December 31, 2004
Ian Hallam & Nancy Baxendale
The top 2 Harriers in the Run Thru Time 5k at UVic were Ian and Nancy. Ian was second overall to Craig Odermatt and Nancy was first female overall. Great performances from both of them at this festive run full of costumes, celebration, and special apprearances.
December 26, 2004
Steve Wilson and Marcia Stromsmoe
Harrier Steve Wilson was the winner in the Harriers' 6th annual Boxing Day 10-mile Handicap at the Prairie Inn. He finished over six minutes ahead of second-place finisher Brian Bell, a testament to his rapid improvement during his first year of running. Steve ran two 54 minute 10K's before May (TC and Sooke River), but he ran the equivalent of a 49 minute 10K today. Marcia was the first female Harrier to the line and by the looks of things she'll have a rockin' Series this year!
December 19, 2004
Wendy Davies
Wendy was part of the first session of the SSS's that started a few weeks back (designed by none-other than Dr. A.) and made it out today for another session. She has been to virtually every TNW this year, is a regular at Saturday Thetis runs, and pulled off three Half Marathons this fall with Lands End (1:33:14), Royal Victoria (1:32:38), and Shawnigan Lake (1:37:51). She also did a nearly Half by running the Thetis Lake 20k Relay as a solo entry.
December 13, 2004
Robbie Cracknell, Kevin Searle and Meghan Day
Rocket Robbie, Squirrel Searle and Zippity Day had outstanding performances at the inaugural Stewart Mountain 11 Mile Cross Country Challenge on Saturday. For the first time ever, Robbie beat Meghan, a two time National Team member at the World Mountain Racing Championships in Alaska last year and Italy this year. Robbie ran 1:11:47 and placed 10th overall out of 97 finishers. For the first time, he also finished ahead of Kevin Searle, recognized as one of the top master runners on Vancouver Island. Meghan absolutely destroyed most of the women's field by finishing 11th in 1:12:55, topping one of Canada's finest triathletes, Olympian Samantha McGlone, by over four minutes. Meghan continues to shine on some of the most difficult cross country courses that Canada has to offer, finishing 5th in the BCXC Championships last month in White Rock and 19th in the National XC's last weekend in Toronto. Kevin was first master home at Stewart Mountain winning a star-studded over-40 field including Myron Knippshild from Duncan and PIH team mate, Gary Duncan. He was 13th overall in 1:13:45. Look for Robbie, Kevin and Meghan to have outstanding NB Island Race Series in 2005 within their respective age categories. And at 14, Robbie has another FIVE years as a junior and will only get better! A 35 minute 10K is a distinct possibility for all three of these runners-of-the-week at Mill Bay in January.
December 6, 2004
Keith Mills
Keith did the double on the weekend, first finishing 8th overall in the Santa 5K Shuffle of 200 runners on Saturday, then placing 7th overall in the Merrython 8K out of 300 runners on Sunday.
November 29, 2004
Robbie Cracknell, Lorne Neil, Lindsay Pellow and Sandi Heal
Robbie, Lorne, Lindsay and Sandi showed the largest margin of improvement this year over their last year's time at the Gunner Shaw Cross Country Classic.
November 29, 2004
Ken Bonner
Ken ran the Seattle Marathon in 3:29:42 and won his age group by finishing 1st out of 31 in the M6064 category. He claims that it's his best marathon time in several years, and credits his recent retirement!
November 29, 2004
Karen Lawless and Ian Hallam
Both Karen and Ian had outstanding runs at the 20th annual Gunner Shaw 10K XC Classic on Saturday. Karen was top master in the field of 343 finishers and Ian was third overall behind Neil Holm and Stefan Jacobsen.
November 29, 2004
Dave Jackson and Joan McGrath
3rd overall for Dave in 2:35 and 2nd female, top master for Joan in 2:54 at the Seattle Marathon.
November 22, 2004
Dave Jackson
Dave bowled a 194 for his first game at the 4th Annual World Championship Fluff Bowling Tournament at Mayfair Lanes on Friday night. Look for Dave to clear the pins at the Seattle Marathon this weekend where he's hoping to have a great run.
Fast forward to Nov 29th - Dave runs 2:35:11 in the Seattle Marathon, good for 3rd place overall and 1st in his age category. Sylvan was there to provide post race support for Dave.
