Prairie Inn Harriers

TNW at Mount Doug in 2012. Click for full-size picture. TNW at Mount Doug in 2008. Click for full-size picture.

• The Winter 2012 Prairie Inn Post is available online.

• Secure Online Membership Form
• Current 2013 Club Membership List

• Saturdays at 8:00 am - Thetis Lake/Francis King
  Meet at the main Thetis Lake parking lot at the end of Six Mile Road. Everyone welcome, all paces.

• Tuesdays at 5:15 pm
  Tuesday Night Group, Speed and Power Training Sessions. Everyone welcome, all paces.
  • Currently at Cedar Hill Rec Centre at 5:15 pm from November, 2012 through April, 2013.
  • Download Complete 2013 Tuesday Night Schedule

• Thursdays at 9:00 am - Various locations
  
  • Hit the Thursday Morning Gang Page For Full Details

• Nov 13, 7:30 pm: AGM Cedar Hill Recreation Centre

• Wed Dec 26 (Boxing Day) - Mt. Newton, meet at the Prairie Inn Pub at 10:00 am for car pooling

• Road Riding
• Wednesdays, 9:00 am
  Meet at Ken Bonner's house in Oak Bay for the weekly road ride to Sidney and around the Saanich Peninsula. Various meeting spots. Always a great social ride with the retired guys with a coffee stop in Sidney. Year-round, all weather, fenders required if wet. Map from Beach Drive & Orchard Ave

• Sunday, May 26, 2013 - SWTS#1 - Subaru Shawnigan Lake... - Register Here
• Sunday, May 26, 2013 - Oak Bay Kool Half Marathon & 5K - Register Here
• Sunday, May 26, 2013 - Running Room Shaughnessy 8K
• Sunday, Jun 2, 2013 - Victoria Goddess Run
• Sunday, Jun 2, 2013 - The Great Walk
• Saturday, Jun 8, 2013 - GB002: GutBuster - Mt Tzouhalem - Register Here

The Timex BC Road Running Series is BC's premier road race series, featuring 15 of the most competitive events in BC. With 10 events complete including four on Vancouver Island, competition for places is intensifying. Island races included Harriers Pioneer 8K, Bazan Bay 5K, Comox Valley Half Marathon and TC10K. Participants must complete a minimum of 5 races to qualify for series prizing, as well as being a Junior, Senior, Masters or Road & Trail member of BC Athletics. After 10 events, Geoff Martinson has a clear lead with 4,477 points. Second and third places are extremely close with David Jackson (4,395) just one point ahead of Jim Finlayson (4,394). It is a clean 1-2-3 sweep for Harriers. Ryan Huff, of Point Grey T&F Club, is fourth with 4,222 points. On the women's side Sabrina Wilkie leads with 4,371 points. Only 7 points cover second to fourth places, with Catrin Jones (4,304) edging Harriers' Erin Burrett (4,301) and Catherine Watkins (4,297). This year series prizes will be awarded to the top 10 qualifiers, with prize money of $1,000, $500, $300, $200 awarded to the top 4 men and women, and Timex merchandise awarded to places 5 through 10. In addition, the top 4 men and women will be invited to represent BC at the Timex Series National Finale and National 10K Championship in Toronto on September 21. The remaining 5 races in the 2013 Timex BC Road Running Series are: Sunday, May 26 (8:30am) ''" Running Room Shaughnessy 8K, Vancouver Sunday, June 9 (9:00am) ''" Sandcastle City Classic 10K, White Rock Friday, June 14 (6:45pm) ''" North Shore Credit Union Longest Day 5K, UBC Sunday, July 7 (8:00am) ''" Midsummer 8K, Kelowna Saturday, July 20 (8:00am) ''" Summerfast 10K, Vancouver The Running Room Shaughnessy 8K also serves as the 2013 BC 8K Championship, with additional Championship prize money available to BC Athletics members. Complete Timex BC Road Running Series details, individual race details, and the latest rankings can be found on the series website at http://www.bcathletics.org/RRSeries/

