December 26, 2014
Claire Morgan and Nancy Baxendale
Claire and Nancy both finished off 2014 in style by finishing 1-2 in the Boxing Day 10 Mile Handicap at Central Saanich and with a 1-3 in the Run Through
Time 5K at UVic on New Year's Eve. The Boxing Day 10 Mile men's winner was Harrison Ellis, in 1:03:23, Claire finished second overall in 1:03:38 and Nancy was third overall in 1:05:54 of 21 finishers at the 16th annual Boxing Day event. There were approximately
200 finishers at the Run Through Time, won by Hugh Trenchard in 17:40. Harriers' Chris Callendar placed second in 17:51 and Claire was third overall in 18:28. Sara Gross was 5th overall and second female in 18:39 while Nancy was 7th overall and third
female in 19:33.
December 13, 2014
Logan Roots, Claire Morgan, Richard Knowlton and Chris Callendar
Logan was the race champion, Claire was second female, Richard was third overall at the 11th annual Stewart Mountain 10 Mile Challenge today while Chris finished second in a sprint, photo-finish in the 5 Mile division. There were 135 finishers
in the 10 Miler and 53 finishers in the 5 Miler for a total of 188, up 29 from last year's total of 159 finishers. Logan has had two brilliant consecutive weeks of racing, first winning the 31st annual Vancouver Gunner Shaw Memorial 10K in 33:51 for
a one minute margin of victory, then following it up today with a huge win at the Stewart Mountain 10 Mile Challenge after trailing Victoria Gunner Shaw winner, Shaun Stephens-Whale, for 9.5 miles only to overtake him near the end to clinch the title
by 11 seconds. Their times were 1:05:01 and 1:05:16. Besides doing an excellent job in directing the race for her first year, Claire also fought a courageous battle with Victoria's extraordinary master runner, Marilyn Arsenault, as the two of them were
only three seconds apart as they crested the summit of Stewart Mountain. The cagey veteran extended her lead to a little over a minute and a half on the downhill second half of the race course to break the tape in 14th position overall in 1:15:59 as
Claire finished 16th in 1:17:33. Third place female went to Nanaimo's Cheryl Davies in 1:24:05. Richard has raced cross country events for three consecutive weekends, two in Victoria and one in Vancouver. He finished sixth at the Victoria Gunner Shaw
two weeks ago, then sixth again at the Vancouver Gunner Shaw last Saturday but saved his best performance for today at Stewart Mountain with a third place finish in 1:07:23, one minute and one second ahead of former Stewart Mountain champion Shane Ruljancich.
The top three finishers in the 5 Mile race were Sooke's Matthew Thomson, 42:34, Harriers' Chris Callendar, also 42:34, and 28-year-old Patricia Roney, first female in 44:13. Patricia was last year's overall winner. A big shout out goes to Claire Morgan,
Kristy Petovello and Elaine Galbraith for coordinating the Stewart Mountain race with Claire looking after technical and registration details, Kristy handling sponsorship and promotion and Elaine managing course marking and route marshals. The "After
Party" at the Six Mile Pub was an overwhelming success with awards, tons of draw prizes and a free beer for all participants and volunteers from Driftwood Brewery and a free meal compliments of the Six Mile Pub. All that attended were completely blown
away with the generosity of these two corporate sponsors and the friendly atmosphere of the awards ceremony. The new Race Coordination team implemented many successful changes and improvements this year with a new race course, a new water station location
and a new venue for the awards presentations. All in all it was an excellent day with 48 club members playing key rolls in helping with equipment delivery, start/finish set-up, registration, course marshaling, hot chocolate, tear-down and clean-up besides
the 44 other Harriers that were racing. Many of them won their respective age categories. The Stewart Mountain Challenge is the final race of the Thetis Lake Triple Series including the Thetis Lake Relay and Gunner Shaw Classic. Next year, a fourth race
will be added to the cross country series making it a Quad Series sponsored by 2:18 Run Corporation. The new event is the Harriers Tower Tear One Mile Time Trial and it will be staged on November 7 to kick-off the 4-race package with a 50%-off opportunity
in 2016 for all those completing the 2015 Thetis Lake Quad. It was encouraging to see Harriers' legend, Gary Duncan, volunteering at the Stewart Mountain event today after falling at the Vancouver Gunner Shaw race last weekend and breaking his arm. The
serious fracture required surgery to repair his shoulder joint by inserting a metal plate. Unfortunately, the "club's ironman" who usually races between 40 and 50 events annually, will be sidelined for a while but he maintains a positive attitude and
an excellent spirit! Welcome home, Gary, after spending four days in the Vancouver General Hospital.
December 6, 2014
Logan Roots, Tina Connelly and Gary Duncan
Logan finished first overall, Tina was the first female and Gary was running a terrific race, easily leading the M50 division, when he suffered a
difficult fall about the 4K point on the course and severely injured his right arm. He was forced to walk to the finish line where an ambulance came to take him to Vancouver General Hospital and his brother-in-law was also there to drive him to the U.B.C.
Hospital as an alternative venue for X-Rays. Gary is PIH's indestructible, durable, ironman and, unfortunately, he will be sidelined from running for some time. An update from Maureen, Gary's wife, the day after the accident reveals a broken arm near
the shoulder socket requiring surgery and a metal plate to hold the joint in place until it heals. He will be kept in the Vancouver General Hospital for a few more days until he is strong enough to go home following the surgery. Our thoughts are with
Gary and his family. At the race, it was a very successful day for the Harriers in the pouring rain on a slick, muddy course offering ideal cross country racing conditions today. Twenty minutes before the starting gun, race organizers opted to take the
150-metre long puddle out of the course due to solid ice on the bottom and floating ice on the top. There were plenty of slippery mud and soft beach sand sections to navigate through over the two-lap 5K circuit featuring a creek crossing and several
sloppy skating-like mud conditions and puddles. The top three men in the 10K race were Harriers' Logan Roots, 33:51, Tristan Simpson, from Delta, 34:50, and VFAC's Drew Nicholson, 36:01. The top three women were Harriers' Tina Connelly, 40:12, Tamasin
Reno, 42:43, from Vancouver, and New Westminster's Amine Testouri, in 43:38. The Silver Fox 5K race champions were Aidan Bingert, Royal Runners, in 17:59 and Olivia Willett, Vancouver, in 19:31. There were 11 Harriers competing and 8 of them reached
the podium. First place in their age categories were Logan Roots (M20), Tina Connelly (F40), Nathan Kamell (M35), Christine Thate (F55) and David Hoskins (M65). Second place in her age category was Jane Kim (F25) while Richard Knowlton (M30) and Heather
Reid (F20) finished third. Rounding out the Harriers roster were Bob Reid, 5th of 9 in the M40+ division of the 5K race, and Michel Pinault, 7th of 8 in the M45 division of the 10K race. The PIH team comprised of Logan, Richard, Tina and Nathan, with
43 points, easily topped the 7 teams in the club competition based on a reverse scoring system of the top 4 runners' overall positions from each club. Second place went to VFAC with 54 points, third was LGRR with 103 points, fourth went to Leo's Girls
LGRR, 182 points, fifth was Semiahamoo Sunrunners, 227 points, sixth place went to BHB Trail Trash, 289 points, and seventh was Pink Porpoises Family with 366 points. There were 111 finishers in the Gunner Shaw 10K race and 43 finishers in the Silver
Fox 5K race for a total of 154. Last weekend in Victoria, the Gunner Shaw 10K Classic attracted 293 finishers on a freezing -8 degree day where 75 registrants did not start due to the icy and cold conditions. The Vancouver Gunner Shaw had fewer DNSs
due to mild 10 degree temperatures but featured pounding rain throughout the day. Here is a link to some excellent photos compliments of Frank Stebner https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.575897529223535.1073741834.189843467828945&type=1 Click
on the album with 241 photos which shows action shots capturing all members of the PIH Team amongst other great pictures of the entire field. November and December continue to be "killer" cross country race months with 9 consecutive weekends of events
available. Ambitious runners can do the Thetis Lake 20K Relay, Bear Mountain 10K and Half Marathon, Victoria Gunner Shaw 10K Classic, Vancouver Gunner Shaw 10K and Silver Fox 5K, Stewart Mountain 10 Mile and 5 Mile, Harriers Christmas Lights Run, Boxing
Day 10 Miler, Run Through Time 5K and Harriers Memorial New Year's Day 10K Predicted Time Run. Quite a Christmas racing schedule to welcome in the New Year!
December 6, 2014
Geoff Martinson, Erin Burrett, Bruce Deacon, Tina Connelly and Rosamund Dashwood
At the BC Athletics annual Awards Banquet tonight in Richmond, Geoff was selected as the Male Road Runner of
the Year and Erin was runner-up to Rachel Cliff for Female Road Runner of the Year. Both Geoff and Erin had breakthrough seasons winning many events and running personal bests at all distances. Bruce and Tina were named as Male and Female Cross Country
Master Athletes of the Year and Rosamund was inducted into the BC Athletics Hall of Fame, a long overdue award for one of the finest masters ever to wear a Harriers uniform. Cam Levins and Christabel Nettey were named as Senior Track and Field Athletes
of the Year. A complete list of winners is available here http://www.bcathletics.org/Recognition/
November 29, 2014
Jim Finlayson, Bruce Deacon, Tina Connelly and Natasha Wodak
Jim and Tina took a gold medals, Bruce won a silver medal and Natasha collected a bronze at the Canadian Cross Country Championships
at Jericho Park in Vancouver today. There were 23 Harriers at the event including 10 from the PIH Youth Team and 13 Seniors and Masters. The Senior Champions were Chris Winter, Vancouver, and Rachel Hannah, Toronto, the Master Champions were Jim Finlayson,
Victoria, and Tina Connelly, Port Coquitlam, the Junior Champions were Justyn Knight, Toronto, and Hannah Woodhouse, Meaford, and the Youth Champions were Stefan Daniel, Calgary, and Christina Sevek, Vancouver. There were 54 finishers in the Community
races, 232 in the Youth races, 131 in the Senior races, 137 in the Junior races and 101 in the Master's race for a total of 655 finishers.
November 29, 2014
Andrew Pape-Salmon, Nancy Baxendale and Andre Gerard
Masters ruled the day at the 30th annual Gunner Shaw Classic today as 293 finishers braved the - 8 degree frozen conditions and finished
with a happy smile as they ran into the the lake for their final shoe wash before sprinting to the finish line. Andrew topped the M40 division with a one second victory over Bruce Martel in a photo finish, Nancy won the F50 division establishing herself
as the top master beating all 29 in her division and 44 more women in the F40 division by finishing almost 5 minutes ahead of the F40 winner, Claire Craig. Former long-time Harrier and one of Gunner Shaw's best friends and training partners, Andre Gerard,
obliterated the 18 runners in the M60 to 99 division with a 4:35 margin of victory over Gordon Harris. The top three men in the race were Shaun Stephens-Whale, from Gibsons, in 34:20, triathlete Andrew Russell, 35:46, and Harriers defending champion,
Shane Ruljancich in 36:07. The top three women were Victoria's Patricia Roney, 41:04, Harriers' Claire Morgan, 42:07, and Nanaimo's Julia Tschanz, 42:45. The top juniors (under 20) were Matthew Thomson, from Sooke, in 40:06, and Victoria's Josephine
Simpson, in 47:05. There were 367 registrations and 293 finishers at Gunner, up 68 registrations and 32 finishers from last year's totals. The cold weather drove a lot of people home either before or directly after the event shortening the awards ceremony
with many of the prizes being mailed to the winners. Believe it or not 25 "modern runners", complete with their iPhones and ear buds, picked up their bib number and race shirt then rushed crying home to their mommies without even starting the race! 43
other "modern runners" were afraid to leave the warmth of their fireplaces or hot tubs and decided that Thetis Lake Park was not the place to be on a cold day. Regardless, the army of 48 PIH volunteers and 293 runners had a glorious day at the race and
a special thanks go to the Refreshments Team, headed up by Randy Jones, who served delicious hot chocolate, chicken soup, tomato soup and hot dogs throughout the day. Approximately $ 3,800 was raised and will be donated to the Harriers Foundation supporting
scholarships, bursaries, athletes' travel, youth programs, charitable and community projects in Victoria. Runners from Ottawa and Brazil participated as the farthest-traveled athletes. The Brazilian approached me at the finish line covered in mud, but
with a huge smile on his face, and proclaimed, "This is the toughest race that I have run in my entire life but I will be back again next year!"
November 22, 2014
Shane Ruljancich, Claire Morgan and Matt Priestley
Shane was the overall winner in the Bear Mountain 10K today with a time of 36:29, Claire was the top female, placing 7th overall in 41:21,
and new member Matt Priestley was the top Harrier in the accompanying Half Marathon; he finished 6th overall in 1:32:31 in his first race with the club. There were several PIH members in both races but surprisingly Matt was the only participant that
showed his team as Prairie Inn Harriers when registering so it accompanied the results. The winners of the Half Marathon were Jeremy Clegg, from Nanaimo, in 1:21:36 and Victoria's Catrin Jones, 3rd overall in 1:25:32. There were 424 finishers in the
10K, 59 finishers in the Half Marathon and 4 Relay Teams for a total of 483 finishers. This was 37 more than last year's mark of 446.
November 15, 2014
Cheryl Nicholls and Phil Nicholls
The Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon and Half Marathon to benefit the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America was held on the Las Vegas Strip on November
13th to 15th. This unique weekend experience included live music, parties, a massive Health and Fitness Expo, multiple running distances and more. Runners of all levels spent the ultimate weekend running festival on the Las Vegas Strip while running
at night. Phil and Cheryl traveled to Vegas to attend the Expo and, while there, they jumped into the huge Half Marathon race that featured 25,228 finishers. They finished a respectable 203rd and 206th overall, Phil was 180th male and Cheryl was 26th
female. Cheryl finished first of 1,966 in her F45 age division in 1:31:03 to take the gold medal and Phil collected the silver by finishing second in the M55 division in 1:31:06 with 541 finishers in his division. The Half Marathon champions were Jeffrey
Eggleston in 1:03:24 and Lindsey Short in 1:14:15. There were 4,640 finishers in the 5K race, 3,228 in the Marathon, 25,228 in the Half Marathon including 9,374 men and 15,854 women, 2,191 in the Half a Half race and 115 in the "Diverted Participants"
category (whatever that means?) for a total of 35,402 finishers. The Half Marathon was the most popular distance comprising 71% of the field and 75% of the field in all races were females.
November 11, 2014
Logan Roots and Lucy Smith
Logan ran the second fastest stage of the day finishing one second behind Nic Ascui, 14:54 to 14:55, and Lucy easily topped all of the women with a 16:59 clocking
for the 5K circuit at the 18th annual Thetis Lake 20K Relay today, Remembrance Day. The top team was the Dover Bay Lazerhawks, a Junior Men's team from Nanaimo, in 1:01:42, repeating their championship from last year and running the course 6 minutes
faster today. Second, third and fourth overall were all Harriers Senior Men's teams, with the Fluffy Bunnies, 1:02:16, Wake of Destruction, 1:05:19, and Mixed Nuts, 1:05:59. There were a total of 119 teams including 30 Harriers teams, 9 of which won
their age categories.
November 1, 2014
Sheamus Alexander Pape, Mattias Jaycox and Skylar Pugh
Three of the youngest Harriers in the club made their debut at Thetis Lake Park today and completed a one hour hike with their proud mommies.
Sheamus, 11 days old, Mattias, 4 weeks old, and Skylar, 4 weeks old, were bundled up in their snugglies as mothers Sara Pape-Salmon, Annabelle McKinnon and Pamela Dinn introduced them to their first wilderness walk in the park. Welcome to our three new
Harriers!
November 1, 2014
Jack Stanley
Jack had an outstanding cross country performance at the BC High School Championships staged at Juan de Fuca today. He is a member of the PIH Youth Team and runs for Oak Bay Secondary
School. He placed second overall of the 176 Junior Boys (Grades 8,9 and 10) with a time of 17:58, only 13 seconds back of race winner, Joel Harrison, 17:45, from Walnut Grove. Taryn O'Neill, 15:40, from George Elliott Secondary won the Junior Girls race,
Nathan Tadesse, 20:35, of North Surrey won the Senior Boys (Grades 11 and 12) race and Hannah Bennison, 15:00, from Vernon Secondary won the Senor Girls race. There were a total of 807 high school athletes participating today including 235 Senior Boys,
176 Junior Boys, 225 Senior Girls and 171 Junior Girls. Several other PIH Youth Team members ran very well in the Junior Boys race with Malcolm Harrison placing 19th, Kalem Delaney, 25th, Vlad Lyesin, 27th, Jack Cooper, 38th, and Devin Galway, 66th.
The Junior Boys ran 5.3 kilometres while the Senior Boys ran 6.4 kilometres and the Junior Girls and Senior Girls both ran 4.3 kilometres.
October 26, 2014
Shane Ruljancich, Thomas Holm and Chris Elliott
On a busy Fall weekend with the BC Cross Country Championships in Abbotsford, the inaugural Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon and the 41st annual James
Cunningham Seawall 10K in Vancouver, and the new Autumn Classic Half Marathon in Duncan, Mountain Equipment Co-Op staged their fifth and final event of the year at Beaver Lake, the Grand Banana, offering 5K, 10K and Half Marathon races. Shane won the
10K in 35:15 followed by Thomas in 36:21. The top female was Brianna Brandon, 7th overall in 40:41. Matthew Winkler won the 5K in 17:39. Chris was runner-up to the 5K champion and a mere 2 seconds back in 17:41. The first 5K female was 14-year-old Kate
Farley, 11th overall in 21:15. The Half Marathon winners were Andrew McCartney, 1:16:38, and Katie Hegan, 1:34:08. Harriers' Jeremy Watts had a strong half finishing third overall in 1:21:19. There were 103 finishers in the 5K, 113 finishers in the 10K
and 75 finishers in the MEC half marathon held in pounding, heavy, rainy conditions. The total of 350 registrations and 291 finishers were the highest numbers recorded of the five MEC races staged in 2014.
October 26, 2014
Logan Roots, Claire Morgan and Gary Duncan
Logan, Claire and Gary placed first, second and third overall, each winning their age categories, in 1:14:46, 1:24:32 and 1:26:24 at the Cowichan
Autumn Classic Half Marathon, replacing the historic 38-year Shawnigan-Kinsol Half Marathon. Logan and Gary were fresh off their outstanding performances at the BCXCs yesterday in Abbotsford and did the "double" today by reaching the podium in Glenora.
Other Harriers in the half marathon were Matthias Schoeck, 8th OA, 1:31:51, 4th M40, and Kathy Guthrie, 49th OA, 1st F60 in 1:51:37. The 10K winners were Duncan's Richard Light in 37:00 and Tanya Ness, of Shawnican Lake; she was 4th overall in 43:35.
Harriers' Mike Lord was third overall in 40:13 and Christine Thate was 141st in the 10K in 1:14:01 after missing a turn into Duncan and winding up in Chemainus. There were 130 finishers in the half marathon and 197 finishers in the accompanying 10K for
a total of 327 participants in the inaugural race. The improved venue in Duncan was deemed safer than the old Shawnigan Lake route where residential development has increased the traffic flow and also increased safety issues of the runners sharing the
13-mile road around Shawnigan Lake. The new location in Glenora was quite simply the best time of year to run through the scenic Cowichan Valley countryside with all of its autumn colours. Fantastic farm and rural scenes from quiet country roads without
concerns about traffic were offered. Mountain vistas from the Trans Canada Trail and the awesome Holt Creek Trestle were just two of many features of the new race course. This is Vancouver Island's Wine Country and all finishers received their very own
wine glass served with a free local wine or juice. Ceevacs Roadrunner's long standing reputation for well organized, user-friendly events continued today. Their goal was to provide a great experience rather than just another race with Spooky Hallowe'en
festivities from the marshals along the route. For an entertaining 10K story from Christine Thate, who almost missed the race, visit the Harriers website and click on "News".