November 15, 2004
Anthony Estey and Steve Osaduik
Both Anthony and Steve ran two outstanding stages each at the Thetis Lake Relay on Remembrance Day to anchor their teams to first and third overall out of a record number of 141 teams.
November 7, 2004
Joan McGrath
Joan anchored the Harriots of Fire to a 2nd place finish in the master women's division at the Haney to Harrison 100K Relay yesterday. She was the top female runner on BOTH stages 5 and 8. For Stage 5 she placed 14th overall in 58:02 for 14.8K (6:19 pace per mile), then two hours later she ran 30:38 on Stage 8, another 8K, good for 12th overall of 315 runners (6:08 pace per mile).
October 31, 2004
Graham Cocksedge, Jim Finlayson and Stefan Fairweather
1-2-3 in the Creepy Crawl today.
October 31, 2004
Gary Duncan and Chris Kelsall
1-2 in the Diabetes Dash today after competing in the Creepy Crawl one hour earlier!
October 26, 2004
Robbie Cracknell
Island XC Finals - 8th of 174.
October 25, 2004
Meghan Day and Steve Osaduik
BC XCs. 5th and 3rd overall.
October 25, 2004
Lindsay Pellow and Sandi Heal
Big P.R.'s at Shawnigan
October 25, 2004
Dave Jackson, Stefan Fairweather, Joan McGrath and Nancy Baxendale
1-2 and 1-2 at the Shawnigan Half.
October 18, 2004
Stefan Fairweather, Gary Duncan and Steve Shelford
Richmond Flatlands 10K and Goldstream Salmon Run Run 5K.
October 11, 2004
Steve Osaduik and Garfield Saunders
Royal Victoria 8K.
October 11, 2004
Meghan Day, Karen Lawless, Steve Murenbeeld and Ian Hallam
Personal bests and outstanding performances in the Royal Victoria Half Marathon.
October 11, 2004
Herb Phillips, Maurice Tarrant and Sandra Bastedo
New age class Canadian Records for the Marathon, Half and 8K.
October 11, 2004
Bruce Deacon, Joan McGrath and Nancy Baxendale
Royal Victoria Marathon.
October 4, 2004
Meghan Day
Bazett Farm XC.
September 27, 2004
Stefan Fairweather and Claire Townsend
Victories at Tomato Creek XC.
September 27, 2004
Lindsay Pellow
Silvertip 50K. 4th female overall, 1st open female, 5:38.
September 20, 2004
Dee Ogden, Claire Townsend and Karen Lawless
P.R. and bronze medal. Five minute improvement. Gold medal and third female.
September 13, 2004
Dave Jackson, Stefan Fairweather, Bruce Deacon and Nancy Baxendale
1-3 at Lands End, 1-2 at Harbour City Half.
September 6, 2004
Steve Osaduik, Karen Lawless and Dave Reed
Top open runner overall and top male and female masters at Songhees.
September 6, 2004
Sandra Bastedo
Sandra Bastedo's Songhees 5K time of 21:28 is a new B.C. W60 record breaking West Vancouver's Lenore Mongomery time of 21:38 set June 2, 1991. At Songhees Sandra was second master overall even though she was 20 years older than most of them!
September 6, 2004
Marcia Stromsmoe
BC Seniors Games in Penticton and Songhees 5K. 7 races in 4 days, 4 gold medals, 1 silver medal, 1 4th place and 1 DQ.
August 30, 2004
Rob Smith
Cascade Crest 100 Mile Trail Run.
August 30, 2004
Mike Ellis
2004 Subaru Ironman Canada Triathlon in Penticton yesterday. Mike was 1,353rd of 2,056 finishers in 13:28:46. He was 2nd of 10 in the M65-69 division. More details later.
August 30, 2004
Jon Brown
Olympic Marathon in Athens yesterday, 4th, 2:12:26, 15 seconds off the podium, 1:31 from a gold medal, once again on the same track finishing with the top three marathoners in the world at the Olympics. Jon was perhaps the fastest runner in the second half of the race. A fourth in Sydney, now a fourth in Athens, let's hope for a first in Beijing and his first as a Canadian citizen. Simply outstanding!
August 23, 2004
Stefan Fairweather and Karen Lawless
Sound and Silence 10K.
August 23, 2004
Bruce Deacon, Steve Osaduik, Judith Leroy and Nancy Baxendale
Sound and Silence 10K.
August 16, 2004
Steve Murenbeeld, Rui Batista, Hillerie Denning and Sandy Mullen
Cadboro Bay Triathlon and Duathlon. Details soon.
