17 in Richmond by running fast first and last miles), eventually the pack of four formed after about the 5k mark.

With one mile to go they all had aspirations for the win, but it was Dignum who made the move and broke away to win in 31:32. The other three—Parra, Myers and Booth—couldn’t shake one another and it was still undecided as they approached the final stretch to the finish. Parra, feeling strong and fiercely determined not to come THIRD yet again, put in a final surge to move slightly ahead for the silver medal, the intensity of his effort showing clearly in a grimace. Myers’ face echoed a similar expression as he crossed the line barely one second later, with Booth shadowing him in what was his best performance this year. In fact, Booth’s time of 31:41 was good enough to move him into the 2003 age-graded “best of the best” top 20 list in the BC Road Rankings.

“I was really happy to be competing for the open top 3 with a mile to go,” said Booth afterwards. “This will be a highlight for me this year.” He feels that racing a lot this spring—to improve racing technique, stamina, and mental focus—is finally paying off, and hopes it will continue to show results in the final two Series races.

In contrast to the men’s competition, the top three women were well spaced apart. Taking second to Montgomery was Victoria’s Jen MacLean in 37:50, followed by Lisa Polizzi of Vancouver in 38:17.

Master Joan McGrath was having a tough time further back, coping with a tight calf muscle as well as a broken arm from a roller-blading accident. She was passed at one point by two other masters, Leslie Black and Adele Wilson. Wilson was having a great race, her best in a while. “I tried to hang with Leslie [Black]”, explained Wilson. “After we passed Joan of course later on she surged by us again, then Leslie took off on me with 1 km to go.” Wilson’s 39:21 was only eight seconds behind Black, while McGrath moved ahead to fourth overall in 38:46. Helen Tremlett was next to finish in 39:00, one position ahead of Black.

In the men’s masters division, Port Coquitlam’s Richard Lee led the overall chase pack in 32:27 for second in the 40+ (5th overall), while Kelowna’s Rory Switzer rounded out the top three masters with a 32:54 8th placing. On the opposite end of the age spectrum, Vancouver’s Spencer Morrison ran a strong 32:56 to win the junior division by six minutes. On the junior women’s side it was Casey Berardo of North Vancouver leading the way in 41:36.

Other age group wins of note: Carl Green of Gibsons took the 55-59 division by storm, his 40:58 over three minutes ahead of runner-up Neil Wakelin of North Vancouver; Irene Gane won the women’s 55-59 category despite having a broken rib; the women’s 60+ was dominated by Squamish’s own Mae Palm in 48:27; and second in that category was 73-year old Lenore Montgomery (North Vancouver) in just 50:28.

Dignum will now be able to complete the minimum seven races required to qualify for prizing, provided he runs the last two events as well. But despite scoring 30 points today, no matter how well he places at the next two events Dignum will not be able to surpass Parra who has the overall win (and $1000) all locked up with 180 points. Having run every Series race this year so far, Parra is taking a well-deserved rest and does not plan to race the last two. The battle is now for the other three cash prize positions. Contenders include Dignum, Booth, Jaime Munoz, Shane Bilodeau and Bertrand Plouvier, though the last two have not yet run the minimum 7 qualifying events.

Nancy Tinari of Coquitlam still leads the women’s Series, but Victoria’s Stephanie Mills has a chance to upset the defending champ if she can pull off a couple of victories in the remaining races. McGrath and Kelowna’s Cindy Rhodes have wrapped up the next two positions.

Full Squamish Days 10k results are posted at Race Headquarters; photos are in the Gallery Archives.

Next Series race is Run for the Ferry 10k, Bowen Island, Saturday August 23 at 8:15am. Part of the island’s annual summer festival, Bowfest.