October 26, 2014
Geoff Martinson and Natasha Wodak
Vancouver's newest Half Marathon and oldest 10K brought thousands of runners to BC today - More than 12,500 entrants from around the world experienced beautiful
fall weather at the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Oasis Vancouver Half Marathon and the 41st annual James Cunningham Seawall 10K benefiting the John Volken Academy. Along with live bands and festive fanfare lining the course, the race boasted spectacular waterfront
views. Participants celebrated the day's accomplishments with family and friends in Devonian Harbour Park at the finish line festival, which featured a soulful headliner performance by Washington R&B artist Allen Stone. Kenya's Paul Kimugul, 34,
won the men's half marathon in 1:04:39, while Harrier and new Vancouver-native Geoff Martinson, 28, finished a minute behind in 1:05:46 to place second. Kenyans Mo Hrezi and Willy Kimospo were 3rd and 4th in 1:06:04 and 1:07:44 and Harriers' Richard
Mosley and David Jackson placed 5th and 6th in 1:08:51 and 1:09:25. The top master was Vancouver's Kevin O'Connor in 1:14:58; he was 10th overall. In the women's race, the first time was the charm for Rachel Cliff, a 26-year-old from Vancouver, who won
her debut half marathon in 1:15:04. Lindsey Scherf, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, finished shortly behind Cliff in 1:16:14 and Vancouver's Dayna Pidhorskey took third in 1:16:33. Natasha placed fourth in 1:16:45 after a long battle with achilles
and plantar fasciitis injuries. She was reasonably pleased with her comeback effort and is working towards returning to her familiar position atop the podium. The top master was Catherine Watkins, fifth female in 1:16:48 and Harriers' Lucy Smith was
the second master, first F45, and seventh female overall in 1:20:31. Read more at http://running.competitor.com/2014/10/photos/vancouvers-newest-half-marathon-oldest-10k-bring-thousands-bc_116611#coX6VKD35PDpgC33.99
October 26, 2014
David Hoskins
David traveled to the United Kingdom for his annual holiday and once again won a silver medal in the Great South Run. Here is his account of the adventure: "I ran the Great South
race in the U.K. on Sunday. My training consisted of a week of beer drinking, bacon and haggis in Scotland followed by a week of French wine and Nutella crepes in the south of France. Then I decided to wear my new orthotics - big mistake! 25,000 runners
were in the race. It featured a spectacular course through Portsmouth. I finished second in my age group and 1,077th overall. We won’t talk about my time except to say that I dropped two minutes in the last 3 miles. Later, I'll write a more detailed
account for the PIH News on the website." The following is some history of the run: The Bupa Great South Run started life in Southampton back in 1990 before moving just a few miles along the M27 motorway to the neighbouring city of Portsmouth 12 months
later. The fast and flat 10 mile route takes in the iconic sites of the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard including Portsmouth Cathedral, Spinnaker Tower and the HMS Victory- which has played host to the Band of HM Royal Marines, who often perform for passing
runners at the iconic site. The final flat stretch along the sea front has given thousands of people the opportunity to get a personal best time for more than twenty years. Every year the event attracts a plethora of athletes, celebrities and runners
raising money for good causes, with over 30 million pounds having been raised for charity over the years. World class athletes who have taken part over the years include Sonia O’Sullivan, Paula Radcliffe and Mo Farah- who scored the first ever
victory by a British male athlete since Gary Staines achieved his third and final success 13 years earlier. The Bupa Great South Run has grown into a great weekend of running in the popular seaside location, along with the Bupa Junior & Mini Great
South Run and the introduction of the Bupa Great South Run 5k in 2011. Editor's Note: David's time was 1:13:25. He told me later that his wheels fell off about 10K when a man dressed in a full Batman suit with big boots passed him like he was standing
still. Even more embarrassing was at the finish line where he got out-sprinted by a Banana!
October 25, 2014
Craig Odermatt, Bruce Deacon, Tina Connelly, Jack Stanley and Finn Battersby
The older and the younger members of the Harriers reached the top of the podium today at the BC Cross Country Championships
in Abbotsford showcasing our master and youth members' domination against many of the best runners in the province. Tina won the master women's crown in 31:06 beating second place Marie-Josee Bedard from the Okanagan Running Club by over 4 minutes in
the 8K race. Craig and Bruce finished 1-2 in the master men's 8K with Craig finishing in 26:20 to win the M40 division and Bruce finishing in 26:50 to win the M45 division. Jack and Finn had super races by both winning silver medals in the deep and competitive
bantam and junior fields. Jack placed second in the 15-year-olds 3000m race in 9:14 and Finn placed second in the 14-year-olds 3000m race in 9:44, a mere 2 tenths of a second behind winner Graeme Roberts of Golden Ears Running Club. Other Harriers running
well at the BCXCs included Kaitlyn Connelly, 11th, Girls 7, 7:50, John Deacon, 14th, Boys 12, 12:06, Bridget Cameron, 4th, Girls 14, 11:05, Michael Barber, 12th, Boys 14, 10:24, Malcolm Harrison, 6th, Boys 15, 9:45, Vlad Lyesin, 9th, Boys 15, 9:54, Robbie
Deacon, 10th, Boys 15, 9:55, Jack Cooper, 14th, Boys 15, 10:02, Simon Linder, 21st, Boys 15, 12:48, Ryan Niezen, 14th, Boys 16, 18:13, Jordan Cheung, 18th, Boys 16, 19:19, Asher Hoyne, 3rd, Boys 19, 21:21, Eric Evans, 12th, Boys 19, 22:43, Logan Roots,
10th, Men 20, 32:01 (10K), Hichan El Amiri, 4th, Men 45, 29:19, and Gary Duncan, 2nd, Men 55, 30:35. Terry Fox's best friend and van driver on Terry's Marathon of Hope, Doug Alward, won the M55 division in 30:07, just 24 seconds ahead of Gary. A total
of 436 athletes, including 21 Prairie Inn Harriers, participated in the 17 events comprising the Provincial Cross Country Championships on a rainy day in Abbotsford today.
October 24, 2014
Garth Ball and Maurice Tarrant
Garth Ball, at the age of 76, and Maurice Tarrant, 84, are on the move again effective November 1. Perhaps the two finest masters in the 37-year history of the
club, they are chasing yet another record, but not one to add to their outstanding running accomplishments! Garth Ball was the top master in British Columbia and in Canada for many, many years when he turned 40 in 1978. He never lost a race for 10 consecutive
years in the master's division. Garth went on to race well in the M50, M60 and now in the M70 age categories where he still tops his division. Maurice turned 40 in 1970 and since then he has set over 60 Canadian age class records in every distance from
one mile to the marathon. Maurice has finished first in his age division in 250 consecutive Island Series and other Vancouver Island races. Clearly a record that will never be broken, even by an Olympian like Simon Whitfield, Bruce Deacon or Jon Brown.
Both Maurice and Garth are well-deserved lifetime members of the Harriers for their brilliant running performances. The dynamic duo also hold another Harriers record. They have moved their households 44 times in the last 25 years! Garth will be moving
from Sooke to Oak Bay and Maurice will be moving from Central Saanich to Cordova Bay effective November 1. Both seasoned veterans will be closer to their families and their favourite Thursday Morning Group run partners. Although Maurice holds the record
for Canadian Age Class marks with 65, Garth holds the record for club moves with 32. His moves have taken him from Victoria to Vancouver to Parksville to Qualicum to Sooke and he has resided in every one of the 13 Greater Victoria municipalities. I would
hate to see his budget for moving trucks! Maurice, on the other hand, has tended to yoyo back and forth on the peninsula. He has moved from Saanich to North Saanich, back to Saanich, to Central Saanich, back to Saanich, to Sidney, back to Saanich, to
North Saanich, and finally back to Saanich again. It's great to see these two prolific runners keeping the moving companies in business as they continue to add to their fine running records. Welcome home, boys!
October 22, 2014
Bridget Mateyko and Jack Stanley
Bridget was second in the Junior Women's division in 17:43 and Jack was second in the Junior Men's division in 14:59 at the Vancouver Island Cross Country Championships
at Juan de Fuca Park today. The Junior winners were Maia Watson, 17:42, and Josiah Ney, 14:47. There were 59 finishers in the Junior Women's race, 91 in the Junior Men's, 89 in the Senior Women's and 95 in the Senior Men's for a total of 334 finishers.
October 18, 2014
Roo Kersen
The seventh annual Harriers Hounds 40 Metre Sand Sprint went off today without a hitch in near-perfect, mild conditions at the main beach of Thetis Lake Park. Roo Kersen joined Bebe
Reid and Java Wear as two-time champions by blitzing to a new course record of 3.93 seconds and carrying off the prestigeous trophy with a first-ever sub-four-second racing time. Abby Nylen was the silver medalist in 4.57 seconds and Bebe Reid collected
the bronze in 4.72 seconds. Professional Dog Trainer and "Is Your Dog Driving You Crazy?" van owner, Ben Kersen, arrived one hour early to run Roo and Joey through a series of time trials prior to the big race. His professional dog handling skills paid
handsome dividends as Roo ran off with a new course record. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Ben's skills failed dismally with Joey Kersen, who finished dead last and collected the "Most Easily Distracted Dog" medal, almost 5 seconds behind 6th place
finisher Scout Bakewell and a full 7 seconds behind the race winner. There were 7 starters and 7 finishers at the Harriers Hounds Race with three four-legged spectators and four four-legged friends attending in spirit. The hounds were accompanied by
14 two-legged spectators and 12 Hellions that were celebrating Sandy Auburn's 58th birthday at Thetis Lake Park. Full results are shown on the website.
October 18, 2014
Christine Thate, Chris Hamilton, Gary Duncan and Bob Reid
The resurrection of the PIH Bowlarama brought new enthusiasm to the alleys of Langford Lanes as 20 hearty souls put their balls on
the floor to establish some big scores. Leading the way to claim the World Championship title was The Short and Tall of it All team comprised of the ever-improving and consistent Christine Thate, right-hand/left-hand/both-hands bowler, Chris Hamilton,
strike master and spare master, Gary Duncan, and four-time tournament winner, Bob Reid. Team Short/Tall knocked down the most pins over two games and recorded the highest single count of 516 in Game 1. On the other end of the spectrum, Team Zoot fired
the most gutter balls and only knocked down 329 pins also in Game 1. They did improve to 408 in Game 2. It was a night of fun and many unique and vastly different styles were featured on the alleys in our private 6-lane luxury suite. Food and beverages
were available and prizes were given following the tournament for single-game high score, low score, and highest team score. Zack Fischer won a yellow rose, Bob Reid won a box of chocolates and Kristine Andrews and Garth Campbell won technical shirts
as draw prizes. Susan Norrington, Marcia Stromsmoe and Louise Proulx showed great determination and courage by firing a total of 53 gutter balls among them. Bob Reid, Garth Campbell, and Andrew Morgan recorded the highest game scores by throwing a total
of 31 strikes and spares among them. The Trail Sluts came second with 837 pins followed by Claire's Collection of 3-Fingered Balls with 780 pins and Team Zoot finished in the cellar with 737 pins. Full results are shown on the website by clicking on
the "News" tab.
October 12, 2014
Jim Swadling
Although Jim is an "Honourary Harrier" and runs first claim for the Lions Gate Road Runners, he completely destroyed the M65 Division by finishing in 3:03:47 at the GoodLife Fitness
Victoria Marathon today to win the age category by an astonishing 47 plus minutes over David Kirkpatrick, who took M65 silver in 3:50:56. The marathon champions were Daniel Kipkoech, in 2:20:04, and Lioudmila Kortchaguina, with a new master women's course
record of 2:41:39. There were 1,570 finishers in the marathon.
October 12, 2014
Jim Finlayson and Lucy Smith
Jim and Lucy continued to be our very best masters in the GFV Half Marathon today by claiming a gold and silver in their respective age categories. Jim won the
M40 division in 1:10:04 to finish fifth overall out of 3,789 finishers, clearly the most popular distance of the GoodLife Fitness edition of three adult events. Lucy was the third female to finish, second master to Marilyn Arsenault; their times were
1:17:04 and 1:19:48. The Half Marathon champions were Willy Kimosop, in 1:06:00, and Ann-Marie Madden, in 1:16:35. Other Harriers winning their age categories included Claire Morgan (F35), Sisi Hallam (F40), and Maurice Tarrant (M80).
October 12, 2014
Geoff Martinson, Melanie McQuaid, Daniel Hoyne and Bruce Deacon
Geoff had a brilliant performance by winning the GoodLife Fitness Victoria 8K Road Race today in 23:38 narrowly missing Gary
Barber's course record of 23:23 set in 1989. Melanie was third female overall and top master in 29:56. Daniel, 19, finished fifth overall to top the junior field in 25:25 while his coach, Bruce Deacon, was seventh overall and first master in 25:44. Besides,
Geoff, Daniel, Bruce and Melanie, Nancy Baxendale (F50), Vlad Lyesin (M13), Craig Odermatt (M40), and John Cliff (M70) won their respective age categories. There were 2,365 finishers in the GFV 8K Road race.
September 27, 2014
Eric Evans, Lucy Smith and Claire Morgan
In the 8K race, Eric finished second overall in 29:44 and Lucy was fifth and top female in 32:00 at VRS #3 at Beaver Lake Park, the third and final
race of the Series. The race winner was Matt Noseworthy in 28:51. Aiden Longcroft-Harris and Claire Morgan won the 4K race in 15:48 and 16:40. There were a total of 52 finishers in both races including 15 Harriers. In order to accumulate additional Saucony
Points for the Series, Gary Duncan, Mark Ritchie and Claire ran both races.
September 20, 2014
Kyle Jones and Craig Odermatt
Kyle finished fifth overall in a very competitive field of 5,118 finishers in 30:57 while Craig placed 25th in 33:05 to win the M40 division at the Oasis Zoo
10K in Toronto which served as the 2014 National 10K Road Racing Championships. British Columbia teams carried away all of the medals taking gold in the Senior Men's, Master Men's and Senior Mixed Divisions while the Senior Women finished second to Ontario
to claim silver. This is a race summary from the Athletics Canada website: "Eric Gillis of Guelph, Ont., and Rachel Hannah of Toronto, Ont., won national titles today at the Canadian 10K Championships held as part of the Canada Running Series Oasis Zoo
Run. In the men's race Eric Gillis won the national title in a time of 29:52.6, Kip Kangogo of Lethbridge, Alta., won silver in 30:18.3 and Sami Jibril of Toronto, Ont., won bronze in 30:32.4. Jibril also won bronze at the Canadian 5K Championships held
on September 7. In the women's race, Rachel Hannah won the national title in 33:07.8, Lanni Marchant of London, Ont., took silver in 33:29.6 with Natasha Lebeaud, of Vancouver, winning bronze in 34:25.8. Hannah was second a few weeks ago at the Canadian
5K Championships. She also won the Canadian Half Marathon Championships earlier this season in Montreal, Que. Gillis, "This is just what I needed, at the 3K mark I made a decision to push for it. I'm very happy with the win, I am moving in the right
direction for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 19." Hannah, "The race is like cross country running on the road, I felt strong today. My goal was to come out and run my best time on the course. Yesterday I was looking at the start
list and how great it is to have this many competitive athletes in a national championship." Complete Canadian 10K Championships and Oasis Zoo Run results are available on the Athletics Canada website www.athletics.ca.
September 13, 2014
Geoff Martinson
Vancouver locals Kelly Wiebe and Natasha Labeaud recorded impressive victories at today's second annual Vancouver Eastside 10K, a Canada Running Series event. Geoff was runner-up
taking second position of 1,461 finishers in 30:30. Kelly's winning time of 29:20 was enough to break the course record set last year by former Harrier Dylan Wykes (29:42) and was awarded an additional $500 for his efforts. Kelly's training partner and
new Vancouverite, Geoff Martinson, was second with a time of 30:30. Kelly and Geoff also finished 1-2 of 4,657 finishers at last year's GoodLife Fitness Victoria Half Marathon; their times were 1:04:59 and 1:05:18. Adam Byles finished third in 32:07.
Natasha's time of 34:03 was enough to win but was just short of the course record set by Lioudmila Kortchguina last year who came in second place with a time of 34:11. Dayna Pidhoresky from Vancouver was third with a time of 34:39. "I felt good out there
and was quick for the first 5K", Kelly said after finishing. "My plan was to take the lead at the beginning and try to keep it through 10K." Kelly took the lead at the gun and never looked back. Kelly is no stranger to Vancouver races having won this
year's Sun Run and used the Vancouver Eastside 10K as a tune up for his marathon distance debut at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon coming up on October 19th. Here is a link to the full story on the Eastside 10K website: http://www.canadarunningseries.com/eastside/es10kNEWS.htm#report14
September 13, 2014
Erin Burrett
Erin placed 12th overall of 226 finishers in 23:47 to finish as first female at the Run for the Mountain today in Nanaimo. The race winner was 16-year-old Dover Secondary student
Nic Ascui in 20:11.
September 13, 2014
Daniel Hoyne, Robbie Deacon, Bridget Cameron and Lucy Smith
Daniel won the 6.8K race in 21:38 and Robbie won the 2.4K race in 9:12 at VRS #2 staged at Beaver Lake Park today while Bridget,
10:31, and Lucy, 24:05, topped the women's fields. There were 19 finishers in the 2.4K race including 11 Harriers and 27 finishers in the 6.8K race including another 14 Harriers.
September 7, 2014
Kevin Jones and Rob Grant
After a long, three-year absence from racing Kevin and Rob came back with a bang both winning their age categories at MEC #4 at Lochside School today. Dr. Spin won
the M60 division in the 10K in 49:54 while Dr. Happy won the M60 division in the 15K in 1:11:15. The 5K race winner was Eric Leydon in 18:01, Graham Obee won the 10K in 36:43 while Scott Holland won the 15K in 59:02. There were 198 finishers in the three
MEC races.
September 7, 2014
Jericho O'Connell, Claire Morgan and Gary Duncan
After 16 consecutive victories by the Nelson brothers, with Mark winning for the first 11 years and Shawn winning for the last 5 years, the
Metchosin Days 5K has a new champion with Harriers' Jericho O'Connell breaking the tape in 16:20 which was 28 seconds ahead of Shawn Nelson who placed second followed by Lehlohonolo Khetheng in third place in 18:06. He was the top junior of the 156 finishers
in the race. Claire was the top female placing sixth overall in 18:30 followed by Gary Duncan, seventh overall in 18:45 to win the M50 division by over 2 minutes.
September 7, 2014
Colin Dignum
Colin finished third overall Coho 14K Run in 49:10 to win the M40 division. The race champion was Craig McMillan in 48:08, followed by 54-year-old Mark Bennett in 48:12. There
were 573 finishers at the Coho Run today.
September 7, 2014
Cheryl Nicholls, Phil Nicholls, Shelagh Machin and Carlos Castillo
Cheryl finished second overall to win the F40 division in 39:54, Phil also finished in 39:54 to win the M50 division, Shelagh
won the F50 division and Carlos was once again a reliable sweep at the second annual and final Oak Bay Zoot 10K today. Kate Scallion won the race in 39:15 compared to Geoff Martinson's winning time of 30:08 last year. Due to the severe drop in attendance
of only 46 finishers this year compared to 117 finishers last year, Phil has decided to cancel the event on perhaps the busiest weekend of the year with 6 races in Victoria and 6 more in Vancouver. Besides the 46 Zoot finishers, MEC had 198 finishers
in 3 races at Lochside School, VRS had 55 finishers at Beaver Lake, and the Metchosin Days 5K had 157 finishers for a total of 455 participants for 6 Victoria races. On the mainland, the Grouse Grind attracted 349 finishers, the Coho 14K added another
573 finishers and the Whistler GranFondo cycling event had 4 races with 3,254 finishers. The grand total of athletes participating in the 12 races was 4,631.