August 9, 2004
Stefan Fairweather, Karen Lawless and Claire Townsend
Three different Half Marathons. Details soon.
August 9, 2004
Ken Bonner
Ultra bike race, first place finish. Details soon.
August 2, 2004
Gwyn Woodson
Gwyn won the F50 division of the 25th annual Self Transendence Triathlon on Sunday in 2:31:17. She finished 52nd overall of the 223 finishers and 14th of 84 women. Customary to good runners when they turn to multi-sports, Gwyn's swim was her biggest challenge where she did the 1.5K Elk Lake distance in 31:02 and was 126th out of the water. She had a very strong 40K cycle through Central and North Saanich finishing in 1:15:50, good for 47th fastest cyclist. She must have passed 50 or 60 people on the bike. Finally, the 10K run was her strongest discipline where she finished a lap of E/B in 44:27 and she was 45th runner of the 223 finishers. Bill Scriven also had a good race winning the M60 division in 2:35:16. He was 64th overall. The race winner was Kelly Guest in 1:56:04, back after a 2 year suspension from the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Top female was Samantha McGlone who finished an outstanding third overall in 2:08:18. In the accompanying Duathlon, Hugh Trenchard won for a third consecutive year in 2:06:52 while Stephanie Hood, 6th overall, was top female in 2:15:27. There were 37 finishers in the duathlon.
July 26, 2004
Rob Smith
Rob placed third overall in the Eagle 50 mile race in Keremenos on Saturday, a small community between Princeton and Osoyoos near Cathedral Park. Rob's time was 12 hours, 37 minutes and 10 seconds. It was his best ultra since his sub-24 hour finish at the Western States 100 miler in Auburn, California last year. The 50 mile Eagle ultra was won by Chad Ulansky in 9:40:37 and the top female, Donna Mazurkewich, placed second overall in 12:30:37. Logan Beaulieu was 4th in 13:05:59 while former Elk/Beaver winner, and current course record-holder, Lorraine Lees was second female and 6th overall in 13:16:30. Harriers ironman, Rob Grant, placed 8th in 13:45:45. The accompanying 100 mile race was won by Judson Rowe in 27:45:11. The courses were designed by former Harrier, now living in the Okanagan, Moe "The Eagle" Beaulieu, who must have put together a killer route. Of the 20 starters in the 100 mile race, only 4 finished and 23 of 30 finished the 50 miler.
July 26, 2004
Megan Huzzey
Megan earned her third consecutive Canadian junior championship in the women's 10K race-walk by clocking 49:49 in Saskatoon yesterday. It was her second sub-50 minute walk within the last 10 days. Rachel Lavelle of Peterborough, ON was second and Katie Samoil of Leduc, AB was third. "I'm very pleased with my second best time ever," said the 18 year old Huzzey, who set her personal best in a 14th place finish at the World Juniors in Italy last week. "It would have been nice to get the Canadian Junior record (49:15) but the heat became a factor as the race wore on. Still, I have had an unbelievable year by improving my 10K time by over four minutes." After a brief rest, she will now consider a Canada/USA dual meet in Edmonton at the end of August. As Megan prepares for her first year of senior competition in 2005, she will continue to be coached and advised by Linda Keatley-Campbell who has had a long and successful relationship with Megan through Vic Track. Linda is an accomplished race-walker, too, and has recently moved to Campbell River but will offer coaching advice to Megan by e-mail. Canada's top race-walker, Arturo Huerta, a regular with our Prior Lake morning pack, who ran his first marathon in 2:18 at the age of 17 and was ranked 10th overall in the world for race-walking has offered to help Linda with Victoria-based athletes. He will offer training sessions on form and strength/endurance. Arturo is already ranked in the top ten for 5K in Canada as a master runner and has been asked to represent Canada at the PanAm Games in race-walking where he is likely to set another master's RW record.
July 19, 2004
Megan Huzzey
New Harrier, Megan Huzzey, participated in the IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships in Grosseto, Italy on Friday July 16. Megan placed 14th overall in the 10,000 metre racewalk which is a new personal best time by 57 seconds. She was the top finisher from North and South America with an outstanding time of 49:25. A lot of people can't run 10K in that time! The racewalk was won by Russian Petrova Irina in 45:50, also a personal best for her, and an 8 second victory over second place finisher Zhang Nan of China. There were 29 starters and 27 finishers in the event. The Prairie Inn Harriers contributed $500 towards Megan's expenses to attend the Italian meet. Our other Meghan will also be travelling to Italy in September to participate in the World Mountain Racing Championships. Full results for all events of the IAAF World Junior T&F Championships are on the web site www.grosseto2004.it. There is a picture of Megan on the site; she is #93 in the all red Canadian uniform with the white hat. Congratulations, Megan, for a world class performance at the Junior Worlds.