The Kilted Mile went off very well today with Gary and Jo finishing second and third overall and beating the field of 7 men and 5 women to the line, six of which were Prairie Inn Harriers. Here is Christine Thate's excellent account of the race: "Gary Duncan was out early laying out the course, with the finishing touches being put on between noon and 1:00 pm with the aid of Cathy Noel, when the lower gates, and sheep were herded out. Kilted Runners soon to replace sheep. We all started in a pretty even row as there was a gradual incline up the hill. We were to do the course 4 times, so 1/4 mile per lap up to the dancer's performing stage, beer gardens and back down again. Just after the first slight incline was another very much worse incline which then had to be repeated four times, one for each lap. Very challenging all in all. Gary Duncan was second overall for the men, and Joanne Rosen was the first the women finishing third overall behind Gary. Second place for the women was Cathy Noel, third was Martha McNeely, fourth was Christine Thate, and Susan Jones was fifth, looking gorgeous and coming up very close to almost catching fourth place. I am not too sure who the men were that followed Gary Duncan. Best Dressed was won by a dashing chap in authentic kilt wear, who got the most applause. He won a $25 gift certificate to the Running Room. It was a wonderful day, the rain holding off for the mile and not appearing until a good hour later. Several people ran into Prince Andrew, I was not lucky enough though. Age category prizes were awarded as well, with 60 and older being won by Martha McNeely. The medals were beautifully en scripted with the Commemorative 150 years, with the traditional gold, silver and bronze and lanyards this year as well. Next category was 46 to 60 won by Joanne Rosen, Cathy Noel second, and yours truly in third. I've been to the Kilted Mile at least three times that I can remember and have never been lucky enough to win anything but a bottle of scotch for best dressed, so I consider myself fortunate today. Gary Duncan won his category for the men and I am not familiar with the other lads names that finished behind him and topped other age categories. It was truly a Royal Event!" Gary adds the following report: "The top laddie honour in the Kilted Mile went to some young guy who may also have been competing in some of the amateur heavy events. He started out quick and I fell in right behind, expecting that he would soon fall off pace, but he did not. I did manage to overtake him near the end of the second lap, but shortly after he whipped off his shirt, which according to my wife elicited some strong encouragements from the crowds and he managed to retake the lead and put on a strong finish to finish a few seconds ahead of me around 5:35. I'm sure the tight back and forth made for a crowd pleasing race as after all we are more entertainment than competition. Jo was third overall with a sizeable gap before and after. Coach Ron was there and also helped with last minute setup. He also called out finishing times, but I'm not sure if anyone was recording them. I have queries out. I'd measured and marked the Kilted Mile course Friday, but did some refreshing and laying out of the cones just before the race. Five or six men ran altogether. One, up from Seattle on a stag, won the best dressed based on the cheers from his friends. Another, whose name escapes me, but I've seen around a lot, said his legs quickly reminded him of his earlier run that day doing the Goddess Half Marathon course. Cathy and I did encounter him and a number of women while we were measuring the Half course. We started before 6:00 am. She rode support and Jonathan drove safety, but it was still scary going along Latoria in the wrong lane. We finished just in time to join the PIH regulars at Evadars for breakfast, and I talked Cathy into doing the Kilted Mile. She quickly called to borrow her daughters tartan skirt, had a blast, and came away richer with her $75 winnings more than covering the late $35 admission & entry."

In a rare GB appearance, Kris topped the field to win the long course of the inaugural Gutbuster #1 at Western Speedway today with a time of 53:10. Second place went to Shaun Stephens-Whale in 54:18 and Harriers Richard Knowlton took third, also running 54:18, in a tight race to the wire with Stephens-Whale. Andrew, 56:49, was the top master and placed fourth overall of 67 finishers. Shannon and Brandon were the top Harriers in the short course finishing third and fourth overall. The short course winner was Justin Raycraft in 26:04 with Balint Falvai placing second in 28:26 and Shannon taking third in 28:32. She was the top female and won the master's category by exactly 6 minutes. Brandon was the top junior and placed fourth overall in 29:10. The other half of the Harriers Willson twins, Austin, struggled today to finish 31st overall of 44 finishers in 36:04. The top three females in the long course were Dawn Anderson, 1:05:19, Kathy Rung, 1:11:00, and Sarah Mitchell, 1:11:36. Behind Shannon in the short course were Malinda Queen, 31:03, and Christine Heckley in 32:08. Gary Duncan and Larry Nylen had a good race finishing 1-2 in the M50 division of the long course in 1:03:20 and 1:07:26. Wendy Davies won the F50 division in 1:18:27, closely followed by her daughter, Becky Kendrick, who won the F20 division in 1:19:49. There were a total of 111 finishers including 12 Harriers in both courses with Gutbuster Victoria kicking off a successful start to the four-race Series. The second race is Gutbuster Duncan on June 8 followed by Gutbuster Ladysmith on July 7 and the Series wraps up on August 11 with Gutbuster Mount Washington where the final age category awards will be presented.