September 6, 2014
Eric Evans and Lucy Smith
Eric and Lucy were the top Harriers finishing fourth and tenth overall in 14:55 and 16:17 at the first of three Victoria Run Series cross country races at Beaver
Lake Park starting today and including events on September 13 and 27. The 4K Race was won by Daniel Hoyne, of the famous Hoyne Brewery family, in 14:09, followed by Connor Foreman in 14:18 and Nick Walker placed third in 14:29. Lucy was the top female
in 16:17 while Julia Tschanz took second in 16:30 and Harriers' Nancy Baxendale was third in 17:21. Several of the PIH Youth team placed very well as 12 of them ran the race with Eric Evans, Jericho O'Connell, Talen Rimmer, Taylor Lyman, Jack Stanley
and Matthew Winkler cracking the top 10 overall by placing 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th. Eight Harriers won their age categories including Eric Luchies, M12, Jack Stanley, M13, Bridget Cameron, F16, Lucy Smith, F40, Mark Ritchie, M40, Nancy Baxendale,
F50, Gary Duncan, M50, and Marcia Stromsmoe, F60. There were 66 registrations and 55 finishers today including 28 Harriers comprising almost half of the field.
September 3, 2014
Joanne Cowan
Two years ago, Harrier Joanne Cowan joined the Gorging Dragon Senior Women's Team - C Division, which means that all team members were over 60 years old. The team worked to qualify
for the National Championships which were held in Victoria at Elk Lake. At the Canadian Championships the Gorging Dragons made it to the top-5 placings and qualified for the World Championships where they were invited to the Ravenna, Italy in the summer
of 2014. The team trained all of this year taking to the water each weekend with erg training once a week, small boat training twice a week, gym work and cross-training also during winter. In March all training happens on the water - three practices
a week and various other events to train competitively. The team raised a good deal of money and departed for Italy and the Worlds in late August to compete in early September. The Gorging Dragons won a bronze medal in the 200 metre race and silver medal
in the 500 metre race. The big news is that in 2016 the World Championships are in Adalaide, Australia and Joanne is already beginning with her travel plans. The Gorging Dragon team is still accepting new, interested members and is hoping to form a mixed
team this year, Joanne cross-trained by running with her dog Achillies, an Australian cattle dog that is her personal trainer, and with ballet by attending once a week in adult ballet classes at Colwood Corners. Ballet keeps her fit and with improves
her balance and flexibility.
August 23, 2014
Lucy Smith
This year’s SeaWheeze Sunset Festival, sponsored by Lululemon Athletica, was out of this world. It featured an evening of outdoor yoga, music, tasty food and a few brews. Runners
danced the night away to a great band on a licensed patio with a gourmet grab-and-go food dinner while watching stellar sunset views overlooking the Pacific Ocean from Vancouver’s iconic Stanley Park. The SeaWheeze Half Marathon, starting and finishing
at Brockton Oval, attracted a staggering 8,233 finishers and Harriers' Lucy Smith once again topped the women's field by finishing a very respectable 10th overall in 1:20:18. A model of consistency, Lucy was 11th overall in last year's race of 7,607
finishers, first female in 1:20:35, a mere 17 seconds slower than she ran today. The race winner was Tom Clifford in 1:10:52, followed by New Zealander, Nicholas Browne in 1:11:11, and last year's winner, Zachary Cater-Cyker took third in 1:12:30. Victoria's
Care Nelson was 4th female in 1:26:26.
August 16, 2014
Adam Campbell
The Squamish 50 is one TOUGH RACE and is a truly unforgettable trail ultra experience. With over 85% singletrack trails and more than 11,000 feet of climbing and descent topped
off by stunning, sweeping vistas across glaciated snow capped peaks that jut straight out of the Pacific Ocean, this course takes your breath away! The Arcteryx Squamish Trail Running Festival features 5 events over 3 days and includes a Kids' Run, 23K
Race, 50K Race, 50 Mile Race and a 50/50 Race for 34 crazy runners who ran BOTH the 50 Miler and the 50K Race back-to-back. Ten Harriers made the trip across the water, three ran the 50K and seven ran the 23K, and all placed very well in their respective
distances and age categories. Adam Campbell won the 50K race in 4:55:01 to top 210 finishers with a 25-minute margin of victory. Ellie Greenwood finished third overall and was the first female in 5:20:39, a mere 3 seconds behind second place finisher,
Eric Carter, who ran 5:20:36. Harriers' Garth Campbell was 12th overall in 5:55:56 and Larry Nylen was 48th in 7:17:54. Both described the race as the most difficult 50K they had ever run! In the shorter 23K race, the winners were Mario Mendoza, 1:45:28,
and Anne-Marie Madden, 10th overall of 231 finishers in 2:04:46. Good performances from club members included Kibben Guy, 14th in 2:10:24, Jeremy Lawrence, 19th in 2:15:32, Franck Germain, 28th in 2:23:17, Heather Bretschneiderer, 7th female and 31st
overall in 2:25:20, Kristy Petovello, 40th in 2:30:07, Valerie Bell, 84th in 2:53:14, and Lisa Cantwell, 106th in 3:02:49. The 50 Mile race attracted 199 finishers and was won by Mike Elson in 7:38:12 and Kim Magnus; she was 20th OA in 9:14:00. With
34 finishers in the 50/50 race, the first runners to break the tape were Michael Wardian, 13:45:10 (8:13:25 for the 50 Miles and 5:31:45 for the 50 Kilometres), and Kathy McKay, 9:59:35(9:59:35 for 50Mi. and 6:57:01 for 50K). In the 4 adult races and
the kids' race there were a total of 774 finishers at Squamish today. Details will be updated tonight.
August 15, 2014
Michael Barber
Michael recently went to England and Hawaii and ran a few races while he was on holidays with his dad, Gary, and family. Here is his report: "I went to England for three weeks
and I competed in a race while I was there. It was called the Totnes One Mile Road Race and I came in first overall with a time of 4:43 which was big P.B. by 18 seconds as my best road mile before was 5:01. I also went to Hawaii for two weeks and did
a Track 800 Metre Race when I was there. My time was 2:15. The week before, I did the Victoria Q Track Series and my time in the 800m race was 2:14. I am planning to run the GoodLife Fitness Victoria 8K Road Race and my goal is 29:30. My dad wanted me
to tell you of my recent races and I hope to see you on October 12 for the GoodLife Fitness Victoria 8K."
August 10, 2014
Kris Swanson
Kris won the Emperor's Challenge Mountain Race for the 15th time only NOT winning it in 2006 when another Harrier, Steve Osaduik, was the race champion in 1:22:00. Here is the story
from the Tumbler Ridge News provided by Editor, Trent Ernst: "For the fifteenth time in the 16-year history of the Emperor’s Challenge, Kris Swanson has won the Emperor’s Challenge. He won the race quite handily, finishing ten minutes ahead
of the next male competitor, crossing the finish line at 1:23:48. This is not a record time for the race, but improves upon his 1:25:18 result from last year. In 2013, the course was tweaked, adding a few hundred metres to the overall length, making
it nearly impossible for an overall course record to be set, but Swanson’s time is the fastest ever on the current version of the course, at an average of 4:11 per kilometre. Swanson’s best run came in 2009, when he finished the course in
1:15:07. Johnathan Heinze from Calgary was the second person across the finish line, at 1:39:17. Sharleen Balogh of Prince George is on her way to become the female version of Swanson, winning the race for the third time in a time of 1:46:16, seven minutes
ahead of the next female competitor. She also improves on her last year’s time of 1:47:19, or an average of 5:19 per kilometre. However, she was a few minutes off her best time, set in 2012, of 1:43:27. 679 people started the 20 km race, the most
ever, with another 63 kids participating in the 2 km and 4 km events. The weather was cool but not cold, and while it was a bit windy at the top, it was an ideal day for running in the mountains. While there were some sprained ankles and other assorted
injuries, there were no major problems. Eugene Barton of Charlie Lake not only earned his five-year bib, but, at age 81, took first place in the Super Masters Men’s category, beating out all the other men over the age of 65. He finished in a time
of 3:04:53. The youngest racer to compete in the 20 km race was Levi Benke of Chetwynd, who was one of a handful of single-digit racers this year. However, Benke was the youngest, at 8-years old. He finished the race in 3:28:44. Thirty people earned
their five-year perpetuity bib, with one earning their blue bib, having started participating in the kids races. There are now 144 people who have done the race five times or more. For three people—Paul Thibodeau, Shannon Fry and Kelly Fry—this
year marked their tenth Emperor’s Challenge, and three others—Charles Helm, Birgit Sharman and Kris Swanson—have raced in every single Emperor’s Challenge ever held. While the race honoured its veterans, over half the people running
this year were new to the course. As usual, women out numbered the men by a factor of two to one."
August 9, 2014
Gary Duncan, Claire Morgan, Larry Nylen and Valerie Bell
Gary, Claire, Larry and Val recorded their highest overall finishing positions ever in the 12-year history of the Gutbuster Race Series
by placing 2nd (Gary), 5th (Claire), 6th (Larry), and 20th (Val), of 71 finishers at the Mount Washington Gutbuster today, the fourth and final race in the Island GB Series. Last year's event attracted 67 finishers and the first year for Mount Washington
was 2008 where if had 66 finishers. Their times were 51:50, 54:23, 56:13 and 1:08:46, all P.B.s, and all of them, except Larry, topped their age categories today with Gary running over three minutes faster than last year and Larry running one minute
faster than last year. Larry had to settle for second place in the M50 division, behind Gary, who won the Series M50 title as did Claire, F30, and Val, F50. To put Gary's brilliant second place overall finish in perspective, Matt Clout is a renowned
high performance road runner who finished first overall at Mount Washington in 51:14, while Gary was only 36 seconds back in 51:50. He was 1 minute, 15 seconds clear of third place finisher, 20-year-old James Rolfe, who hit the line in 53:05. Matt Clout
finished second overall to Geoff Martinson in the inaugural Oak Bay Zoot 10K last September; their times were 30:08 and 30:24. Gary is definitely in good company by finishing as runner-up to a 30-minute 10Ker, Matt, on a very challenging mountain race
course today!
August 3, 2014
Erik Evans and Bertrand Bozek
Erik placed second overall winning the M18 age category while Bertrand placed fourth overall and won the M45 age category at the 35th annual Self-Transcendence Triathlon/Duathlon
held at Elk Lake today. Erik's time was 1:09:41 in the Sprint Division including a 750 metre swim in 13:27, a 20K cycle in 34:58 and a 5K run in 17:40, which was the fastest run time of 106 finishers. Bertrand finished in 1:10:43 with splits of 12:13,
36:17 and 20:41. The Sprint Division winners were Jarorlav Ploc, from Moravska, Trebova, in 1:08:08, and Michelle Hennighan, of Vancouver, in 1:16:02; she was 6th overall. The Olympic Distance champions were Duncan's Jason Sandquist, in 2:06:25, and
Victoria's Alison Hooper, fourth overall in 2:13:22. There were 133 finishers in the Olympic Triathlon, 106 finishers in the Sprint Triathlon, 37 in the Duathlon and 88 on Relay Teams for a total of 364. This was 44 less than last year which attracted
408 finishers.
July 26, 2014
Geoff Martinson and Claire Morgan
Geoff won the Timex BC Series outright by simply destroying all other male competitors while Claire was the top Harrier placing sixth overall in the women's field
as the 15-race Series wrapped up in Vancouver last weekend. Other Harriers in the Series top 10 included Logan Roots, 4th, Craig Odermatt, 6th, and Brittany Therrien, 10th. From the BC Athletics website: 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. Similar stories played out down the field for minor places, as runners
either completed their fifth race in the series to qualify for series awards, or looked to discard a low score with a faster time. The Timex BC Road Running Series comprised 15 races, held throughout the province, starting at the Harriers Pioneer 8K
in Saanichton in January, and concluding with Saturday’s Summerfast 10K in Vancouver’s Stanley Park. Times are converted to a point score, with an athlete’s 5 best scores determining their place in the rankings. The top 4 men and women
at the series end are invited to represent BC at the Timex Series Finale held in conjunction with the Canadian 10K Championship at the Oasis ZooRun 10K in Toronto on September 20. When the dust (or more accurately the rain) had settled, VFAC’s
Doerksen beat Watkins by just 4 points, 4398 to 4394. Sabrina Wilkie took third with 4355 points. Top 10 women were: 1. Kimberley Doerksen 4398 2. Catherine Watkins 4394 3. Sabrina Wilkie 4355 4. Jen Moroz 4195 5. Melissa Ross 4185 6. Claire Morgan 4165
7. Katherine Moore 4136 8. Shauna Gersbach 4063 9. Kristin Smart 4056 10. Brittany Therrien 3989 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. Despite Theo Hunt beating Adam Byles on the day, his margin was not enough to surpass Byles in the rankings, as Byles scored
4324 to Hunt’s 4315. Top 10 men were: 1. Geoff Martinson 4527 2. Adam Byles 4324 3. Theo Hunt 4315 Logan Roots 4181* *Not eligible for prizing YK member 4. Kevin O'Connor 4174 5. Nicholas Browne 4110 6. Craig Odermatt 4095 7. Mark Bennett 4031
8. Chris Barth 3963 9. Aaron Weidman 3950 10. Chris Napier 3853 Complete 2014 Timex BC Road Running Series information and rankings can be found here. The 2015 Timex BC Series will kick off again on January 11, 2015 at the Harriers Pioneer 8K, also hosting
the 2015 BC 8K Championship.
July 24, 2014
Kirsten Sweetland and Kyle Jones
Harriers' Kirsten and Kyle had impressive performances on the world stage in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow today with second and eleventh place finishes in
the triathlon. This story was provided by Times Colonist Sports Director, Cleve Dheensaw. GLASGOW — If Kirsten Sweetland isn't careful, people might start calling her Silken. Describe it as a rebound, comeback, breakout or turnaround. However you
categorize Kirsten Sweetland’s season, just call her a Commonwealth Games silver medallist as she continues to fashion one of the great Vancouver Island comeback sports stories since rower Silken Laumann returned from serious injury to medal at
the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics. Sweetland, a Victoria triathlete, became the first Canadian to reach the podium at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games when she captured the silver medal today at Strathclyde Country Park in North Lanarkshire, between
Hamilton and Motherwell. The Stelly's Secondary School graduate was sandwiched between English competitors, winner Jodie Stimpson and bronze-medallist Vicky Holland. Sweetland completed the 1.5 K swim, 40 K bike race and 10 K run in 1:59:01 with Stimpson
across in 1:58:56 and Holland in 1:59:11. "I was always gunning for a medal," said Sweetland, her growing confidence become more evident. "Obviously, I wanted gold. But I am happy for anything. During the race, I felt OK. I didn't really feel bad, but
I didn’t feel great, either. On the run, I tried to stick on Jodie’s [Stimpson's] shoulder, which paid off." A lead group of six emerged in the early portion of the run and included Stimpson, Sweetland, Holland, Emma Jackson of Australia,
Andrea Hewitt of New Zealand and Aileen Reid of Northern Ireland. Stimpson, Sweetland and Holland dropped the other three as the trio charged to the podium with Stimpson’s final kick proving unstoppable for both Sweetland and Holland. But that
hardly took away from Sweetland's accomplishment on the day and on the season. The Islander’s stirring comeback year comes after losing the better part of three years earlier in her career with painful career-threatening injuries. After winning
the 2006 world junior championship, her future suddenly seemed in doubt. But now the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics beckon. The Commonwealth Games achievement comes after a 2014 campaign that included Sweetland winning her first medal in a World Series race
— a bronze in Hamburg, Germany, earlier this month — following seventh-place finishes in both the Chicago and Cape Town World Series races earlier this year. Maybe it has something to do with a different perspective brought by a new coach
— Shaun Stephens from Team Sky Cycling. Stephens said to me: "Bring me home a medal. I want a medal. I hope you'll do better than we are doing on the Tour de France." Victoria-based Ellen Pennock of Calgary, a UVic sciences major who was second
last year in the U-23 women’s world championship, spilled hard to the pavement in the biking portion of the Commonwealth Games race and has a suspected broken collarbone. The Commonwealth Games women’s race was top-rate with seven of the
top 12 racers in the world competing. The men’s race, which included Matt Sharpe of Victoria, was no less so and featured the 2012 London Summer Olympics gold and bronze medallist brothers Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee of England. The Brownlees
finished first and second today in Glasgow with Alistair winning in 1:48:50, Jonathan taking silver in 1:49:01 and Richard Murrray of South Africa bronze in 1:50:21. Claremont Secondary grad Sharpe is the 2012 Canadian U-23 champion and 2010 Canadian
junior champion, who in 2010 placed in the top-10 at the world junior championships. Canada used a team approach to make an impact against the Brownlees. Sharpe, a 22-year-old native of Campbell River, is a fast starter in the opening swim and cycle
segments and acted as a domestique to pace Canadian teammates Kyle Jones of Oakville, Ont., and Andrew Yorke of Caledon, Ont. The rabbit technique, used extensively in track and field and cycling, was considered controversial when Canada used it to tremendous
advantage at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics where domestique Colin Jenkins helped pull Simon Whitfield of Victoria to the silver medal. It almost worked again as Yorke placed fourth here in 1:50:40. Jones, a former Victoria resident and training partner
of Whitfield, was 11th in 1:52:15. Sharpe, who finished 21st in 1:56:56, did his job on the front end. That’s what he was sent here to do.
July 20, 2014
Jack Stanley and Jack Cooper
Jack and Jack, two members of the PIH Youth Team coached by Bruce Deacon, had outstanding performances at the BC Summer Games in Nanaimo during the past 4 days. Jack
Stanley ran an aggressive race to claim a silver medal in the 2,000 metre event. His time of 6:01 was a 6-second personal best performance. Jack Cooper ran the third leg of the gold medal 4x400 metre team including team mates Luke Armstrong, from Duncan,
Simon Morrison, Nanoose Bay, and Daniel Beaule, Comox. He also placed 5th in the 800 metre race against a very competitive field. Vancouver Island finished second to Fraser Valley with 182 medals including 74 golds, 56 silvers and 52 bronzes. Fraser
Valley collected 80 golds, 71 silvers and 55 bronzes for a total of 200 medals. Vancouver-Squamish was third with 123 followed by Fraser River Delta, 4th with 83, Thompson-Okanagan, 5th with 79, Kootenays, 6th with 23, Cariboo Northeast, 7th with 17,
and Northwest, 8th with 13 medals.
July 19, 2014
Logan Roots, Craig Odermatt and Claire Morgan
Logan, Craig and Claire where the top runners from Victoria, the top club members and all three of them won their age categories finishing 4th, 7th
and 29th overall of 417 participants in 32:42, 33:35 and 36:54 at the Summerfast 10K today in Vancouver. The Stanley Park event is hosted by the Vancouver Falcons Athletic Club, is sponsored by Running Room, and is the official BC 10K Road Running Championship
for 2014 and 2015 taking over the championship status from the Sun Run which hosted the provincial championship in 2013 and 2012. The top three men at Summerfast were all from Vancouver with Kelly Wiebe, 30:17, first, Theo Hunt, 31:28, second, and Adam
Byles, 31:44, third. Logan's fourth place finish in 32:42 was a personal best time and moved him up substantially in the Timex BC Series standings. The top three women were Rachel Cliff, Vancouver, 8th overall in 33:58, Whitehorse's Lindsay Carson, 12th
in 34:47, and Kimberly Doerksen, from Gibsons, 17th in 35:17. Although Craig was the highest finishing master in the M40 division, Mark Bennett, of Vancouver, stole the show finishing 3 seconds ahead of him in 6th place overall to capture the master's
M50 crown recording the event's highest age-graded ranking of 93.5%. Vancouver's Catherine Watkins was the top female master; she finished 20th OA in 35:59, and was 5th female, 17 seconds behind Vancouver's Sabrina Wilkie. Harriers' Colin Dignum, former
Royal Victoria Marathon champion, won the M45 division at Summerfast; he was 16th OA in 34:56. The 417 finishers included 200 women and 217 men and 417 was 45 fewer than last year's total of 462 finishers. Full results are on the RaceDay Timing website.