July 12, 2004
Shelby Reid and Laura Leno
While most Harriers were busting a gut at Mount Doug Park or watching high performance athletes attempting to make Team Canada at the Olympic Trials at UVic, or kicking around the Great Sooke Foot Race, two other Harriers were making waves somewhere else yesterday. Alice Lake and Fuller Lake to be specific. Shelby finished 329th overall out of 386 finishers in 7th annual Bob McIntosh Memorial Triathlon in Squamish with an excellent time of 3:03:39. This was her first triathlon. The Olympic distance event featured a 1,500 metre swim in Alice Lake followed by a 40 kilometre cycle in Brackendale and ended with a 10 kilometre run mainly on trails. Shelby was 27th of 40 in her age class and 115th female of 166 female finishers. The race winner was Paul Krochak of Vancouver in 1:56:32 and the top female was Christine Fletcher, also of Vancouver, in 2:06:52. Flecher was 10th overall. Laura was 2nd F45 in the 3rd annual Cowichan Challenge Triathlon with a super time of 2:18:33. It was her second triathlon this summer and her second 2nd place performance as she did very well at the Panorama event on June 6. The Cowichan Challenge features a 1K swim, a 34K cycle and a 9K run. Laura was 49th overall out of 126 finishers in the main event. Another 71 finishers completed the half distance novice race. The winner of the CowTri was Brent Poulsen in 1:44:08 while the top female was Jody Leeti in 1:57:37. Leeti was 9th overall. For both Shelby and Laura, naturally the run was their strongest discipline followed by the bike second and the swim third. Although both Harriers were well back when they came out of the water, they were able to gain a number of positions on the bike and pass even more contestants on the run. Shelby's splits were swim 38:20, ride 1:29:21 and run 55:59. Laura's splits were swim 23:13, ride 1:12:37 and run 42:43. Both were extremely pleased with their efforts. So was one proud father and one good friend.
July 12, 2004
Ian Hallam, Gary Duncan, Meghan Day and Lindsay Pellow
Mount Douglas Gutbuster, No.3 in the GB Series wrapped up with the awards for the race and the awards for the mountain racing Series on Saturday and four Harriers were very prominent. Ironically the 11K Mount Doug long course had 101 finishers in both 2003 and 2004. The 5K short course had 30 finishers this year and 23 last year. Ian Hallam was first Harrier home, second overall and 15 seconds behind winner Graham Cocksedge. Both Ian and Graham broke the course record, held by Ian, by well over 2 minutes. Graham's winning time of 49:33 shaved 2:38 from the CR while Ian's time of 49:42 lowered it by 2 minutes, 23 seconds. Graham won the overall Gutbuster Series title with 58 points while Ian took the silver with 57 points and Stefan Jacobsen claimed the bronze with 56 points. Gary had an outstanding Series, finishing Mt. Doug in 9th place overall, top master in the race and top master in the Series with a time of 57:50. He ran 1:01:45 in 2003 and leaped ahead a big 3 minutes and 55 seconds this year. He won a pair of Adidas trail shoes for winning the master's division in the race and a $450 gift package for winning the master's division in the Series. Not a bad day at the office for the 2003 Robin Pearson Most Improved Runner who continues to show improvement with every workout and every race. Meghan probably had the run of the day as she sped to 5th overall of the 101 finishers in 55:05 and beat the second place female, Carol Tickner, by 5 minutes, 37 seconds. Cheryl Murphy took third in 1:01:27. Meghan improved her time over last year by an unbelieveable 11 minutes, 40 seconds and broke the women's course record by 8 minutes and 8 seconds. This was only one week after finishing as the top Canadian at a 12K all-up hillclimb in Vail, Colorado and anchoring Team Canada to a second place finish out of 10 countries. And you wonder why she won the Gunner Shaw Most Valuable Runner last year and is the leading candidate for a repeat in 2004. Graham and Meghan each received a $450 gift package for emerging as Gutbuster Series Champions. Ian Hallam and Claire Townsend were both runners-up for the title. Lindsay's increased weekly mileage as well as her successful longer distance races such as the E/B 50K, the Half Knacker 25K and the Kusam Klimb 23K have really improved her speed at the TNW's and at the shorter adventure races. She jumped up from 40th of 101 last year to 29th overall this year, fifth female to the tape. More importantly was her margin of improvement from 1:12:52 in 2003 to 1:07:50 in 2004, a staggering 5 minutes and 2 seconds faster! She had a HUGE smile on her face as I announced her to the finish line as proudly she had completed a job extremely well done on the mountain.