Lise completely dominated from start to finish by winning the 50K division outright at the 26 annual Harriers Elk/Beaver Ultras sponsored by Island Runner. I met Lise in 2003 when she first moved to Victoria and won the Landsend Half Marathon by defeating two top-level Harriers in Joan McGrath and Nancy Baxendale. Lise ran 1:21:24, Joan was second in 1:22:44 and Nancy took third in 1:25:33. I invited Lise to join the Harriers and she accepted and has been a member for the past 11 years. Later in 2003, Lise won the Harriers Boxing Day 10 Miler beating all of the men and women with a finishing time of 1:02:15; she is the only female to win that race overall in the 34 years of the event. Over the next five or six years Lise started and raised a family and more recently has been hit with a series of long-term injuries that curtailed her racing for almost 10 years. At the age of 39, she made a return to the scene by running the GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon last year in 2:53:56 and placing 28th overall of the 1,724 finishers. She was 5th female and second in the F35 division. Today, running her first-ever ultra, Lise looked effortless as she glided around 5 laps of Elk and Beaver Lakes in 3:55:41, with an average of 47 minutes per 10K circuit, to win the 50K race by 6 minutes and 16 seconds over David Cull. Even more impressive was her gap of 19 minutes, 9 seconds between the next female, Danielle Mennie, who finished fifth overall in 4:14:50. There were 33 registrations, 27 starters and 24 finishers in the 50K division, the largest and most popular category in the E/B Ultras. Although the 100K wasn't the largest division today, it was the feature event as the Association of Canadian Ultramarathoners designated the 100K as a National Championship. It attracted 20 registrations, 16 starters and 12 finishers. The Canadian Champions were crowned as Dave Proctor, 7:51:12, and Bonnie Reszel in 10:59:05. Both were awarded large ACU perpetual trophies and attractive PIH/Island Runner championship plaques. The winners of the 50 Mile division were Steven Johns and Laura Heaney in 8:19:46 and 9:24:12. The First-Time Marathon winner was Gord Chilton in 3:59:37. There were no starters in the 40K Walk. In all five divisions there were a total of 68 registrations, 53 runners started and 46 finished before the 12-hour cut-off time of 6:00 pm. All 46 finishers received a finisher's medal and the top five open and masters men and women were awarded ribbons and plaques. A special congratulations goes to Race Director, Carlos Castillo, who not only managed and directed a very successful event, but he also ran the 50K race and finished in 5:05:35 to place 9th of 24 finishers. His son, Carlos Jr., and wife, Norma, played huge roles throughout the day with live computer timing results every lap and overseeing the food/refreshments with both of them logging 14-hour shifts. Key volunteers with timing, food, refreshments and marshalling also included Harriers Matthias Schoek, Kandise Froese, Eric Davies and Martha McNeeley.

The Q's Victoria Run Series' first meet of the 2013 track season took place today at Oak Bay High School's Jack Wallace Memorial Track. The meet included two races each of three distances, 800 metres, 1,500 metres and 5,000 metres. Claire broke the BC provincial FF35-39 age-group record of 17:48; she finished the 5,000 metre race in 17:37.90. "I am pleased with the result, although it was not a personal best. It is a pleasant surprise to get the record," said Claire. The mother of two is a long-time Victoria runner who represented Canada and the World Mountain Running Championships in Alaska and is a former competitive Mountain Bike racer.Julien Marceau of Performance Running finished first overall in the open 800 metre event, finishing in 2:18.30. Second and third male finishers were 12-year-old Michael Barber, 2:27.10, and 55-year-old Gary Duncan, who finished in 2:32.60. Barber is the son of former Commonwealth Games competitor Gary Barber. The 1,500 metre open race was won by 50-year-old Darren Skuja who represents the Comox Valley Road Runners. Skuja finished in 5:00.40 ahead of fellow 50-59 age-group competitor Gary Duncan, who completed the distance in 5:16.90 with a furious kick. Third place went to Michelle Bernardo in 5:20.70. Julien Marceau, Christine Thate, Jane McDonald, Michelle Bernardo and Gary Donahue raced all three distances on the night. Gary Duncan also won his age category on the long course of the inaugural Victoria Gutbuster at Western Speedway the following day to complete his 3-race durability extravaganza, all within 21 hours. The next meet in the Q's Victoria Run Series is Saturday, May 25th at the University of Victoria's Centennial Stadium.

Jason was the top Canadian, finishing 7th overall in 2:38:32, Tina hit the line in 3:06:41 and was the 3rd master of 323 in the F40 division. Andrew ran a personal best time to finish 89th overall, 14th of 393 men in the M45 division, in 3:06:31 at the BMO Vancouver Marathon today under very hot, brilliant, sunny conditions. In its 42nd year, the Vancouver Marathon welcomed runners from 43 countries with 16,390 runners registered to participate in four events. A record fell, new titles were awarded, spectators flocked in numbers to cheer in 12 Vancouver neighbourhoods, and over four thousand volunteers contributed to the success of the event. There were 3,876 finishers in the marathon, 8,564 in the half marathon and 723 in the 8K for a total of 13,163 finishers in 2013. The top five men were all Kenyans as were the top two women. Thomas Omwenga won the race for his fourth time in 2:24:09 followed by Benard Onsare, 2:24:11, and Gezahgn Eshetu, 2:25:23. The top three women were Lucy Ngeri, 2011 GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon champion, in 2:40:34, Alice Ndirangu Waruguru, 2:47:20, and Victoria's Catrin Jones was the first Canadian and placed third with a personal best time of 2:48:19.