July 13, 2014
Erik Evans
Seven Harriers, primarily the PIH Youth Team coached by Bruce Deacon, raced on the weekend at the BC Track and Field Championships in Kamloops. The Harrier Carrier was used for transportation
and the club subsidized ferry fares on and off the Island. Battling sizzling 34C to 38C temperatures, the team came home with 5 medals and some personal best times. Robbie Deacon debuted at the Midget Boys 1,500 Metre Steeplechase and reached the podium
with a bronze medal run. Bruce Deacon and Ian Searle were first and second in the Senior Men's 5,000 Metre Race with times of 15:30 and 15:40. Erik Evans had an outstanding weekend by winning a gold medal in the Junior Division of the 5,000 Metre Race
in 15:05. He returned the next evening to claim a silver medal in the 1,500 Metre Race with a personal best time of 4:02.34. Jack Cooper narrowly missed his best time to take fourth place in the Midget Boys 800 Metre Race in 2:04.53. Liam Boland finished
strongly to record a personal best performance in the Youth 800 Metre Race while Kalum Delaney ran very close to his personal best times in the Steeplechase, 1,200 Metre and 2,000 Metre Races.
July 12, 2014
Kyle Jones
TORONTO — Harriers' Kyle Jones completed a strong tune-up race before representing Canada at the Commonwealth Games by winning the men’s ITU Pan American Cup Race in Toronto
today. Dominika Jamnicky captured her first career win in the women’s race. The 29-year-old Jones, who grew up just west of Canada’s largest city in Oakville, ON, but trained for a number of years in Victoria with PIH team mate Simon Whitfield,
was at the front of the pack through the 1.5-kilometre swim in Lake Ontario, the 40-kilometre bike that blasted past many of Toronto’s key landmarks and the 10-kilometre run where he pulled away from the field to post a winning time of 1:48:26.
Jones and Alexander Hinton, of Kingston, Ont., controlled the pace while marching shoulder-to-shoulder through each of the three legs until Hinton was forced to serve a penalty during the run allowing Jones, a 2012 Olympian – to run to gold in
the unofficial test event for the 2015 Pan Am Games that will take place in exactly one years time in Toronto. Hinton settled for the silver medal at 1:48:35. Jason Wilson, of Barbados, was third at 1:49:36. Jones will now pack his bags and head off
to Glasgow, Scotland for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, July 23 – August 3. The ITU Pan American Cup Race was being held in conjunction with the Toronto Triathlon Festival, which highlighted a weekend of sport and cultural celebrations as Toronto
officially launched its one year countdown to hosting the 2015 Pan Am Games.
July 12, 2014
Kirsten Sweetland
From the Canadian Press: Kirsten Sweetland won her first career bronze medal today at the World Triathlon Series in Hamburg, Germany. Sweetland, a Harrier from Victoria, has
struggled with a series of injuries over the past six years, putting her career in jeopardy. She made it to the podium at one of the largest triathlons in the world after a sprint to the finish. "I'm absolutely shocked," said Sweetland. "I knew I was
in good form, but I had no idea that I had this in me today." After a solid 750-metre swim, Sweetland did most of the work on the 20-kilometre bike before pulling away from the field with a handful of the best women triathletes on the planet for the
five-kilometre run where the 25 year old led a group of five heading into the bell lap. Sweetland and Australia's Emma Jackson sparred with each other over the final two kilometres after American Gwen Jorgensen took a sizable lead. In a sprint to the
wire, Jackson edged out the Canadian in a photo finish for the silver with a time of 57:00. Sweetland also finished at 57:00. "I had been doing some good training in Spain with my friend Emma Moffat, but you never know where you are really at until you
get out here," said Sweetland, who will represent Canada at the Commonwealth Games in 10 days. Jorgensen meanwhile ran her way into the history books, becoming the first woman to win four straight World Triathlon Series races after posting a time of
56:54. Canada's Paula Findlay held the previous record, winning three WTS races in a row in 2011. Quebec City's Sarah-Anne Brault finished 11th at 57:47. Calgary's Ellen Pennock rounded out the Canadian contingent, placing 37th at 59:50. In the men's
race Andrew Yorke was the lone Canadian to suit up and finished 31st at 53:10. Britain's Alistair Brownlee won for the first time this year winning with a time of 51:43. France's Vincent Luis was second at 51:45. The younger Brownlee brother, Jonathan,
clocked-in at 51:48 for the bronze.
July 6, 2014
Natasha Wodak
Natasha made an impressive comeback to racing with a victory today at the Midsummer 8K in Kelowna after battling a plantar fasciitis injury crippled her for almost 4 months with no
running at all. She missed several key races on her schedule over this period including the Sun Run, TC10K and the Ottawa Marathon. Her last race was the Modo Spring Run-off 8K in Vancouver where she also claimed a victory over team mate, Rachel Cliff.
BC Athletics provided this race report from today: Vancouver runners clearly ruled at this year's Midsummer 8K race. Adam Byles was the winner overall in 25:13. "I was trying to get out hard and to hang in there," he said. "It was an interesting race.
I run lots on the track and liked the forth-and-back nature of the race and it's a flat course." Kevin O'Connor, also from Vancouver, finished second in 25:56 and was the top master running in the M45 division. The fastest Kelowna runner, and third overall,
was Jeff Vogt in 27:56. The women’s winner was Harriers' Natasha Wodak, from Vancouver, in 28:07. This was slower than her brilliant Canadian 8K record of 25:28 set last year at the BC 8K Road Race Championship event - the Pioneer 8K hosted by
the Harriers in January. It was a victory in Kelowna, nevertheless, which accompanies with her other 2014 wins at the Vancouver First Half Half Marathon, the St. Patrick's Day 5K and the Modo Spring Run-off 8K, both in Stanley Park. "It wasn’t
my fastest time as I have run an 8K race quite a bit faster," she said, adding: "I was caught a little off-guard at the start line as they just said 'Go' and there was no countdown. That was really funny." Second place was Kimberley Doerksen, from the
coastal town of Gibsons, BC, clocking a time of 28:30. Third woman overall was Melissa Ross, from Errington on Vancouver Island, in 29:23. Christy Lovig was and fifth overall and was the fastest woman from Kelowna finishing in 30:11. Race director R.J.
Dueck put on a fantastic race with 183 finishers. The Midsummer 8K race is part of the Interior Race Series and part of the 15-race the Timex BC Series, Canada’s only national road race series with 9 Series in all provinces across the country.
Cash prizes awaited the first three overall female and male runners and medals beckoned the first three in all age categories.
July 6, 2014
Melanie McQuaid
Melanie was the top Harrier, top female and top master at the XTerra Victoria Triathlon at Durrance Lake today, Championship Division, and was awarded an entry to the XTerra World
Championships in Maui, Hawaii, on October 26, an event that she has won three times. The Championship Division was comprised of a 1,500 metre swim in Durrance Lake, a 24K mountain bike ride on the Hartland Trails and an 8K run on the Partridge Hills
trails. The overall winner for the second consecutive year was Brent McMahon in 2:04:44, Melanie was 6th overall in 2:18:52, the same position she finished in last year. Derek Vinge, 2:09:37, was second in the Championship Division and Matt Signortly,
2:14:42, placed third. Danielle Kabush, 2:26:14, was runner-up to Melanie while Katie Button took third place in 2:32:51. There were 62 athletes in the Championship Division, up 8 from last year, 35 in the Sprint Division and 18 relay teams for a total
of 151 finishers. This was 70 more participants than the inaugural year in 2013 which attracted 81 finishers.
July 5, 2014
Thomas Holm, Chris Elliott, Paul O'Callaghan and Lisa Cantwell
Harriers dominated the feature race of the Holland Creek GutBuster #3 in Ladysmith today by taking 5 of the top 7 positions. Thomas,
1:13:57, was the race champion and Chris, 1:17:20, placed third overall on the long course while Paul, 41:52, and Lisa, 55:08, were the top Harriers with Paul claiming top master and second overall and Lisa claiming top master and second female overall
at the . The race winners of the short course were Royd Burkart, from Port Alberni in 38:44, and Carmen Goulden, in 52:45, while the long course female champion was Erica Summers; she was 10th overall of the 50 finishers in 1:35:43. Other Harriers running
well on the long course included Andrew Pape-Salmon, 4th overall and 2nd M40 in 1:18:27, Gary Duncan, 5th OA and 1st M50 in 1:22:34, Larry Nylen, 7th OA and 2nd M50 in 1:29:43, Valerie Bell, 20th OA and 1st F50, and Jeff Beddoes, 21st OA and 3rd M50.
Andrew improved his time from last year by 2 minutes, 2 seconds, Gary improved by 2:30, Larry improved by 4:07 and Val improved by 3:52 and was 4th female overall. The weather was cool and overcast with a light drizzle at times which contributed to the
better race times over last year's hot conditions. Other Harriers running well in the short course included Brandon and Austin Willson, 2nd and 3rd M16, Colleen Auringer, 5th F40, and Jane McDonald 5th F50. There were 13 Harriers at Holland Creek with
50 finishers in the long course and 62 in the short for a total of 112. Last year the event attracted 134 finishers and in 2012 there were 167.
July 5, 2014
Gary Duncan, Mark Ritchie, Logan Roots and Erik Evans
Keeping in mind that Gary ran the grueling Gutbuster long course in Ladysmith this morning and placed 5th overall, first M50, he toed the line
for three more races this evening at the Victoria Run Series Meet #5 and collected 3 more gold medals in his age category to bring his total to 4 for the day after almost 20 kilometres of racing. He won the 800 Metre Heat 1 race outright in 2:37, placed
5th in the 600 Metre Heat 1 race in 1:56 and took 6th in the feature 5,000 Metre race in 19:55. Logan dominated the 5,000 in 15:17 finishing 22 seconds ahead of triathlete star, Andrew McCarthy, while Mark Ritchie took third in 18:09. Mark was also 2nd
in the 800 Heat 2 race in 2:25 and 2nd in the 600 Metre event in 1:52. Erik, of the PIH Youth Team, destroyed the elite 800 Mere field by winning in 1:59, followed by Calvin Souto, 2:08, and Casey Atkin, 2:13. There were 62 finishers in 6 races at UVic
with 21 Harriers participating.
June 24, 2014
Bruce Deacon, Jeremy Lawrence, Nancy Baxendale and Bridget Cameron
At the 30th annual Legion Twilight Shuffle 5K in Chemainus under sunny skies tonight, Bruce, at 48 years old, keeps getting better
with age; he finished first overall and was the top master in 16:13. Jeremy, 39, finished third overall and was the top open runner in 17:58, Nancy, 53, was second female and top master in 19:16, and Bridget, 13, running her debut event as part of Bruce's
Harriers Youth Team was the first star of the race by winning the under-20 junior division by an astonishing 8 minutes, 2 seconds over Raya Rowan, 19:45 to 27:47. Bridget was the third female to finish of 138 women and 75 men for a total of 213 finishers
which was an improvement of 72 finishers over last year's mark of 141. Bastion's Jill Ramstead, 33, was the female race champion, finishing 7th overall in 19:10. Nancy was 8th and Bridget was 12th of the 213 finishers. Richard Light, 43, of CeeVacs was
runner-up in the race finishing second overall and was second master in 17:34, 1:21 back of Bruce's winning time of 16:13. The Harriers dominated the gold medal position by winning 8 of the 18 age categories ranging from Boys and Girls 01-10 to Men and
Women 80+. Age division winners included Bridget Cameron (F11-15), Eric Hartford (M16-19), Jeremy Lawrence (M30-39), Binder Kelsall (F40-49), Bruce Deacon (M40-49), Nancy Baxendale (F50-59), the indestructible Gary Duncan (M50-59) and the legendary Garth
Ball (M70-79). To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the event, Race Director Phil Nicholls, offered many extra special touches for all race participants. An attractive light emerald green race shirt featuring a new eagle graphic was enjoyed by all. Long
sleeve, dark forest green logo'd technical shirts were given to race volunteers. Glass mugs etched with the new eagle logo were presented to the first open and first master male and female in the race and all participants received a large water bottle
with the race logo, a Rudy pair of socks, a Zoot iPhone case and a Rudy pen. The twilight Shuffle has a rich history of attracting many top-calibre runners over the 30 years including course record holder, Ryan McKenzie, who ran 14:23 to nip Cam Levins
by 3 seconds in 2009. From 1985 to 2007 (for the first 23 years) the course was 4 Miles, rather than 5K, and Harriers won the event for the first six years. Phil Nicholls won the 4 Miler in 1985 and 1986 in 21:36 and 20:59, Bob Reid won in 1987, 20:53,
Tom Michell won in 1988, 19:52, and Gary Barber won in 1988 and 1990 in 19:49 and 19:28. Jody Ooms and Steve Osauik boast the most Twilight Shuffle victories with 4 while Sheron Chrysler and Lucy Smith also have 4 overall wins on the women's side. Lucy
currently holds the 5K course record of 16:49 set in 2009 while Liz Jones set the 4 Mile course record of 21:42 in 1993. In 2002 Kenyan Enok Keeter and Harriers Bruce Deacon finished 1-2 and blistered to a 4 Mile course record of 18:31 and 19:09 with
their race pace averaging 4:38 and 4:47 per mile. The highest number of finishers at the Twilight Shuffle is 733 in 2004 while the lowest number of finishers is 141 in 2013. It was a very successful event on all fronts tonight for the club and for the
event and a rewarding experience to see the race rebound with an increase of 72 finishers over last year. Special thanks goes to Harriers Maurice Tarrant, Mike Emerson, Bob Reid and Gary Duncan for volunteering at the 30th anniversary Twilight Shuffle
5K.
June 22, 2014
Mark Ritchie and Kirsten Arensen
Mark finished fifth overall and he was first master in 38:13, and Kirsten was 22nd OA, third female, and first master in 42:03, at the Navy 10K Run in Esquimalt
today. The top three men were Nick Walker, 32:43, Glenn Lear, 36:38, and Geoff McGregor, 37:30, while the top three women were Mary McGregor, 38:12, Sarah-Mae Adam, 41:52, and Kirsten Arensen, 42:03. There were 282 finishers in the 10K race and another
172 finishers in an accompanying 5K race for a total of 454 finishers.
June 22, 2014
Jim Finlayson, David Jackson and Richard Mosley
Jim was the top master finishing 5th overall in 1:08:21, David finished 7th overall in 1:08:47 and Richard was 9th in 1:11:17at the ScotiaBank Vancouver
Half Marathon today. Harriers' Craig Odermatt was second master finishing 4 1/2 minutes back of Jim in 1:12:50. There were 3,979 finishers including 1,451 men and 1,882 women. The following race report was provided by BC Athletics: VANCOUVER. June 22nd.
Dylan Wykes and Lanni Marchant showed why they are Canada’s #1 ranked Men’s and Women’s marathoners with emphatic victories at today’s Scotiabank Vancouver Half-marathon. Wykes ran 63:52 for his win; Marchant 73:41 for the Women’s
crown. Conditions were perfect for the 4,000 half-marathoners who lined up at UBC at 7:30 am. Skies were clear and bright, the temperature was 12c, and there was hardly a breath of wind throughout the majestic course along Pacific shores, down to world-famous
Stanley Park. Another 2,100 participants ran and walked in the accompanying 5K in the park. Combined, the 6,100 entrants came from 29 countries, 8 Canadian provinces, and 30 American states. Together, they raised an impressive $830,000 for 79 mostly-local
charities in the Scotiabank Charity Challenge. The story of the day was “Dylan’s back”! It’s been 2 years of injuries and fatigue as Wykes has battled back from his London Olympic marathon journey that saw him race 4 hard marathons
in a year. Under the guidance of Coach Richard Lee at the BC Endurance Project he has worked his way back to 140km to 160km training weeks, and 2 solid 10K performances this Spring – a 29:11 in the Sun Run in April and a 29:40 in Ottawa on May
24th. Today was his first longer-distance race, and he meant business from the Start. He pulled a pack of 5 through the first kilometre in 2:50. By 3km [8:44] they were down to four: Wykes, defending champion Kip Kangogo who has owned this race, winning
4 of the last 5 editions, Rob Watson and Athletics Toronto’s Sami Jibril. After the group cruised through 5km in 14:49, Dylan began to turn the screws. First his training partner Watson slipped back, then Kangogo and Jibril together. He passed
10k in a brisk 29:31, and 15k in 44:53. Although he tired a little in the numerous turns around Kits Point [16k to 18k] and over the challenging Burrard Bridge [18k to 19k], he crossed the line almost a minute and a half clear of a beaten Kangogo [65:14].
Watson came back on Jibril on the hill to West 4th at 12k then held on for 3rd [67:16], with Jibril 4th in 67:38. Victoria, BC, Masters’ star, Jim Finlayson, who set a new provincial 10,000m on the track 2 weeks ago [31:04] came on to take 5th
in 68:21. A visibly delighted Wykes said, “It felt great today. At least for about 15k! The second half was tough, with no one to push me, but I’m pleased with the win.” Lanni Marchant also had something to prove, as she toed the line
in her final tune-up before running for Canada in the Commonwealth Games Marathon on July 27th in Glasgow, Scotland. Following her outstanding 2:28:00 performance at last October’s Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon that took out a 28-year-old
national record, Marchant had a good winter training in Kenya with American Desi Linden. She then showed she could race competitively on the international scene with a strong 14th place finish at the Boston Marathon in April. “I’m very happy
with today,” she said. “It was a real confidence booster. My training’s been a bit up and down since Boston, with the recovery, plus a bunch of 10k races I’ve done. I wasn’t sure exactly where I was fitness, and long-distance
racing-wise. I planned to go through 10k in around 35 minutes today, and run around the time I did. I feel I’m in a good place for Glasgow.” Like Wykes, Marchant took charge early. She moved away from a women’s pack around 4km, passed
10km in 34:29, and never looked back. The race for the places was a good deal more absorbing, as Corner Brook, NL's Kate Bazeley proved her 2:40:49 marathon debut in Houston in January was no fluke. Through the first 15km, Bazeley battled Vancouver Marathon
winner [2:37:00], Kim Doerksen of Gibson’s, BC, plus outstanding Masters’ athletes, Catherine Watkins [BC Endurance Project] and Marilyn Arsenault [Victoria, BC]. The 23-year-old Doerksen went out aggressively, but eventually faded to 4th
in 77:01. Bazeley proved the best of the bunch, coming home 2nd in 76:40, with the indefatigable, 46-year-old Arsenault catching Doerksen coming down off Burrard Bridge [19km] to take 3rd [76:52]. Watkins, who has raced a lot recently in a banner season,
was 5th in 77:44. All in all, it was a “day for the ages”, as young, developing athletes Jibril and Doerksen gained valuable experience; veterans Finlayson, Arsenault and Watkins were superb – with Arsenault claiming she might be old
but is still “gnarly” — and the class of the field stamped their authority all over it, showing why they are Canada’s best and Scotiabank Vancouver Half marathon 2014 champions.