July 5, 2004
Sandi Heal
Sandi had her best race of the year and best ever as a Harrier by finishing 63rd overall, out of 243 finishers, 4th of 25 in the F30 division, with a great time of 21:16 at the Sidney Days 5K on Canada's Birthday. Her extremely strong finish powered her by team mates Lindsay Pellow and Lisa Lynam as she finished one mere second ahead in her final sprint to the finish line. Compared to her time and finishing position at the Bazan Bay 5K, on the identical course in March, Sandi showed a tremendous improvement of one minute, 4 seconds. Her time at Bazan Bay was 22:20 good for 223rd overall and 11th of 52 in her age class. Using the Race Calculator, her Sidney Days 5K time would have generated 618 points in an Island Series race and her previous high was 607 at Mill Bay. Here's a sample of how well she did: Pioneer - 591 points, Mill Bay - 607 points, Cedar - 570 points, Bazan Bay - 588 points, Merville - 572 points, Oceanside - 575 points and Sidney - 618 points. Obviously the higher weekly training miles and more intensity that Sandster is showing on Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings is paying off in big race improvement dividends. Her next challenge is the Royal Victoria Half Marathon in October and she continues to entertain the PIH membership with her humourous and interesting training stories from the TNW's and Prior Lake escapades.
July 5, 2004
Meghan Day, Judith Leroy and Syl Corbett
Meghan, Judith and Syl finished within 56 seconds of each other, 5th, 6th and 7th in the F30 division of the Teva Vail 12K Hillclimb which served as the North America, Central America and Carribean Mountain Team Championships yesterday in Colorado. These outstanding Harriers were the top three Canadians and anchored our National Team to a second place finish in the team competition behind Team USA. Their performance in Vail will lead to strong consideration for being nominated to Team Canada which will go on to the world championships on September 4 and 5, 2004 in Sauze d'Oulz, Italy where more than forty nations will fight it out for the prized World Mountain Running Trophy. The men's Canadian Team also finished second to Team USA at the Vail Hillclimb. The overall men's winner was 22 year old Tim Parr from Gunnison, CO in 47:48 while the top female was Laura Haefeli, 36, in 57:32. Meghan finished in 1:03:02, good for 70th overall out of 347 finishers comprising the top mountain runners from 10 countries. Judith was close behind in 1:03:18 and Syl was right up there, too, in 1:03:58. A fourth Harrier, Ian Hallam, finished in 58:23 and was the 7th Canadian finisher, 40th overall, 15th of 68 in the M30 division. Since joining the club over two years ago, you have to admire Meg's sheer determination, hard work, disciplined training, mental strength and positive attitude. Her quote following the race was, "Life's greatest rewards are the ones that are the most difficult to reach." She has been our most valuable female runner, and continues to be, since the very first time she slipped on the red singlet in a race and since she became a TNW leader at the club workouts.
July 5, 2004
Anthony Estey
Twilight Shuffle, then Comfortably Numb, then Sidney Days, three races in 8 days with a third, first and first to his credit. Our 19 year old phenom continues to excel. Anthony started out his Harriers road running career by nailing a third place finish overall in the 20th annual Twilight Shuffle 4 Miler in Chemainus with a time of 20:41. His time would have won 6 previous Twilight Shuffles. There were a record number of 850 registrations and 733 finishers, 730 of which he beat this year. First place went to Steve Osaduik in 19:25 and second was claimed by Courtenay's Neil Holm in 20:34. Anthony placed higher than the fastest master in BC, Richard Lee, who finished fourth in 20:47 and fifth place went to perennial winner of many other Island races, Stefan Jacobsen, in 21:25. Three days later, the teenage Harrier travelled to Whistler and entered the Comfortably Numb 25K wilderness trail run. He had never run more than 2 times a week in his training and had never run beyond 11K in a race or training run. Fortunately team mate Stefan Fairweather kept his pace steady and controlled for the entire 15.5 miles and the PIH duo finished in a dead heat tie for first place in 2:01:09 and beat some very well established mountain racers in the process. Then five days later Anthony stood on the starting line of the Sidney Days 5K poised for his first overall road victory and trophy. When the gun went, Anthony bolted like he was shot out of a cannon. He lead from start to finish and, in the end he ran 15:53 despite going off course for 15 seconds, good for a course record and a 33 second victory over last year's winner Hugh Trenchard who finished second in 16:26. To put this great race in perspective, Greg Bennett, the former course record holder, is currently the No. 1 ranked ITU triathlete in the world. Yes, he is ahead of Simon Whitfield. Greg set the Sidney Days previous course record of 15:57 in 2002 and that year he went on to win the Richmond Flatlands 10K, the Squamish Days 10K, the Summerfast 10K and finish in the top ten of the 65,000+ Sun Run running all four races in under 30 minutes! And our young Anthony just ran better than Greg at Sidney.....
June 28, 2004
Stefan Fairweather
Five Prairie Inn Harriers suited up for the Comfortably Numb 25K wilderness trail race just north of Whistler on Saturday, June 26 while the rest of their training buddies were trapsing around Prior Lake and eating breakfast at John's Other Place. Two came away from the CN 25K victorious, one placed fourth in the women's race and another was tenth overall. Stefan Fairweather led the way with his blazing PIH red singlet and in doing so provided the perfect pace, steadiness and discipline to pull Anthony Estey along with him and avoid the young, inexperienced trail runner from blowing up by going out too fast. Although Stefan struggled on the ups and felt Anthony wasn't working at all on them, he remained patient and in control for the entire 15 1/2 miles over some of the most beautiful mossy trails in the province. This constant teamwork and encouragement between Stefan and Anthony paid off about half way into the course where they finally caught the leader and put 3 minutes on him in the second half of the race. Kiwi Stef showed excellent sportsmanship with one kilometre to go when Anthony started to cramp up and fade badly. Instead of continuing on for the victory, he said, "Come on mate, you waited for me on all the uphills, I can wait for you on this last downhill." He did, Anthony recovered, and they both ran across the finish line together in 2:01:09. Mike Lord finished 10th in 2:18:11 and Claire Townsend was 4th female overall in 2:29:37. The fifth Harrier was Shelby Reid, of Pemberton, also running the longest race of her life in 3:39:01. It was amusing to hear his report where Stefan thought, "Bob will kill me if Anthony's not 100% tip-top shape at the end!" He was and everybody's happy. Good on ya mate!
June 28, 2004
Meghan Day and Steve Osaduik
Steve and Meghan were not only the top Harriers but they were the overall male and female winners at the 20th annual Twilight Shuffle 4 Miler in Chemainus last Wednesday night. A record field of 733 finishers toed the line to see Steve hit the tape in 19:25, his third win at the Shuffle as he ran first in 20:23 last year and ran 19:41 for the victory in 2001. The course record of 18:31 is held by Kenyan Enock Keter set in 2002. It was Steve's 16th outright win this year for cross country, track, road and mountain races. Not bad, 16 wins in 6 months! Meghan's time of 22:11 was the fastest time run on the Twilight Shuffle course in the last 10 years and the fourth fastest time ever. Annalise Ransier-King holds the women's course record of 21:42 set in 1990. Meghan demolished the women's field by finishing 8th overall of 733, 1st of 155 in her age class, and nearly three minutes ahead of team mate Claire Townsend who claimed second in 25:06. Another Harrier, Karen Fry, placed third in 25:33. With Anthony Estey taking third in the men's race, PIH took 1 and 3 in the men's and 1-2-3 in the women's divisions.