June 21, 2014
Jamie Sparling and Claire Morgan
Jamie, an experienced road bike racer, and Claire, an experienced mountain bike racer, were the top Harriers leading a record field of 458 finishers home at the
10th annual Kusam Klimb, a 13.8 mile extreme mountain run today near Sayward. This is a race that climbs 5,000 feet and is billed, "Are You Tough Enough?". Jamie finished third overall in his first serious mountain race with a time of 2:27:24. First
place went to Nick Elson, in 2:09:25, while Eric Carter placed a distant second, over 16 minutes back in 2:25:56. Claire dominated the women's field by finishing in 2:49:12, 13th overall and established a new women's course record. She also won the race
in 2004 in 3:05:41. Second place went to Sandra Jensen, 19th OA in 3:02:11, and Kelsey Kroll took third, 22nd OA in 3:06:43. Other Harriers running extremely well at the extreme mountain race were Andrew Pape-Salmon, 8th overall, 2nd master in 2:37:35,
Gary Duncan, 18th OA, 1st M50 in 2:52:46, Larry Nylen, 24th OA, 3rd M50 in 3:07:14, Valerie Bell, 88th OA, 4th F50, 3:55:30, Elaine Galbraith, 109th OA, 10th F40 in 4:14:40, and Andrew Galbraith, 141st OA, 20th M40 in 4:38:34. The final runner completed
the course in 11 hours, 57 minutes and 2 seconds. The record number of 458 finishers today eclipsed last year's mark of 424 finishers.
June 15, 2014
Steve Osaduik
Perhaps one of the greatest club members over the past 15 years, Steve is a three-time winner of the GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon, a three-time winner of the Times Colonist
10K and a six-time champion of the Frontrunners Island Race Series with more than 30 overall Series race victories. It has been over two years since Steve has raced when he was named Runner of the Week for his February 5, 2012 victory at the Surf City
USA Championship Half Marathon in Huntington Beach, California. He won the race in 1:06:36 over 14,127 finishers. Six days later, he placed second in 1:07:27 to Dylan Wykes in the BC Championship First Half Half Marathon in Vancouver. Following the race,
Steve transformed from a full time athlete to a full time physical construction worker, working a grueling 10 hours a day. His slim 125-pound athletic body transformed into a muscular 140-pound labourer's body over that two year period with no running
at all. Steve visited Bob two weeks ago and said, "I need some new Harriers racing gear as my small club singlet is too tight and I want to race next weekend in Whistler." Bob outfitted him with a new medium singlet, medium shorts and medium socks and
he was good to go for his comeback race, the Comfortable Numb 25K rugged trail race in Whistler. He was a little nervous going into the event as he had only been back running for three weeks, getting up at 5:00 am to train for an hour or two before going
to work at 7:30 am. Once the starter's pistol was fired, the nerves disappeared quickly as Steve, now 35 years old, was first to break the tape at the Comfortably Numb 25K in 2:03:20 good for a 57 second margin of victory over Chuck Cosman, 31, who finished
in 2:04:18, followed by Vincent Pagot, 27, in 2:04:52. The top three women were Laura Bestow, 28, 9th OA in 2:15:46, Harriers Cara Williams, 36, 19th in 2:26:31, and Victoria's Jennie Sprigings, 34, 22nd in 2:31:02. There were 91 finishers at the Comfortably
Numb 25K including 47 men and 44 women in a unique trail race that only has three age categories, under-40, 40 to 49 and 50 and older. Welcome back to the racing scene, Steve, well done with your comeback victory in Whistler in a new medium Harriers
singlet!
June 15, 2014
Jeremy Lawrence
Jeremy was the overall winner today at Do it for Dads 8K held on the Royal Roads University grounds. It was his third victory since joining the club four years ago. He also won
the Peninsula Free 5K Run at Beacon Hill Park last year and was first to finish the Sound and Silence 10K on Lochside Trail in 2012. The Do it for Dads event is always held on Father's Day and race proceeds go to prostate cancer research. The Prostate
Centre helps men and their families through the decision-making and healing phases of prostate cancer. From prevention and screening, to treatment and recovery, we provide support every step of the way. Races are held across Canada and millions of dollars
have been donated and raised for research. Prostate cancer is the leading type of cancer in men: one in seven Canadian men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetimes. The 8 kilometre course is challenging with plenty of tough trail hills
that used to be part of the Royal Roads Gutbuster route. Although the event is not timed, Jeremy was 2 minutes clear of second place finisher, Tony Elwell. Harriers' David Giles had a good effort finishing 7th overall and Jane MacDonald continued with
a strong comeback race after suffering a severe injury at the Gunner Shaw Cross Country Classic last November. There were over 400 participants at the Do it for Dads event at Royal Roads.
June 13, 2014
Geoff Martinson
Geoff collected his second BC Championship road race title by winning the Longest Day 5K in Vancouver today with a course record performance of 14:33. It was his third 5K victory
this year with overall wins on March 9 at Bazan Bay, 14:12 course record of 632 finishers, and one week later he won the St. Patrick's Day 5K with another 14:24 course record over 1,715 finishers in Stanley Park. His first BC Championship road race was
at our own Harriers Pioneer 8K where he overtook Vancouver's Rob Watson at the 5 kilometre mark for a 21-second victory, 23:41 to 24:02. The following is a summary provided from the BC Athletics website. "The BlueShore Financial Longest Day Road Races,
hosted by the Vancouver Thunderbirds Club, were blessed with sunny skies on Friday evening, at the latest stop in the Timex BC Road Running Series. The feature 5K event also served as the 2014 BC Championship, as well as being part of the Lower Mainland
Road Race Series. In the 5K race, Geoff Martinson from Victoria was almost as fast off the start line as the kids had been. His 2:35 through the downhill first kilometre quickly strung out the field, leaving the contest for second place. The former World
Championship 1500 metre semi-finalist didn’t take his foot off the gas though, as his lead continued to grow all the way to the finish, coming home almost a minute clear in 14:33. In so doing Martinson added the 5K BC Championship to the 8K title
he won earlier in the year. The race for second was not decided until the final 100 metres. Christian Gravel, representing the host club while home for the summer from the University of Guelph, initially followed Martinson. But top master Kevin O’Connor
slowly reeled him in, passing Gravel briefly before entering the finish arena. Gravel was not done though, and demonstrated his superior track speed down the finish straight, edging O’Connor 15:30 to 15:32. O’Connor had the consolation of
finishing top master. The women’s race was a much closer contest for Championship honours. Training partners Sabrina Wilkie and Catherine Watkins have fought many close races this year, with only a one point average separating them in the Timex
BC Series rankings. So it was again on Friday, as they ran shoulder to shoulder through the first half of the race, before Watkins gradually moved ahead. Fearful that Wilkie would fight back, Watkins ran scared the rest of the way, to triumph in 17:03,
with Wilkie crossing the line at 17:14. Watkins also collected top master honours. Behind them Errington's Melissa Ross continued her return to fitness with a solid 17:33 clocking for third place on the podium. In the accompanying 10K race Will Cliff,
34:05, and Lissa Zimmer, 36:58, were the clear winners. There were over 750 finishers in the 5K race, with a further 500 plus in the 10K. Post race all participants were treated to the usual feast featuring hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers, fruits,
veggies, yogurt, ice cream, pies, juice & other goodies. The event was also a fund raiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. With the win, Martinson moves to the top of the Timex BC Series rankings, with two races remaining. Next up is
the Midsummer 8K in Kelowna on July 6, before wrapping up at the Summerfast 10K in Vancouver on July 19, which also serves the 2014 BC 10K Championship."
June 8, 2014
Sarah Daitch
Sarah was the top female Harrier, third woman and placed sixth overall of 193 finishers with a time of 1:35:40 at the Edge to Edge Half Marathon in Ucluelet today. She was only 17
seconds behind the race silver medalist Julianne Kucheran. The first female to the line was Andrea Lee, from Black Creek; she finished second overall in 1:34:11 while Julianne Kucheran, from Delta, took second and was fifth overall in 1:35:23. The first
three men in the E2E Half Marathon were CVRR's 50-year-old phenom, Wayne Crowe, 1:29:30, followed by Vancouver's Julien MacKenzie-Feder, 1:34:35, and J.P. D'Entremont, from Sherwood Park, AB, in 1:35:21. The marathon winners were Hjalmar Kristiansen,
from Vancouver, 3:01:14, and Nanaimo's Tanya Kormendy, 3:07:41. There were 90 finishers in the E2E Full Marathon, 193 finishers in the Half Marathon and 41 Marathon Teams for a total of 488 runners at Ucluelet today.
June 8, 2014
Melanie McQuaid
Victorians were triumphant in the United States today with Brent McMahon and Harriers' Melanie McQuaid emerging as race champions at the IRONMAN 70.3 in Boise, Idaho. Brent completed
the swim in 24:07, the bike in 2:12:30 and the run in 1:18:35 for a finishing time of 3:57:33 good for a narrow margin of victory of 12 seconds over another Victorian, Trevor Wurtele, who finished second in 3:57:47. Third place went to Luke Bell, one
minute back in 3:58:48. Melanie dominated the women's field with a margin of victory of almost 5 minutes. She finished an incredible 17th overall of 1,238 finishers in 4:24:07. Besides being the race winner, she was the top F40 master with splits of
29:09 (swim), 2:22:26, (bike) and 1:29:53 (run). Second place went to Liz Lyles, 34th overall in 4:28:55, and Sue Huse took third, 40th overall in 4:37:26. The final competitor, Mariane Duckworth, finished 1,238th in 9:18:36. The event attracts athletes
to race amidst the natural elements in the early settlers' footsteps at IRONMAN 70.3 Boise, which crisscrosses the historic Oregon Trail. Once a major hub on the Oregon Trail, Boise is an unparalleled mountain town with a unique local flavor. Eclectic
restaurants, fantastic trails and a welcoming community make the city a top outdoor destination, not to mention a prime race locale. The unique noon start time and beautiful twilight finish makes the race a particular favorite for athletes traveling
with their families. The 1.2-mile, one-loop swim begins at the Lucky Peak Reservoir, not far from where the initial settlers first viewed the Boise Valley. After their arduous trek across the desert, settlers exclaimed, "La bois", meaning "The woods",
and so christened the town after its lush rows of cottonwoods lining the Boise River. The bike course is a challenging 56 miles of hilly terrain. Athletes experience a gradual elevation gain during the first half of the ride before heading back to town.
The two-loop, 13.1 mile run winds around the Boise Greenbelt and along the scenic Boise River. The finish line is at Julia Davis Park. This race offers 30 qualifying spots to the 2015 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships. The distance is a total of 70.3
miles (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run) which is slightly over 113 kilometres for the Canadian modern day metric geek triathlete.
June 8, 2014
Kris Swanson and Claire Morgan
At the Mount Tzouhalem Gutbuster, Harrier numbers rebounded to 18 runners compared to only 5 Harriers participating at the opening Gutbuster race at Western Speedway
three weeks ago as many were off at the Sun Mountain Ultras in Winthrop, WA. At Mt. Zoo today there were 150 finishers with 86 running the long course and 64 in the short course; this was down 19 from 169 finishers last year. Twelve Harriers ran the
long course. Kris, first overall in 57:53, and Claire, eighth overall in 1:10:58, were the top male and female finishers, both easily out classing their runner-ups by 4 and a half minutes and 16 minutes respectively. Harriers' Shane Ruljancich was second
overall in 1:02:25 while Shelby Drope, of Westwood Running Club, took third in 1:04:34. In previous years Kris, Claire and Shane have represented Team Canada at World Mountain Running Championships. Top three women were all in the F30-39 age category
and included Claire, 1:10:58, Kelsey Staples in 1:26:28 and Kathy Rung in 1:27:08. The top male master was Harriers' Andrew Pape-Salmon, 4th OA in 1:08:04, and the top female master was Deb Epps, 33rd OA, 5th female in 1:29:19. Other Harriers running
well in their age categories were Gary Duncan, Larry Nylen and Brent Scott with a 1-2-3 M50-59 medal sweep, Franck Germain, Sonja Yli-Kahila, Frank Wille, Valerie Bell, 1st F50-59, and Lisa Cantwell 2nd in her final F40-49 race before she turns the big
5-0 on June 18. There were six Harriers that did the short course. Brandon Willson was top male Harrier, 10th OA and 1st M16-19 in 54:19, and Colleen Auringer was top female Harrier, 24th OA, 12th female and 5th F40-49 in 58:16. Other Harriers were Austin
Willson, Dee Ogden, Martha McNeely and Jane McDonald. The top three men, all M30-39, were Cory Ramsted, in 41:59, over 5 minutes ahead of Derek Bachman, 45:08, with Matthew Johnson another 2.5 minutes back in 47:39. Top three women were much closer and
finished 6th, 7th and 8th overall, with Brandi Simmons, F30-39 in 50:55, Carmen Goulden, F20-29 in 51:13, and Katie Nelson, 2nd F30-39 in 51:56. The top male master was Michael Lawless, 4th OA in 50:48, and the top female master was Helena Jeeves, 12th
OA in 54:47. It was a warm sunny day making for firm dry trails, a number of shirtless runners, and pleasant lounging on the lawn for the awards ceremony. Gary worked his was up the field on the climb to 7th but a short off-course diversion following
Bruce Martell nearing the top dropped him five positions and he never really recovered. Claire practically flew down the mountain likely passing 8 or more men, and finished just 4 seconds back of her next target, Bruce Martell who finished 7th in 1:10:54.
June 8, 2014
Gary Duncan
Yet another multi-race weekend for Gary achieving M50 gold medals in both the Mt. Tzouhalem Gutbuster long course in Duncan on Saturday and the MEC Half Marathon in Sooke on Sunday.
At MEC Sooke Potholes the Tape Breaker there were 189 finishers with 39 in the Half Marathon, 78 in the 10K and 72 in the 5K. The race is run along the far reaches of the wide Galloping Goose trail built over the old CN railway. The course has a fairly
constant slight incline from south to north, and only gentle bends apart from an initial sharp turn off the starting spur and two 180 degree turnarounds for the 10K and Half and just one for the 5K. Paralleling the Sooke River there are some good views
down to the water and across the valley but mainly it is a nice treed corridor. Weather conditions were great with a slightly cool and overcast day. The smooth gravel surface while likely slightly slowing is easy to run on. In the Half Marathon the lead
exchanged a couple times with sandal-wearing Glen Jasechko, M16-29, prevailing over the top master, Mike Bridges, M40-49, by 6 seconds in 1:25:42 to 1:25:48. Mike had a 200 metre lead at the far turnaround with 8K to go. Harriers' Gary Duncan, M50-59,
ended up third overall, in 1:29:09, after Chris Biscoe, 4th OA, pulled up with a stitch with about 5K to go. Gary had pulled away from Randy Humble, 6th OA, at 7.5K and they'd both pulled away from Lance Watson, 5th OA, at 2K. Chris, coached by Harrier
Shane Ruljancich, caught all three runners up by 10K and had a 300 metre lead on Gary by the far turnaround. Fresh off his 4th place finish at the Elk/Beaver 50K Ultras four weeks ago, Harriers' Matthias Schoeck was a steady but closing 7th OA and 5th
M40-49 in 1:31:32, Rob Grant, at 69 years old, and the lone M60-99 was 11th OA in 1:39:57. Rob is a Harriers ultra legend and he has run many races in sandals. Only two of the top 12 finishers were not masters. Harriers' Jane Noonan, F16-29, was the
top female and 14th OA in 1:42:46 well ahead of second place Emiko Ihara who finished in 1:52:44. In the 10K race Maarten Dankers, M30-39, 39:27, won over Hans Gare, M50-59, 41:00. The top 3 females were all F16-19 with Madeine Christie, 17th OA in 46:47,
Jes Cross, 19th OA in 47:49, and Gabrielle Vasey in 49:31. David Hoskins was the likely only Harrier and M60-99 finishing 13th OA in 44:27. It was a fast field in 5K race with Matt Cloutier, M16-29, winning in 16:20 ahead of Matt Walsh, M30-39, in 17:10,
Theo Jankowski, M16-29, in 17:13 and Robin Poirier, M16-29, in 17:27. They were followed by the top two F01-15 girls, Bridget Cameron, in 19:38, and Sarah Darcel, in 21:23. Both Gary and 10K winner Maarten, who battled it out at the Western Speedway
Gutbuster three weeks ago, only decided which race they were going to do on the walk from the parking lot to the registration table. Gary was originally only going to do the 5K after competing at the long course of Mt. Zoo Gutbuster yesterday morning,
and running the Q Victoria Run Series open 800m and 1500m at UVic yesterday evening. He is still kicking himself for not also doing the open 5000m as he likely would have won overall. Matthias and Gary also volunteered counting laps at the track. In
keeping with the low-key nature of the MEC races, medals are only given to the top 3 men and women in each race with the short presentations happening almost immediately after the third finisher crosses the line. As an interesting side issue, I noticed
that Toronto's controversial mayor, Rob Ford, must have escaped from his alcohol abuse and anger management clinic in the United States to travel to Sooke, British Columbia. He staggered his way to 11th place overall today in the MEC 10K race finishing
in 44:21 and was awarded a crack cocaine pipe for his performance!
June 8, 2014
David Jackson
David continued his success in half marathons by winning the Whistler Half Marathon today in 1:11:05. He also won the BMO Sunshine Coast Half Marathon in 1:09:09 on April 9 and collected
the 2013 Harriers award for "Excellence in Half Marathons" by completing 7 half marathons, wining four of them outright and placing in the top three in the other three races. Second place at Whistler was Javin Monds in 1:13:57 and Aidan Lennie was the
third male, fourth overall in 1:21:12. The top three women finished third, sixth and eighth overall with Anne Marie Madden winning in 1:20:33, followed by Lisa Brooking, 1:23:15, and Karen Tulloch, 1:25:15. In the accompanying 10K race, the winners were
Yannick Gerland, M19, in 36:47, and Victoria's Catrin Jones, F30, 4th overall in 41:16. There were 948 finishers in the Half Marathon and 486 finishers in the 10K for a total of 1,434 at Whistler today.
June 7, 2014
Jim Finlayson and Nancy Baxendale
Jim won the 10,000 Metre BC Championship race and Nancy was first overall in the accompanying 5,000 Metre race tonight at the VRS - Meet #3 at Centennial Stadium.
Jim comfortably topped a field of 20 starters with a time of 31:03, second place went to Courtenay's Neil Holm in 33:50 while Vince Brotherson, also of Courtenay, finished third in 34:08 to win the M50 division. The top three men were all masters as
were the first and third females. Jim's official time of 31:03.64 is a new British Columbia master men's record. Marilyn Arsenault was fourth overall and first woman in 34:38, Vancouver's Sabrina Wilkie was fifth OA, second female in 34:56, while Catherine
Watkins, from Vancouver, was sixth to the line and third female in 35:03. Second place to Nancy, 19:24, in the 5,000 Metre race was Yana Hempler, 20:02, and Doug Sautar placed third in 20:04. Chris Callendar won the 800 Metre race with a new P.B. of
2:11. Lawrence Coogan won the 1,500 Metre open mixed race in 4:40. Gary Duncan was fourth overall, first M50, in the 1,5000m race in 5:13 and ninth overall, second M50 to Darren Skuja of Comox, in the 800m race in 2:44. The results had a glitch so details
were incomplete on the VRS website. There were a total of 51 finishers in the 4 different distance races.
June 1, 2014
Nancy Baxendale
At 52 years old, Nancy was the best Harriers performer and she came within a 22 seconds of winning the 10K race of the third annual Victoria Goddess 10K Run in Langford. Nancy settled
for second place overall of the 985 female finishers with a time of 41:42. The 10K winner was Rachel Speller in 41:20 while Cathy McCartney finished third in 43:21. The top three in the 5K race were Mallory Robertson, 21:33, Melissa Styba, 21:33, and
Shannon McMiller, 21:35, in an extremely exciting sprint to the line where the first three ladies finished within 2 seconds of each other. The Half Marathon champion was Lara Graves in 1:35:07 followed by Yana Hempler, second in 1:35:41 and Raisa David,
third in 1:36:41. Harriers' Dianne Dennis had a strong run finishing 11th overall to win the F50 age category in 1:42:30 in the half. The Victoria Goddess Run featured six different events including a 3K Bathrobe Run/Walk and a 1.5K Kid's and Family
Run/Walk on Saturday at the Bear Mountain Resort and a Half Marathon Walk, Half Marathon Run, 10K and 5K race on Sunday from Westhills Arena on Langford Parkway. There were over 2,500 registrations and 2,130 finishers over the two days. The Half Marathon
had 330 registrations and 230 finishers, the 10K had 1,200 registrations and 985 finishers and the 5K had 800 registrations and 715 finishers. Congrats to Harriers' Race Director, Cathy Noel, and her team of volunteers for hosting perhaps the most successful
women's race in Canada.
May 25, 2014
Jim Finlayson and Claire Morgan
Jim, top master in 1:11:33, and Claire, silver F35 medalist in 1:23:10, were the top Harriers finishing second and sixth overall of 573 finishers at the 10th Oak
Bay KOOL Half Marathon today. The Half Marathon champions were Kenyan Gilbert Kiptoo, in 1:09:39, and Victoria's Marilyn Arsenault, first female and top master in 1:18:50. Marilyn finished fourth overall. Jim has won the race six times and finished second
three times in 10 years the event has been held; he holds the course record of 1:06:45 set in 2007. Royd Burkhart, of Port Alberni, was third male, second master in 1:16:22 and Danielle Kabush was the second female in 1:21:21. There were 35 teams in
the Ekiden Relay with the winning team being Sabres 1 in 1:34:22. Jim took gold in the M40 Division, Gary Duncan took gold in the M55 Division and Brittany Therrien took gold in the F25 Division and was the sixth female to finish. Claire won a silver
medal in the F35 Division and Roy Styffe claimed bronze in the M50 Division; he was 30th overall. In an accompanying half a half marathon 10.73K race, the winners were Adam O'Meara, 35:43, and Mel Dawn Russell, fifth overall in 41:59. David Hoskins was
the top Harrier in the 10.73K with a strong seventh place finish in 44:43. He won the M65 Division by 6 minutes over Roger White. There were 323 finishers in the 10.73K, 523 in the Half Marathon, 175 in the Relay and 50 in the Kids' Run for a total of
1,121. This was 255 fewer than last year's total of 1,376.
May 25, 2014
Jason Loutitt
Jason finished second overall of 176 participants at the Tender Knee 24K Trail Race in North Vancouver today. The top three men were all from Vancouver with Connor Meakin winning
the race in 1:37:26, Jason was runner-up in 1:38:11 and Jordan Maynard took third in 1:41:31. The top female was Tana Berry, 18th overall in 2:05:58. In the accompanying Tender Knee 10K Trail Run the male and female champions were Devon Kershaw, of Canmore
in 46:40 and Kristin Steira, from Oslo, in 49:25; she finished second overall of 100 participants.
May 18, 2014
Shane Ruljancich and Andrew Pape
Shane finished third overall in the 50 Kilometre Division, in 4:01:57, and Andrew was third overall, top master, in the 25 Kilometre Division, in 1:47:50, at the
rugged Sun Mountain Trail Ultras near Winthrop, Washington today. There were 18 Harriers traveling south to Winthrop to participate in one of the four different distances offered at Sun Mountain. Garth Campbell, 11th overall of 156 finishers, Jeremy
Lawrence, 24th, Larry Nylen, 39th, Chris Elliott, 54th, Heather Bretschneider, 42nd, Valerie Bell, 56th, Elaine Galbraith, 92nd, Lisa Cantwell, 114th, and Dena Carroll, 152nd, all had strong performances finishing well up in their respective age categories
in the 50K race. In the shorter 25K race, which had 304 finishers, the race champions were Patrick McAuliffe, of Seattle, in 1:35:05, and North Vancouver's Darbykai Standrick in 1:55:32. Excellent performances by Harriers included Sonja Yli-Kahila, 47th,
Sara Pape, 74th, Fiona Peters, 92nd, and Kathleen Birney 211th. In the longer 50 Mile ace, the winners were Benjamin Bucklin, from Spokane, in 6:29:43, and his wife, Rachel Bucklin, in 7:58:08; she was 13th overall of 105 finishers. Chris Brower topped
the F50 division in 9:57:12 and finished 57th overall in the 50 Miler. Randy Duncan and Lori Heron finished 83rd and 84th in 10:49:15 and 10:49:17. There were 33 finishers in the Kids' 1K, 304 in the 25K, 156 in the 50K and 105 in the 50 Mile division
for a total of 598 finishers at Sun Mountain.
May 18, 2014
Gary Duncan and Claire Morgan
Gary and Claire were the top Harriers at the Kilted Mile on Saturday then repeated as top club members at the Western Speedway Gutbuster on Sunday to capture four
gold medals between them after back-to-back days of racing. The Kilted Mile attracted 20 competitors and Claire was the first female to finish and collected $ 100 in prize money while Gary was second overall; he won the M50 division and was rewarded
with $ 75 in prize money for finishing second. Other Harriers running well were Chris Calendar, Martha McNeely, Jane McDonald and Christine Thate. The following day Gary finished fifth overall of 50 long course finishers in 1:01:06 and Claire was eighth
overall, second female, in 1:01:55 at Western Speedway Gutbuster #1 in a Series of four races with other venues at Duncan (June), Ladysmith (July) and Courtenay (August). The Western Speedway GB champions were Kelly Guest, finishing in 56:14, and Patricia
Roney, finishing in 1:00:49; she was fourth overall. The men's course record of 53:10 was set last year by Harriers' Kris Swanson and it still stands but the women's course record of 1:05:19, held by Dawn Anderson, was smashed by 4 minutes, 30 seconds
today by Patricia Roney. There were a total of 108 finishers including 50 in the long course and 58 in the short course which was only 3 fewer than last year's total of 111. Considering that 18 Harriers were racing a trail ultra in Winthrop, WA, and
many of them were Gutbuster regulars, the Western Speedway event was a good kick-off to the Series which shows promise for growth in 2014.
May 11, 2014
Craig Odermatt
Craig finished first overall and was the top master at the 2014 Oceanside Mother's Day 10K in Parksville today. His winning time was 33:25. Second place was Port Alberni's Royd Burkart,
last year's champion, who ran 34:42 while Mike Bridges, of Courtenay, took third in 38:48. All three of the top men were over 40 years old. The women's field was strong as the first three ladies finished third, sixth and eighth overall of the 229 finishers.
Errington's Melissa Ross, of the host ORCA club, won the race in 37:03 followed by Nanaimo's Wendy Simms, top master in 40:33, and Elita Rahn, from Comox, took the bronze in 41:17. The 229 finishers today was up 45 from last year's total of 184.
May 10, 2014
Matthias Schoeck
Matthias finished fourth overall in the 50K Division in 3:59:00 and was the top Harrier at the 27th annual Island Runner Elk/Beaver Ultras. The 50K was the most popular division
with 34 finishers and the race champions were Adrian Walton, Victoria, in 3:41:41, and Danielle Mennie, Victoria, in 4:20:57. In the feature 100K race (10 laps of E/B), Oleg Tabelev, from Calgary, won the men's championship in 8:01:50 and Alissa St Laurent,
of Edmonton, won the women's championship; she was third overall in 8:50:34. In the 8+ lap 50 Mile Division, Alicia Woodside, from North Vancouver, topped all of the men and women with a time of 6:58:25. The first male, second overall, was Nanaimo's
Steven Johns in 7:44:33. Samuel Smith, Victoria, won the First-Timers Marathon in 3:50:06 and Nadine Carter, of Ponoka, AB, was the first female and finished fourth overall in 5:21:43. Edmonton's Heather Stothard won the Glenn Jaques 40K Ultrawalk in
6:36:58. There were 77 registrations, 68 starters and 59 finishers in all five race divisions. Besides Matthias, there were four other Harriers participating at Elk/Beaver including Rob Smith, 8th in the 100K in 12:10:28, Darcy Kernel, 10th in the 50K
in 4:43:46, Carlos Castillo, Race Director, 18th in the 50K in 5:18:29 and Christine Thate, third in the 40K Walk in 7:57:48.
May 10, 2014
Jack Stanley and Tyson Chestnut
The Prairie Inn Harriers Youth Team, coached by Bruce Deacon, was out in full force on the weekend at the Dogwood Track and Field Meet hosted by Victoria Track Club
at UVic's Centennial Stadium. Jack was the PIH standout by entering two races on Saturday and taking a gold medal in both of them. He won the Boys 14 and 15 year-old division of a 1,200 Metre race in 3:26.58 and then won the 2,000M race in 6:07.50. Tyson,
son of the former Hawaii Ironman world champion Lori Bowden, took gold medals in the Boys 12 and 13 division for the 60 Metre Dash, in 10.04 seconds, 100M Dash, 16.72, and the 600M Dash, 2:11.50. Other Harriers Youth Team members performing well at the
Dogwood Meet included Taylor Lymans, 1st in the 400M, 1st in the 800M and 2nd in the 200M, Jack Cooper, 3rd in the 300M and 3rd in the 800M, Robbie Deacon, 5th in the 300M and 5th in the 1,200M, John Deacon, 4th in the 1,200M, Max McCulloch, 2nd in the
1,500M, Lyesin Vladyslav, 7th in the 1,200M and Kalun Delaney, 9th in the 1,200M. The Meet attracted hundreds of athletes from all over the province in 349 separate events with runners ranging in age from 9 years old to 65+ years old.
May 4, 2014
Jason Loutitt, Jim Finlayson and Chris Callendar
Jason was the top master at the 43rd annual BMO Vancouver Marathon today, Jim was the top master in the BMO Half Marathon and Chris was first overall
of 1,440 finishers at the BMO 8K. All three races were run under rainy and wet conditions. In the feature marathon event, Jason placed 8th overall in 2:35:59 to win the over-40 masters division by 4 seconds over Torsten Schneider from Bonn, NR. The top
three men were Birhanu Mekonen, Kenya, 2:21:08, Gilbert Kiptoo, Kenya, 2:27:20, and David Nilsson, Sweden, 2:27:46. The top three women were Kimberley Doerksen, Gibsons, 2:37:00, Ellie Greenwood, North Vancouver, 2:43:04 and Bean Wrenn, Boulder, CO,
2:51:16. There were 4,933 registrations and 3,780 finishers in the marathon. Other Harriers in the marathon included Ryan Day, 6th overall in 2:33:14, Andrew Pape-Salmon, 105th in 3:03:55, and Jonathan Foweraker, 802nd in 3:47:33. The half marathon race
was dominated by Kenyans with six of the first eight finishers all being Kenyans living and training in Canada or the United States. The top three men were Paul Kimaiyo, 1:02:36, Aissa Djhoghi, 1:03:38, and Kip Kangogo, 1:04:59, and the top three women
were Kate Bazeley, Corner Brook, NL, 1:15:18, Allison Macsas, Austin, TX, 1:15:21, and top master, Catherine Watkins, from Vancouver, in 1:16:48. The top Canadian male was Rob Watson, Vancouver, 4th overall in 1:06:01, and second Canadian male, top master,
was Jim Finlayson, Victoria, in 1:11:03. Other Harriers in the half marathon were Nathan Kamell, 186th in 1:32:30, Rosemary Deacon, 420th in 1:39:26, Louise Hodgson-Jones, 1,792nd in 1:58:09, and Cathy Noel, 1,838th in 1:58:39. There were 9,953 registrations
and 7,889 finishers in the half marathon. The 8K road race featured three of the top four finishers overall all coming from Victoria. Chris Callendar, Victoria, placed first in 28:43, Tyler Ginther, Surrey, placed second in 28:54, Matt Walsh, Victoria,
placed third in 28:55, and Marilyn Arsenault, Victoria, placed fourth overall in 29:13 and was the top master winning her age category by a healthy 5 minutes and 55 seconds. The second female was Laura Lee, Vancouver, 16th in 33:07, and Susan Gordon,
Salt Spring Island, was third female, 23rd overall in 34:11. There were 1,858 registrations and 1,440 finishers in the 8K race. Comparing the BMO Vancouver Marathon events to the GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon events, Victoria held the edge in competitiveness
in both the marathon and 8K road race while Vancouver boasted the top time for the half marathon. Lameth Mokono won the Victoria Marathon in 2:13:42 and Birhanu Mekonen won the Vancouver Marathon in 2:21:08. Kelly Wiebe won the Victoria Half Marathon
in 1:04:58 and Paul Kimaiyo won the Vancouver Half Marathon in 1:02:36. Olivier Collin won the Victoria 8K in 24:40 and Chris Callendar won the Vancouver 8K in 28:43. On the same day as the BMO Vancouver Marathon, May 4, the GoodLife Fitness Toronto
Marathon was held with 1,504 finishers in the full marathon and 4,057 finishers in the half marathon. The Toronto race winners were Brendan Kenny, Dundas, in the marathon with a time of 2:26:25, and Ezekiel Kipkosgei, Kenya, in the half marathon in 1:08:26.
April 27, 2014
Todd Howard and Cheryl Nicholls
Todd and Cheryl were the top Harriers and finished second in the men's division and third in the women's division at the new Times Colonist Half Marathon held
in conjunction with the 25th annual TC10K today. The Half started at Centennial Stadium at the University of Victoria and finished at the Legislative Buildings on Belleville Street featuring a net downhill course but competitors faced a bitter headwind
on the Dallas Road portion of the race where strong winds whipped off the Pacific Ocean. The race had an interesting start as Kenyan Gilbert Kiptoo, third place finisher at the 10K, attempted a double by starting the Half 30 minutes after completing
the 10K. He ran away from the Half Marathon field and held a handsome 5-minute lead through the 14K mark splitting his 10K in 33:03. But severe cramps forced him to a walk where he relinquished the lead at 15K to eventual winner, Nick Walker, who hit
the finish line in 1:13:25. Nick was followed by Todd Howard in 1:16:47 and Hugh Trenchard placed third in 1:18:36; he was the first master over-40 finisher. Gilbert Kiptoo did not finish the race. On the women's side, American Alexandria Blake, from
Louisville, completely destroyed the field by taking the victory by over 6 1/2 minutes; she finished fourth overall in 1:19:33. Care Nelson was second in 1:25:50 closely followed by the top master, Cheryl Nicholls, in 1:25:59. Several Harriers ran well
at the inaugural TC Half winning 11 medals including 5 gold, 5 silver and 1 bronze. First place in their age divisions were Eliza Christie (F20), mother Juliette Christie (F50), Todd Howard (M35), Cheryl Nicholls (F40), and husband Phil Nicholls (M55).
Silver medalist Harriers were Charlene Waldner (F40), Diane Dennis (F50), Kris Swanson (M30), Shane Runjancich (M35) and Gary Duncan (M55). Garth Campbell took the M50 bronze to round out the Harriers medal haul. See ROTW report below about amazing doubles
today by Garth, Shane, Gary, Kris and John Catterall.
April 27, 2014
Shane Ruljancich, Gary Duncan, Garth Campbell, Kris Swanson and John Catterall
Although Gilbert Kiptoo's attempt to do the "double" today failed dismally, Shane, Gary, Garth, Kris and John succeeded
with flying colours! In a far-fetched scheme to complete both the 25th annual TC 10K race starting at the Parliament Buildings at 8:00 am and complete the inaugural TC Half Marathon race starting at UVic at 9:00 am, the Harriers fivesome came away with
simply amazing results in both events. To participate in the double, Shane, Gary, Garth, Kris and John had to finish the 10K in 40 minutes or less, quickly change into dry racing gear, put on a new Half Marathon chip-timed race bib and drive 8.5 kilometres
through 10K race traffic to UVic in time for the 9:00 am start of their second race. Three other Harriers assisted on the double feat with Bob Reid providing the Harrier Carrier for quick transportation, Susan Norrington arranging for prime parking space
in front of the Empress Hotel and Jeremy Lawrence driving the five racers from the Inner Harbour 10K finish line to the University of Victoria Half Marathon start line in a precise 18 minutes. They arrived at UVic at 8:58 am with two minutes to spare
before the starting air horn was sounded and they were off for race #2. Shane had an incredible performance by finishing the 10K in 12th place overall, 33:39, and the Half Marathon in 8th place overall, 1:23:41. He took a bronze medal in the 10K and
a silver in the Half after grinding out 31.1 kilometres, nearly 20 miles, in windy conditions for a total time of 1:57:20. Not to be outdone, Gary won a gold in the 10K and a silver in the Half with times of 37:32 and 1:29:28. Garth won his age category
in the 10K in 36:56 and was third in the Half in 1:33:49. Kris took bronze in the 10K in a strong M30 field and silver in the Half with a sparkling 31:39 10K then a suffering 1:25:07 Half for a total time of 1:56:46 over his 20 miles of racing. John
was 4th in the 10K in 39:25 and 16th in the Half in 1:46:36. Whether this accomplishment will ever be done again remains a mystery but today five Harriers put themselves in the record books for an outstanding achievement which was well covered by the
local Victoria media. A big shout out goes to Gary for initiating and coordinating the intricate "double" plan which was definitely the highlight of the day!
April 27, 2014
Lucy Smith, David Jackson and Jim Finlayson
David and Lucy, celebrating her 37th birthday today, were the top Harriers at the 25th annual Times Colonist 10K with times of 31:35 and 35:39. David
finished 4th in the men's race and Lucy was the top master and third in the women's field; she was 33rd overall. Kenyans swept the podium with Kip Kangogo first, Dancan Kasia second and Gilbert Kiptoo third in 30:31, 30:45 and 31:13. Jim Finlayson was
the top male master finishing 2 seconds behind David, 5th overall in 31:37. The top three women were Kenyan Jane Murage, 33:55, UVic's Lemlem Ogbasilassie, 35:27, and Harriers' Lucy Smith, 35:39. There were 8,439 finishers in the 10K race, 295 in the
10K Competitive Walk, 378 in the new Half Marathon and 800 in the 1.5K Family Run for a total of 9,912 finishers. This was 109 more than last year's mark of 9,803. Michelle Stilwell won the Wheelchair Division in 34:03, Clark Schwab won the Competitive
Walk in 1:10:31 and Helen Jaques became only one of 5 participants to complete the TC10K in all 25 years by finishing the Walk in 1:30:58; she was 58th overall of the 295 finishers. The Harriers collected 19 medals at the 10K including 10 golds, 4 silvers
and 5 bronzes and picked up another 11 medals at the Half Marathon for a total of 30 on the day. Taking 10K gold for winning their age categories were Jim Finlayson (M40), Lucy Smith (F45), Nancy Baxendale (F50), Garth Campbell (M50), Gary Duncan (M55),
David Hoskins (M65), John Cliff (M70) and John Woodall (M80). Graeme McCreath won the Visually Impaired Division in 59:55 and Paula Rodriguiz was first female, second overall, in the Competitive 10K walk in 1:11:30. Silver medalist Harriers included
Ian Searle (M20), David Jackson (M35), Brent Scott (M50) and Maurice Tarrant while bronze meadalists were Jericho O'Connell (M19), Kris Swanson (M30), Shane Ruljancich (M35), Camie Bentham (F40) and Binder Kelsall (F45).