June 28, 2004
Jon Brown and Karen Lawless
Jon and Karen both had breakthrough runs at the Scotiabank Half Marathon in Vancouver yesterday. Fresh off his 2:13 marathon in London in April to qualify for the Olympics, the Scotiabank was a 'high mileage' training week (130+mpw) with a bit of speedwork thrown in for Jon. He won the race convincingly in 1:03:53 and strewn behind him were six consecutive Kenyans, none fast enough to challenge the speedy veteran Brit. Second place went to Gitaa MacHarai in 1:05:22, third was Danny Kassap in 1:05:24, fourth was Moses Cheserek in 1:07:06, fifth was David Njuguna in 1:09:05, sixth was Mustapha Bennacer in 1:11:12 and seventh was David Wambui in 1:11:52. Jon will train in Whistler for three weeks, then travel to a small community in Greece for another three weeks training before heading for Athens just before the marathon. Karen ran a 2 minute personal best for a half marathon at Scotiabank and was second master overall. Her P.R. time of 1:29:24 placed her an outstanding 85th overall out of 2,657 finishers. She was 12th female out of 1,623 women in the race. Leslie Black was the top master with a time of 1:26:45. Karen is less than a month from her 45th birthday and, had she been 45 on race day, she would have won that age class by over two minutes. Watch out for a fit and rejuvenated Karen Lawless as she challenges the F45's in the 2005 Island Race Series.
June 21, 2004
Steve Bachop
Steve finished 6th overall in the epic Test of Metal mountain bike classic in Squamish on Saturday. Steve has ridden this race six consecutive years, and had his best ever finish this year. His time of 2:49:25 (24 km/h average over a brutal 67 km off-road course) beats his previous best time of 2:52:55 by 3:30. He also finished closer than ever to the overall winner, only 8:52 behind professional mountain bike racer Carter Hovey.
June 21, 2004
Randy Jones
Randy, a wilderness enthusiast extraordinaire, encouraged a group of half a dozen Harriers to run the epic new Kusam Klimb endurance race in Sayward on Saturday. Unfortunately, RJ suffered a fall in a run on Mt. Iron Horse last weekend and severely strained his rib cage. Undaunted, he still completed the brutal 23.2 km trek in 6 hours, 30 minutes. The climb up Mount H'Kusam, with long stretches averaging in excess of a 40% grade, required as much upper body strength as leg strength in places, to pull oneself up the mountain. RJ showed outstanding character to shake off his injury and complete the run.
June 21, 2004
Aaron Holmgren and Steve Murenbeeld
Youth and speed matched up and a couple of young Harrier guns came out of the woodwork to clain third and fourth overall at the sixth annual Do it for Dad 10K at Beaver Lake on Sunday. The race featured $500 for first place and Kenyan Daniel Komen, Merm's roommate, collected top prize by winning the race in 30:49. Newfoundland's Trevor O'Brien placed second in 32:28 and won $200 while 22 year old Steve Murenbeeld took third in 32:47 to claim the final $100 prize money. Another roommate of Merm's in his fast Howroyd house, was Aaron Holmgren, 21, who has just started to train again. In his first race of the year Aaron beat some seasoned veretans like Gord Christie and fast young runners to place fourth overall with a time of 33:54. There were 189 finishers in the 10K DIFD race and another 100 finishers in the 3K race won by Lisa Lynam of the Harriers. This was up about 150 runners from last year. Stephanie Mills was the top female in the 10K race and collected $500 in 36:06. Harriers Judith Leroy was second in 36:41 ($200) and Tiffany Evans picked up $100 for third place in 38:57.
June 14, 2004
Anthony Estey
In a bizarre and ever-changing set of circumstances, fate has designated that Anthony Estey has earned Harriers ROTW for his escapade at the Westwood Plateau Gutbuster race in Nanaimo last weekend. The story goes from the hilarious to the ridiculous and his result was both astonishing and outstanding. A regular at the TNWs for the last two months, the 19 year old UVic student has been blazing through the workouts and leaving everyone else in his dust. And to make matters worse, Anthony only runs once a week, you guessed it - Tuesday nights at Mt. Doug. He asked me at the last workout before the race whether he should do the 11K long course or the 6K short course. I said, "Most definitely, the long course as you will win the short race by 6 minutes and are wasting your time. The challenge for you is against Graham Cocksedge, Stefan Jakobsen and Ian Hallam in the long course." Ignoring my advice, Anthony registered online for the short course. Two days before the event, Race Director Bryan Tasaka, came to my house to pick up the equipment. Unbeknown to Anthony, I asked Bryan to change him to the long course. He did. When Anthony arrived in Nanaimo, I told him he was going long. He didn't think he could run fast for 11K so when he picked up his race package with his race number, he asked the registration people to change him back to the short course. They did but did not reissue him with a "short" race number. The short course numbers were in the 900's while the long course numbers were in the 100's and 200's. The gun goes and everyone is off. Anthony is leading the race and completely out of sight of Graham, Stefan and Ian when he hits the first course marshal at the split of the long course and the short course. Seeing Anthony's number of 240 and recognizing the fact that he is the overall leader, the marshal sends him up the big hill on the long course rather than along the powerline of the short course. After running uphill for about 25 minutes, Anthony becomes confused as he should be finished the short course by now, so he stops and wanders off down a side trail looking for Westwood Lake. He finds it but realizes that he is now on the summit of Westwood Plateau looking at Mount Benson and the shortest way back to the finish line is to continue on the long course. By this time Graham, Stefan and Ian have snuck by and when Anthony staggers out of the bushes, the next one to crest the summit is team mate Stefan Fairweather who says, "Hey mate, ya might as well follow me now rather than backtracking." Anthony burns down the hill and beats kiwiStef to the line by 19 seconds to finish fourth overall in his very first race as a Harrier. Had he not gone off course and stopped for a couple minutes looking for the lake to get his bearings, he might have won the race! At the end we all had a good laugh over the fact that I got my way and his excellent time of 49:50 was poetic justice. Graham's winning time was 43:57, Stefan took second in 45:39 and Ian claimed third in 46:09. Look for another tremendous effort from Anthony at the Mount Doug Gutbuster on July 10 where I will definitely be registering him in the "long course"!