April 27, 2014
Geoff Martinson
Geoff placed fourth overall of 36,028 finishers at the 30th annual Sun Run in Vancouver today, the largest 10K race in Canada attracting the most competitive field including many
Kenyans and Ethiopians. Geoff was disappointed with his time of 29:51 even though is was a 26 second personal best over his 30:16 which he ran at the TC10K last year where he also finished 4th behind 3 Kenyans. He felt his fitness was at the level to
challenge for the overall victory but he let the top three runners slip away at the Burrard Street Bridge, about the 5K mark of the race course, and he ran alone and unchallenged in no man's land for the second half of the race. The race winner, for
the second consecutive year, was Kenyan Paul Kimugul in 28:59, followed by the top Canadian and former Harrier, Dylan Wykes in 29:11, while Kenyan Jordan Chimangama took third in 29:16. Geoff collected fifteen hundred dollars in prize money for finishing
as the second Canadian. The top three women in the Sun Run were Rachel Cliff, Vancouver, in 33:14, Lindsay Carson, Whitehorse, in 33:49, and Kimberly Doerksen, Gibsons, in 33:54. All three ladies were running the Sun Run for their first time and all
three ran P.B.s at the event. A disappointed Harriers' Natasha Wodak was forced to miss the Sun Run this year due to a foot injury after winning the race in 2012 and 2013 including a brilliant P.B. performance of 32:42 last year. Other Harriers running
well at the Sun Run today included Logan Roots, 20th overall and 7th M20 in 32:09 (P.B.), Jason Loutitt, 21st OA, 3rd M40 in his first race as a master in 32:11 (P.B.), Craig Odermatt, 29th OA, 4th M40, 32:47, Thomas Holm, 31st OA, 10th M25, 33:04 (P.B.),
Jeremy Watts, 42nd OA, 3rd M35, 33:53 (P.B.), Claire Morgan, 12th female, 2nd F35, 36:00 (P.B.) and Brittany Therrien, 28th female, 3rd F20, 39:00 (P.B.). There were 45,183 registrations and 37,534 finishers this year, including 36,028 in the 10K, 6
in the wheelchair division and 1,500 kids in the Mini Sun Run. This was down 2,866 finishers compared to 48,156 registrations and 40,400 finishers last year.
April 27, 2014
Erin Burrett
Erin is having the best year of racing ever starting with her impressive victories at Pioneer and Bazan Bay over strong women's fields. Today, she won a silver medal at the Canadian
Championship road race at the Scotiabank Half Marathon in Montreal with a personal best time of 1:15:02 to place 25th overall of 2,662 finishers including 1,585 men and 1,064 women. The race winners were Rachel Hannah, of Toronto, 19th overall in 1:13:27,
and Guelph's Eric Gillis, 1:04:28. Two weeks earlier, Erin won a bronze medal with another huge P.B. of 33:28; she was 44h overall of 5,698 finishers at the Yonge Street 10K in Toronto. The race champions were the same as in Montreal with Eric Gillis,
28:31, and Rachel, Hannah, 32:32 breaking the tape. Krista Duchene was second in the women's field in 32:40 while a pair of Kenyans, Paul Kimugui and Kip Kangogo, were second and third in the men's race with times of 28:35 and 29:07.
April 18, 2014
Shane Ruljancich, Matthew Salmon and Claire Morgan
Shane was third overall in 1:13:58, Matthew was 18th in 1:26:17 and Claire was the top female and 22nd, in 1:28:28, of 184 finishers at the
7th annual Fletcher's Challenge trail race in Nanaimo today. Matthew, at the age of 13, finished in a dead heat with Finn Battersby, both recording 1:26:17, to win the 19 and under division by 11 minutes, 18 seconds over Christian Louwers who finished
third in 1:35:35. Matthew finished dangerously close to seasoned veteran trail runners and Harriers team mates, Gary Duncan (Matthew was 1 second behind), and Uncle Andrew Pape-Salmon (Matthew was 43 seconds behind). Andrew was 14th overall, 3rd master,
in 1:25:34 and Gary was 16th, 4th master in 1:26:16. The top three men in the race were Shelby Drope, Westwood, 1:08:07, Derek Vinge, CVRR, 1:13:54, Shane Ruljancich, PIH, 1:13:58. The top three women were Clare Morgan, PIH, 1:28:28, Wendy Simms, Bastion,
1:29:31, and Ceri Jacobsen, FR Nanaimo, 1:31:17. Other Harriers running well at Fletcher's Challenge included Dan Jacklin, Larry Nylen, Sonja Yli-Kahila, Valerie Bell, Lisa Cantwell, Sara Pape-Salmon and Kathleen Birney. The race is an excellent trail
run for those who enjoy a real challenge. It is a point-to-point race of approximately 15 kilometres and features some of Nanaimo's best trails. The event includes a 6K Family Cookie Run/Walk, a single lap around Westwood Lake, and participants are treated
to cookie stations along the way for extra motivation. There is also a post-run Easter Egg Hunt for the kids. Besides the 184 adults in the long course, there was another 216 in the short course for a total of 400 participants. This running event memorializes
Mr. Gavin Fletcher who died at too young an age. He was a well known sports columnist with the Times Colonist, a member of Runners of Compassion, a husband and a father. His family values were paramount but his love of good fun competition in sports
was unequaled.
April 13, 2014
Shane Ruljancich and Sonja Yli-Kahila
For the first race in the 2014 Island Race Series, both Shane and Sonja won gold medals at the Sooke River 10K today, the eighth and final race of the Island
Series. Shane was fifth overall to top the M35 age category in 34:41 while Sonja was twelfth female, 66th OA, to top the F35 category in 43:30. Thomas Holm was the first Harrier in the race placing third in 33:39 behind CVRR's Derek Vinge, 33:14, and
Nick Walker, of Frontrunners Westshore, in 33:26. The top three females were ORCA's Melissa Ross, 36:26, Harriers' Nancy Baxendale, 40:16, and Lindsey Chamberlain, from LifeSport, in 40:34. Besides Thomas (M25), Shane (M35), Sonja (F35) and Nancy (F50)
winning their age divisions, other Harriers collecting gold medals included Garth Campbell (M55), Binder Kelsall (F45), David Hoskins (M65), John Woodall (M80) and Maree Kennell (F70). There were 360 finishers including 25 Harriers at Sooke River, down
29 from last year's total of 389.
April 13, 2014
Claire Morgan
Claire topped all of the men and women in the 2014 Island Series with an average of 827.2 points including four victories at Hatley Castle, Merville, Comox and Sooke; this was clearly
her best year of the 62 Series races completed to date starting in 1999 with the Mill Bay 10K. The Sooke River 10K today was the concluding race of the eight race 2014 Frontrunners Island Race Series that started with the Harriers Pioneer 8K on January
12. A total of 274 individuals ran the minimum of 5 races required to qualify for Series awards while 3,711 participated in one or more of the 8 races, down 376 runners from last year's total of 4,087. In the final standings, Claire took the overall
top spot, having improved in each of the past four years. Second female was a newcomer to the Series, CeeVacs' Jill Ramstead, with 772.2 points. Cheryl Davies, of Bastion Running Club, rounded out the top three women with a point average of 762.8. CVRR's
Derek Vinge leap-frogged to the top of the men's standings, having placed third last year. His points average was 824.4, almost a 10 point improvement over 2013 but he was 3 shy of Claire's mark of 827 this year. Second male was Nick Walker, of Frontrunners
Westshore, which was the same position he occupied last year, with 817.4 points, and third was another newcomer, Harriers' Thomas Holm, a Norwegian studying at the University of Victoria, who averaged 805.0 points. Eleven Harriers delivered podium performances
enabling Prairie Inn Harriers to win the club championship for the 32nd time in 33 years that the Island Series has been staged. Gold medals were achieved by Thomas Holm (M25), Shane Ruljancich (M35), Garth Campbell (M55), John Woodall (M80), Claire
Morgan (F35), Binder Kelsall (F45) and Nancy Baxendale (F50), while silver medals were won by Valerie Bell (F50), Gary Duncan (M55), Garfield Saunders (M75) and Maree Kennell (F70). PIH won the club title with 3,518 points followed by CVRR with 2,725
and Bastion took third with 2,090. There were 89 clubs entered in the 2014 Series.
April 6, 2014
Thomas Holm and Chris Elliott
Thomas was the 5K race champion while Chris was a mere 2 seconds off winning the 10K race at the MEC #2 Pace Setter today at Willows Beach in Oak Bay. The top three
men in the MEC 5K were Thomas Holm, 16:32, Matthew Winkler, 16:58, and Scott Holland, 17:47, while the top three women were Mel Russell, 20:56, Zach Charlsworth, 21:38, and Ellie Stewart, 21:53. Harriers Gary Donahue, 29:14, and Jane McDonald, 38:26,
both placed 6th in their respective M50 and F50 age categories. The top three men in the MEC 10K were Eddie Smith, 35:03, Chris Elliott, 35:05, and Talen Rimmer, 37:00; the top three women were Mary McGregor, 38:50, Shannon Bennett, 41:32, and Daniele
Riendeau, 42:03. Harriers' Wendy Davies won the F50 division finishing first of 8 competitors in her age category in 47:26. There were 70 finishers in the 5K and 114 finishers in the 10K for a total of 134.
April 6, 2014
Shane Ruljancich, Claire Morgan, Elaine Galbraith and Andrew Galbraith
Shane and Claire were the top Harriers while Elaine collected her first-ever VIRA medal and Andrew collected his first-ever
VIRA top 10 ribbon at the Merville 15K today, race No. 7 of the Frontrunners Island Race Series. The top three men were Derek Vinge, CVRR, in 50:09, Nick Walker, Frontrunners Westshore, in 50:39, and Shane Ruljancich, PIH, in 52:02. The top three women
were Claire Morgan, PIH, 56:43, Jill Ramstead, CeeVacs, 59:57, and Cheryl Davies, BRC, 1:02:09. In 50 VIRA races completed to date, Elaine recorded her highest points total of 645 compared to her first race which was the the Pioneer 8K in 2002 where
she achieved 460 points, an immense improvement of 145 points over 12 years. She also won her first bronze medal in 50 races by placing third of 25 runners in the F45 age category. It is obvious that her long distance training runs with Lisa, Val, Kathleen,
and Heather are paying huge dividends in her race performances. Husband Andrew did equally as well at Merville, picking up his first top-10 podium ribbon by placing 10th of 22 runners in the M45 age category. It was also his highest total of 521 points
in 40 Island Series races completed to date. Andrew's last Merville 15K was in 2009 where he recorded 444 points and today was a 77 point improvement. Besides Shane (M35) and Claire (F35), other Harriers running well and winning their age category included
Gary Duncan (M55) and Nancy Baxendale (F50). There were only 10 Harriers traveling north to participate in the Merville 15K and all 10 to them collected either a medal or a ribbon in their respective age categories. There were 310 finishers at Merville
which was 35 fewer compared to last year's total of 345.
April 6, 2014
David Jackson
Perfect conditions on Sunday resulted in a record breaking day at the 37th BMO Sunshine Coast April Fool's Half Marathon Run featuring friendly West Coast hospitality, low entry
fee, rural setting, finisher's medals and hot soup. The event was presented by Coast Cable. After an exciting and intensely fought battle for the majority of the course, Harriers' David Jackson edged out VFAC's Kevin O'Connor for a 3-second victory in
1:09:09, in the process pulling O'Connor well under the Canadian Masters 45-49 age group half marathon best of 1:10. Though the Fool's Run is not eligible for official records due to its point to point route and net downhill, the big hills in the second
half make it a challenging test of race fitness nonetheless, and bodes well for O'Connor's goal to set a new Canadian M45-49 record at the Sun Run. The women's race was clear-cut but no less exciting. Wildly exceeding all pre-race expectations, Gibsons'
own Kimberley Doerksen not only smashed the women's event record by over 3 minutes, but she did it wearing a rainbow tutu costume, in true Fool's Run spirit. Her 1:14:53 placed her fifth overall in the field. After spring rains poured themselves out
on Saturday, race day dawned dry and calm and mild, with a high of 12 and partial sunshine expected, ideal for racing. Over 625 participants were registered by the time the main group set off at 9:17 on Park Road, 1 hour after the walkers' early start.
"It was a perfect day for running," said Pat Dejong, Regional Vice President, BMO Bank of Montreal. "I found the hills challenging but I was inspired along the route by the well-wishers. And there was such great energy and a warm welcome at the finish
line — from cheering spectators and BMO the Bear!"
March 30, 2014
Herb Phillips
Today, 73-year-old Herb came out of his retirement to race one more event in California. He ran the Carlsbad 5000 road race on a whim. He is over three years removed from competing
and simply just keeps himself fit by running casually, "I like to run six to seven days a week and keep the total around 50 miles (80 kilometres)," shared Herb. "I am totally a hobby jogger now. If the weather is not nice or I haven’t been to Starbucks
yet or just don’t feel like it, I have no problem skipping my run. There currently is no racing for records, I'm just trying to stay fit." Regardless, he and his wife Judy decided to make their annual pilgrimage to Carlsbad, California, "We have
our traditions," – to take in the spectacle that is the Carlsbad 5000, a fast race that is uniquely spectator friendly with its T-shaped course. The event has hosted 16 world records before the 2014 edition took place. Perhaps for old time’s
sake Herb decided at the last minute, while on holiday, to enter the 2014 Carlsbad race, he said that he didn’t really know why he entered. He won his M70 age-group by almost 2 minutes over Larry Brooks,of Santa Barbara, CA. With Herb finishing
in 19:36, this calculates down to a 13:49 open performance, good for fourth position overall if he was fifty years younger. Age-graded Herb finished right behind the legendary Kenyan-American Bernard Lagat as well as Kenyan Augustine Choge who finished
in 13:22 and 13:19, respectively. Herb’s impromptu race calculates out as an over 94% age-graded performance. He was 3 minutes and 18 seconds ahead of the bronze medalist, Byron Melendy, from La Crescenta, CA, in the M70 age division which featured
34 finishers. Simply outstanding, welcome back to racing, Herb!
March 23, 2014
Thomas Holm and Claire Morgan
Thomas and Claire were the top Harriers today finishing second and eighth overall at the sixth race in the Frontrunners Island Race Series, the Comox Valley RV Half
Marathon. Local runner, Derek Vinge, from CVRR, won in 1:11:59. Second place was Thomas Holm, Prairie Inn Harriers, in 1:13:43, and third was Nick Walker, Frontrunners Athletic Club, in 1:13:55. Claire finished in 1:19:52 which was 2:41 faster than her
last year's time, second female was Kristen Smart, Vancouver Falcons Athletic Club, 22nd in 1:23:41, and third was Christy Lovig, 24th in 1:24:08. The top master was 50-year-old Vince Brotherston, Comox Valley Road Runners, 4th overall in 1:16:39, and
the top female master was Wendy Simms, Bastion Running Club, in 1:28:27. "It was a very successful day with perfect conditions for racing for the 477 finishers. There were many personal bests as well as the six age group course records," said Race Director,
Wayne Crowe. The event attracted 15 Harriers with Thomas (M25), Claire (F35) and Gary Duncan (M55) winning gold medals in their age categories. Honourable mention goes to John Catterall, 4th in the M50 division, and to both Elaine Galbraith and Cathy
Noel, 8th and 9th in the F45 division. John has run Comox three times and today's 1:25 was a P.B. by one minute over his 2009 race and he was eleven minutes faster than last year's time. Cathy has run Comox four times and her 1:51 today was a P.B. over
her 1:53 set last year and it was eleven minutes faster than her first Comox Half in 2008. Elaine has run Comox five times and today's time of 1:48 was a five minute P.B. over her 1:53 set in 2008 and a staggering 28 minutes faster than her first Comox
Half of 2:16 which she ran in 2003. The 477 finishers was 35 fewer than last year's total of 512 finishers at Comox.
March 23, 2014
Natasha Wodak
Kelly Wiebe and Natasha Wodak got Canada Running Series 2014 off to a flying start with impressive victories at the Modo Spring Run Off Vancouver 8K today. It was a picture-perfect
Spring morning on the Stanley Park Seawall, with almost 1,000 registrations drawn from across the country and as far away as Hawaii and Brazil. After a silver medal performance at the Harriers Pioneer 8K behind Erin Burrett and another silver medal performance
behind Rachel Cliff at the St. Patrick's Day 5K, Natasha has climbed to her customary position on top of the podium once again and, as her fitness improves, she will be hard to beat in future races. Natasha's ambitious racing program will lead her to
a debut at Canada Running Series’ Toronto Yonge Street 10K on April 13, then defend her Sun Run 10K title in Vancouver on April 27, before heading to Ottawa for her second marathon on May 25. At the Modo 8K, Wiebe lead from start to finish, and
crossed the line in a strong early-season time of 24:03. Natasha, also from the BC Endurance Project with Coach Richard Lee, had much more of a tussle as she fought a see-saw battle with UBC's Rachel Cliff, only breaking away over the last 1,500 metres
for the victory in a crisp 26:39 while Cliff finished in 26:55; they were 6th and 8th overall of 771 finishers. Lindsay Carlson, 20-years-old from Whitehorse, finished as third female and was 10th overall in 27:17. Kevin Friesen and Adam Byles, both
BCEP athletes, finished second and third behind Weibe in 25:00 and 25:25. The top masters were Kevin O'Connor, 4th OA in 25:33, and Catherine Watkins, 17th OA in 27:54. Conditions were ideal, with bright sunshine, a temperature of 5 degrees for the 10:00
am start that rose to 9 degrees during the morning for the 771 finishers. In 2013 the race attracted 890 finishers while in 2012, it boasted a record-high of 1,021 finishers.
March 23, 2014
David Hoskins
Back on the racing scene again after a long absence with injuries, David jumped into the Hot Chocolate 15K in San Diego today while visiting his daughter in Southern California.
The Hot Chocolate Race had two distances with 3,488 finishing the 15K and another 7,774 finishing the 5K for a staggering total of 10,262 runners. David, 67, was the only Canadian in the race and, in typical northern fashion, he completely destroyed
the M60 field by finishing 72nd overall and winning his age category by 5 minutes and 40 seconds over Art Herman, the San Diego veteran champion. David's time was 1:08:31 while Art finished 109 positions behind him in 181st place with a time of 1:14:11.
The 15K race champions were Andrew Corman, of San Diego, CA, in 51:48, and Sharon Wilkinson, from Winnetka, CA, in 1:03:33, while the 5K winners were Chris Saville, 17:22, and Megan Linstedt, 20:03. Besides the Hatley Castle 3 weeks ago, David also raced
the 25,000 strong Bupa Great South Race in the United Kingdom with gold medals and excellent results in both events. He sent me this message: "I'm back into racing again and getting ready for the TC10K in April. I did the Great South Run in the UK in
October and ran the Hot Chocolate 15K in San Diego last weekend and never want to see any more long long hills through canyons ever again. The Hot Chocolate made Hatley Castle look like a walk in the park!" Welcome back, David.
March 22, 2014
Gary Duncan and Christine Thate
Gary and Christine were the top Harriers today at the 7th annual LifeMark Health Esquimalt 5K. Gary, 57, finished in 18:46 to place 11th overall of 434 finishers
and claim the top masters position. Christine was 235th overall in 34:19 to place 14th of 35 finishers in the F50 division, one day after her 55th birthday. The race featured a trio of M20 Vikes runners that swept the top three spots with Kyle Irvine
winning in 15:49, Connor Foreman taking second in 16:01, and Jericho O'Connor placing third in 16:52. The top three females were Alison Hooper, 17:43, Mary McGregor, 18:36, and Yana Hempler, 20:28. The top juniors, under-20, were Liam Seager, 21:20,
and Tyler Coell, 21:44, while the top masters, over-40, were Gary Duncan, 18:46, and Jane Gibson, 23:01, both of which competed in the 50-59 division. The 434 finishers was 32 more than last year's mark of 402.
March 15, 2014
Geoff Martinson, Craig Odermatt, Natasha Wodak and Binder Kelsall
Geoff, Craig, Natasha and Binder all won their age categories at the most competitive and deepest 5 kilometre road race in British
Columbia today featuring 10 Prairie Inn Harriers, 9 BC Endurance Project athletes from Vancouver and 7 UVic Vikes. At the BMO St. Patrick's Day 5K in Stanley Park, the presence of 15 Victoria runners dominated the event by placing 5 of the top 10 finishers
overall and boasting 9 of the top 22 spots in a staggering field of 1,715 finishers. Geoff established a new course record of 14:24, lowering Dylan Wykes's mark of 14:32 set in 2010, and the female champion, Rachel Cliff, also established a new course
record of 16:15, lowering Kristina Rody's mark of 16:46 set in 2010. Victoria athletes placed 1st, 6th, 7th, 8th and 10th with Geoff Martinson, 14:24, Dylan Haight, 14:58, Patrick Psotka, 15:03, Ben Weir, 15:04, and Thomas Getty, 15:05, while Vancouver
athletes placed 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 9th, with Kelly Weibe, 14:28, Rob Watson, 14:44, Ryan Brockerville, 14:54, Theo Hunt, 14:54, and Tim Huebsch, 15:05. On the women's side, the top five were Rachel Cliff, 30th in 16:15, Natasha Wodak, 33rd in 16:24
to win the F30 division, Sarah Inglis, 40th in 16:51, Erin Burrett, 41st in 16:53 to finish 2nd in the F30 division, and Sabrina Wilkie, 43rd in 16:57. The top masters were Kevin O'Connor, 18th in 15:28, and Catherine Watkins, 51st in 17:11. Craig Odermatt
was second master, 26th overall in 16:06, to record a comfortable victory in the M40 division by over a minute and a half. Binder Kelsall topped the F45 division of 88 women in her category to win a gold medal by finishing 141st in 20:27. All 10 Harriers
ran extremely well with Logan Roots finishing 8th in the M20 division in 15:40, Geoff Reid finishing 8th in the M30 division in 16:45, Garth Campbell finishing 4th in the M50 division in 18:04, Gary Duncan finishing 2nd in the M55 division by less than
one second in 18:29 and Brittany Therrien finishing 4th in the F20 division in 18:16. Couple these performances with gold medals from Geoff, Craig, Natasha, Binder and a silver for Erin, it was a good day indeed for the club at the St. Patrick's Day
5K. Just to highlight how competitive many divisions were in the race, Ben Weir, 15:04.8, Thomas Getty, 15:05.8, and Joel Deschiffart, 15:05.9, finished one second apart in the Junior Under-20 division and Dave Stephens, 18:29.1, Gary Duncan, 18:29.7
and former Olympian Art Boileau, 18:30.5 also finished one second apart in the Veteran M55 division. Any one of these 6 gentlemen could have taken the gold medal with a determined surge and a lucky lean to the finish tape. The St. Pat's race course is
a tad slower than the Bazan Bay race course as Bazan champions Geoff Martinson and Erin Burrett ran 14:12 and 16:35 last week in Sidney while running 14:24 and 16:53 today in Vancouver, a difference of 12 seconds on the men's side and 18 seconds on the
women's side. The popular BMO St. Patrick's Day 5K is Race #6 in the Timex BC Series and Race #2 in the Lower Mainland Series and attracted a stellar field by offering Victoria athletes, complimentary entry fees, accommodation and transportation to and
from the event making it one of the most premiere road races in the province. Geoff was led by the official pace car, a 2014 Maserati provided by Ferrari Maserati of Vancouver, and he was rewarded in prize money by collecting three hundred dollars for
the race victory and another seven hundred and fifty dollars for setting a new course record.
March 9, 2014
Geoff Martinson, Erin Burrett, Erik Evans and Jack Stanley
Geoff and Erin were the race champions while PIH Youth Team members, Erik and Jack, won gold and bronze medals in their first race with
the Harriers at the Synergy Health Management Bazan Bay 5K today under ideal, 14 degrees, windless, racing conditions. Geoff set a new course record with a blistering 14:12 to record the fastest 5K road race time in Canada this year and Erin ran a personal
best of 16:35 to collect 899 points, her highest-ever total surpassing the 894 points which she achieved by winning the Harriers Pioneer 8K two months ago. Second and third places went to two Vikes athletes, Patrick Psotka and Dylan Haight, in 14:48
and 14:51. Erin was 26th overall of 632 finishers while Gibson's Kimberley Doerksen was the second female, 28th in 16:50, and Vancouver's Catherine Watkins took third, 30th overall in 16:52. The top masters were Harriers' Craig Odermatt, 13th in 15:48,
and Catherine Watkins. Nine Harriers won gold medals by topping their age categories including Jack Stanley, M15, Geoff Martinson, M25, Shane Ruljancich, M35, Craig Odermatt, M40, Bruce Deacon, M45, Garth Campbell, M55, John Woodall, M80, Erin Burrett,
F30, and Nancy Baxendale, F50. Eight members of the PIH Youth Team, coached by Bruce Deacon, entered the race and all eight of them finished with a top-10 performance either in the M01-15 division or in the M16-19 division including sons, Robbie Deacon,
6th, and John Deacon, 9th. There were 632 finishers at Bazan Bay including 65 Harriers; this was 116 fewer than last year's total of 748 finishers.
March 5, 2014
Bob Reid
Bob received the President's Award from Sport BC tonight amongst 450 athletes, coaches, officials and guests at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. Each of 40 different sports selected one
representative to receive the President's Award in a celebration of the 48th Annual Athlete of the Year Awards. Bob represented athletics and other Victoria winners were John Lyall, rugby, Rhys del Valle, canoeing/kayaking, Mark Baggott, field hockey,
Dean Crawford, swimming, and Sheila Biondo, tennis. Divisions for athlete awards included high school, junior, college, university, coaches, officials, senior, master and team categories. BC Athletics posted the attached summary of their winners. http://bcathletics.wordpress.com/2014/03/06/congratulations-bc-athlete-of-the-year-award-winners/
March 2, 2014
Thomas Holm and Claire Morgan
Thomas continued with his excellent performances in the Series this year by claiming his first overall victory at the Hatley Castle 8K today while Claire demonstrated
why she was selected as the Most Valuable Runner for 2013 by topping the women's field to claim her second overall win at Hatley Castle. The race was postponed by one week due to heavy snow and unsafe running conditions on February 23. The result was
312 finishers including 130 women and 182 men; this was 143 fewer finishers than 2013. There were 36 Harriers in the race, 19 men and 17 women, and a "welcome back" was in order to Sonja Yli-Kahila for running her first race since having her first baby
last year, and to David Hoskins for running his first Series race in 2 years after a long bout with injuries. The top three men at Hatley were Thomas Holm, 27:23, Shane Ruljancich, 27:59, and Andrew Russell, 28:08, while the top three women were Claire
Morgan, 10th in 30:45, Jill Ramstead, 22nd in 32:23, and Nancy Baxendale, 42nd in 33:58. Seven Harriers collected gold medals by winning their age categories including Thomas Holm (M25), Shane Ruljancich (M35), Claire Morgan (F35), Gary Duncan (M55),
Nancy Baxendale (F50), John Woodall (M80), and Maree Kennell (F70). Seven other Harriers took home silver medals and three more won bronze. In the club standings, as the Island Series reached its mid-point after 4 races, PIH still holds down first place
with 2,031 points while CVRR is second, 1,111 points, and Bastion Running Club is third, 1,056 points. There are 64 club teams registered in the 2014 Series standings.
March 1, 2014
40 Award Winners
Last night, the Prairie Inn Harriers acknowledged their 2013 award winners in a number of categories with about 80 people attending the annual Awards Ceremony at Cedar Hill Golf
Club. Here is the complete list of recipients: PRAIRIE INN HARRIERS 2013 AWARD WINNERS - PERPETUAL AWARDS - 1. Prairie Inn Harriers Gunner Shaw Most Valuable Runner – Geoff Martinson, Natasha Wodak, Claire Morgan 2. Prairie Inn Harriers Robin Pearson
Most Improved Runner – Franck Germain, Lisa Cantwell 3. Prairie Inn Harriers Alex Marshall Master of the Year – Jim Finlayson, Garth Campbell, Binder Kelsall, Camie Bentham 4. Prairie Inn Harriers Maurice Tarrant and Rosamund Dashwood Veterans
of the Year – John Woodall, Martha McNeely 5. Prairie Inn Harriers Ken Smythe Dedicated Performance Award – Susan Norrington 6. Prairie Inn Harriers John Thipthorpe Durability Award – Gary Duncan 7. Prairie Inn Harriers Susan Reid Most
Consistent Harrier – Cathy Noel 8. Prairie Inn Harriers Stewart Fall Junior of the Year – Michael Barber 9. Prairie Inn Harriers Bob Reid Bright Shining Light Award – Craig Odermatt, Erin Burrett 10. Prairie Inn Harriers Glenn Jaques
Race Walker of the Year – No candidate nominated in 2013 11. Prairie Inn Harriers Dave Reed Trail Runner of the Year – Shane Ruljancich, Andrew Pape 12. Prairie Inn Harriers Members’ Choice High Achievement Award – Gary Duncan,
Kathleen Birney 13. Prairie Inn Harriers Cyclist of the Year – Steve Bachop, Shannon Coutts 14. Prairie Inn Harriers Island Race Series Runner of the Year – Logan Roots, Julie Van Veelen 15. Prairie Inn Harriers Molly Reid Top Dog of the
Year – Java Wear NON-PERPETUAL AWARDS - 16. Prairie Inn Harriers Excellence in International Competition – Natasha Wodak 17. Prairie Inn Harriers Triathlete of the Year – Richard Knowlton 18. Prairie Inn Harriers Fittest Couple –
Andrew Pape, Sara Pape 19. Prairie Inn Harriers Excellence in Club Leadership – Kathleen Birney, Lisa Cantwell 20. Prairie Inn Harriers Excellence in Volunteering – Mike Emerson 21. Prairie Inn Harriers Excellence in Half Marathons –
David Jackson 22. Prairie Inn Harriers Lifetime Membership Award – Wendy Davies COMICAL AWARDS 23. Prairie Inn Harriers Fast Twitch/Slow Twitch Award – Chris Callendar 24. Prairie Inn Harriers Most Eligible Bachelor Award – Eric Davies
25. Prairie Inn Harriers Best Wipe-out in Competition Award – Jane McDonald 26. Prairie Inn Harriers Athletics Supporter Award – Andrew Morgan 27. Prairie Inn Harriers Bee Sting and Stitch Award – Bob Reid 28. Sport BC President's Award
- Bob Reid..... For a complete description of the 2013 accomplishments for each award winner, click on "About" then click on "Awards", then click on the name of the individual.
February 20, 2014
Erin Burrett
OTTAWA - Athletics Canada is sending a contingent of 23 athletes to race at the 2014 North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Cross Country Championships including
Erin Burrett of the Harriers. The Championships take place Saturday February 22 at Mount Irvine, Tobago. Watch for Jessica O'Connell of Calgary, Alta., in the senior women's 6-kilometre race, she won bronze at the 2013 Canadian Cross Country Championships.
Rachel Hannah of Toronto, Ont., finished fifth at that same event and returns to the NACAC Championships looking to improve on her sixth place finish from last year. Rachel also represented Canada at the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Leslie
Sexton of London, Ont., finished fifth at the 2013 Canadian 10K Championships in Vancouver, Erin Burrett of Nanaimo, B.C., was seventh in that event. Vancouver's Sabrina Wilkie is also on the team led by a pair of coaches including Lynn Kanuka, the 1984
Olympic Games bronze medalist in the 3000-metres. Coach Kanuka also won bronze at the 1984 World Cross Country Championships. Joining Coach Kanuka in leading the team is Rob Grepe. Coach Grepe has coached numerous teams in Ontario over the past 13 years.
At the 2013 NACAC Cross Country Championships Canada won three of the four gold team medals and added an individual gold medal by Harriers' Natasha Wodak of Port Moody, BC, in the senior women's 2013 race. At the 2014 NACAC Championships Erin placed
10th overall of 18 women in 21:22 in the 6K senior women's race. The winner was U.S.A.'s Kellyn Johnson in 20:09. The top Canadian was Rachel Hannah; she was second overall in 20:29. Other Canadians were Jessica O'Connell, 4th in 20:45, Sabrina Wilkie,
9th in 21:19, and Leslie Sexton, 12th in 22:38. Team U.S.A. won the senior men's, senior women's and junior men's team titles while Team Canada won the junior women's crown. Other countries competing in the NACAC Championships included Mexico, Jamaica,
Puerto Rico, Domican Republic, Bahamas, Bermuda, U.S. Virgin Islands and Trinidad and Tobago.
February 16, 2014
Natasha Wodak and Jim Finlayson
Natasha was the top female and Jim was the top master, third overall, at the First Half Half Marathon in Vancouver today which was the 2014 BC Half Marathon
Road Race Championship. Other Provincial Road Race Championships include the Harriers Pioneer 8K, Summerfast 10K, Longest Day 5K and GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon. The First Half Half race was won by Vancouver's Rob Watson in 1:06:38, second place
went to Jeremy Deere, of Calgary in 1:09:22, and Jim took third in 1:09:39. The top three women were Natasha Wodak, 24th overall of 1,930 finishers in 1:17:04, Kimberley Doerksen, from Gibsons, 25th in 1:17:26, and top master Vancouver's Catherine Watkins,
27th in 1:18:00. Craig Odermatt had a great performance finishing 8th overall in 1:13:18, third master behind elite masters Jim Finlayson and Oliver Utting.
February 9, 2014
Logan Roots and Claire Morgan
Logan was the top male and Claire was the top female today at the Cedar 12K, Race No. 3 of the Frontrunners Island Race Series. It was Logan's first major victory
in 20 Island Series races dating back to 2010 where he finished his first race, the Harriers Pioneer 8K, in 53rd position overall. He improved his time at Cedar from 41:08 last year, where he finished fourth, to 40:33 this year. Second place went to
a new Harrier, Thomas Holm, in 41:13, while Nick Walker, of Frontrunners Westshore placed third in 41:52. Claire recorded only her second Series victory at Cedar to go with her 2012 win at Hatley Castle in the 57 Series races that she has completed since
1999. It was her highest-ever placing at 15th overall and her second-highest points rating at 830 compared to her highest points of 857 which she achieved at the Bazan Bay 5K last year. Claire wore bib no. 4 and finished in 44:44 with a pace of 3:44
per kilometre. Second place female was Melissa Ross, 17th OA in 44:50, while Jill Ramstead, of CeeVacs, took third and was 28th OA in 47:39. Garth Campbell had a great race winning the M55 division with a new P.B. of 44:43; he was 14th overall. Binder
Kelsall also won her F45 age category in 50:17 and Valerie Bell topped the F50 division in 51:15. Binder improved her best Cedar time by 1:37 and Val improved her best time by 46 seconds. There were 418 finishers including 31 Harriers, down slightly
from last year's total of 452 finishers.
February 2, 2014
Ben Brzezynski
Ben was the only Harrier and placed very well by winning the M20-24 age category and placing sixth overall in 26:18 at the Steveston Ice Breaker 8K held today in Richmond. It
was the first race in the Lower Mainland Series and attracted 267 finishers, 68 more than last year's total of 199. The top three men were Adam Byles, 23:58, Theo Hunt, 24:48, and Nicholas Browne, 25:13. The weather was cool, calm and clear and the flat
course led to some very fast finishing times which were between 18 and 27 seconds faster than the top three Ice Breaker finishers recorded on the Harriers Pioneer race course three weeks earlier. Byles, Hunt and Browne placed 3rd, 5th and 7th at Pioneer
in 24:40, 25:15 and 25:51. The top three women at the Steveston Ice Breaker were Catherine Watkins, 10th overall in 27:18, Kimberly Doerksen, 14th overall in 27:55, and Anne Marie Madden, 15th overall in 28:17. The top masters were Catherine Watkins,
27:18, and Mark Bennett, with a new BC M50 record of 26:15; he was fifth overall. There are 11 races in the Lower Mainland Series starting with the Steveston Ice Breaker 8K in February and concluding with the Richmond Oval 10K in August.
January 26, 2014
Craig Odermatt and Lucy Smith
Two vintage Harriers veterans were the cream of the crop at the Cobble Hill 10K, Race #2 in the 2014 Frontrunners Island Race Series run under perfect conditions.
Craig, 43, and Lucy, 46, were the first place male and female overall making it the first time in the 33-year history of the Series that master runners (40+) have won the race outright. Craig finished in 33:29 today to break the tape; in 2011 he placed
second to Sean Chester in 32:48. Another master, Simon Stewart, of Fast Trax, placed second in 33:45 while Victoria's Thomas Holm took third in 33:54. Lucy's time of 36:08 narrowly missed the F45 course record of 36:00 which she set last year. She also
holds the F40 course record of 35:51 which was set in 2009. Second place went to triathlete Alison Hooper in 36:30 while Lifesport's Janet Neilson was third female in 37:52. Other Harriers winning their age categories included Nancy Baxendale, F50, Garth
Campbell, M55, and John Woodall, M80. There were 577 finishers at Cobble Hill including 40 Harriers, this was 46 more than last year's total of 531 finishers.
January 19, 2014
Gary Duncan and Matthias Schoeck
Gary placed first overall in 37:53 while Matthias was fifth, first in the M40-49 division, in 42:25, after doing a 7K warm-up run from home at the first MEC
Rust Buster 10K at Lochside Elementary School. Second male was Gabe Lunn in 38:13 while Joel Mallish was third in 38:55. The top three women in the 10K were Claire Clarke, second overall behind Gary, in 38:08, Shannon Hodge, 44:55, and Gill Grant, 49:32.
In the accompaying 5K race the winners were Russell Pennock in 16:11 and Alison Hooper in 17:30; she was fifth overall. Other Harriers placing well in the 5K were Jericho O'Connell, third in 16:52, Kyla Coates, 2nd F16-29 in 19:19, and Sam Prowse, 4th
F16-29 in 21:59. There were 84 finishers in the 5K and 58 in the 10K for a total of 142 finishers. Race No. 2 in the Series of 5 takes place on April 6 starting and finishing at the Willows Beach Esplanade in Oak Bay.
January 12, 2014
Geoff Martinson, Erin Burrett, Jim Finlayson and Lucy Smith
Geoff and Erin were crowned as BC 8K Road Running Champions while Jim and Lucy won the Master's BC Titles at the 35th annual Harriers
Pioneer 8K today. Geoff trailed Vancouver's Rob Watson by 10 to 15 metres through the half way mark to catch Watson at 5K and steadily move ahead for a 21 second margin of victory 23:41 to 24:02. Adam Byles, from Australia, took third in 24:40. Erin
ran the race of her life to win her first-ever Island Series event in 27:13 and record her first-ever victory over team mate, Natasha Wodak who finished second in 27:21 while Vancouver's Sabrina Wilkie placed third in 27:57. They finished 18th, 20th
and 23rd overall in a very strong, competitive field. It was Erin's 57th Island Series race where she started in 1997 as a 15-year-old and recorded 645 points. Today's effort earned her a career-high of 894 points and marked a 10-minute improvement over
her first Pioneer 8K in 1998. Jim was 6th overall in 25:17 and Lucy was 4th female in 28:27. The Harriers offered 1,750 dollars in prize money and BC Athletics added 750 dollars as the Harriers Pioneer 8K was designated as the Provincial 8K Road Running
Championship for Junior, Senior and Master age categories. There were 700 registrations and 623 finishers this year compared to 762 registrations and 656 finishers last year.
January 1, 2014
Graham Fisher
Graham was closest to zero on the clock as he finished the 18th annual Harriers New Year's Day Memorial Run/Walk just 12 seconds off his predicted time and won a fruit and cheese
plater for his effort. About 70 Harriers and friends did the run and enjoyed hot chocolate and Dad's cookies following their run or walk. They donated 575 dollars to the Harriers Foundation to assist with future foundation projects. The temperature was
favourable and conditions were perfect to start the new 2014 year off with some physical exercise at Beaver and Elk Lakes.