June 7, 2004
Nancy Baxendale, Kevin Searle and Herb Phillips
Our Harriers non-Victoria threesome were the top Canadians and turned many American heads with their brilliant performances at the Newport Marathon in western Oregon, just south of Lincoln City on Saturday. Nancy, from Shawnigan Lake, was not only the top master, but she was the top female overall winning the race in 2:59:52. She was 19th of 541 finishers. Rebecca Henry, of Portland, was only 7 seconds behind in 2:59:59 (Christopher Kelsall's dream time) and Beaverton's Elycse Allphin took third in 3:02:50. Shawnigan's Kevin was top master in the marathon and third overall in 2:47:28, only 2 minutes off his personal best. A mere six seconds behind in 2:47:28 was the amazing Herb Phillips of Burnaby to collect fourth overall, top 60+ runner and a Canadian age class record by 4 minutes. Herb just might be the fastest 63 year old on this planet. All three wore their club uniforms proudly with Nancy sporting her black Harriers Adidas top, Kevin suiting up in the red singlet and Herb in his black one. Daniel Welsh, from Steilancoon, WA, won the race in 2:34:44 while David Hankin, of Tualatin, OR, placed second in 2:38:07.
June 7, 2004
Dan Fraser and Gary Duncan
Big Dan continues to shine in off-road adventure races. His race at Gutbuster Nanaimo on Saturday was a huge improvement on his run there last year as he knocked an incredible 13 minutes off his 2003 time! The next day he did a four hour run as he continues to prepare for the White River 50-mile race in July. Gary made a 7 minute, 5 second improvement at Westwood Plateau GB in 53:49. He was 15th overall of 132 long course finishers and third master. Last year he was 6th master in 1:00:54. He cranked it up a notch the next day and placed 4th overall in the Firefighter's 10K with an outstanding time of 38:48, second master to Andrew Green and second in his weight class. This was a personal best for the E/B course by over a minute as he ran 40:01 and placed 9th overall, 8th in the M2 division in 2003. A big improvement for Big Dan and a big result in a double race weekend for Big G.
May 31, 2004
Meghan Day and Karen Fry
Meghan had one of her best runs of the year on Sunday. She won the women's race and finished fifth overall out of 292 runners at the 25K Half Knacker race in the lower mainland's north shore mountains. The race is the little sibling of the famous 50K Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run. Nanaimo's Stefan Jakobsen was the overall winner in 1:40:41. Second was Sean Clark in 1:43:55 and third place went to Mark Bennett in 1:44:26. Meghan was the top Harrier in 1:46:11 and her 5th overall finish turned a lot of men's heads! Who is this fast lady from Victoria? Judith Leroy, 23rd overall, ran 1:56:59 and Claire Townsend, 33rd overall, ran 2:01:25 as the Harrier women finished 1-2-3. Mike Lord led the Harrier men, 15th overall, in 1:53:42. Dan Fraser was 4th out of 17 in the M50 division in 2:16:46 and Lindsay Pellow was 3rd out of 17 in the women's under-30 division in 2:26:08. Meghan is already looking forward to her second 25K Wilderness Race in Whistler on June 27 and may try to qualify for the National Mountain Racing Team on July 17 at the Five Peaks 12K, also in Whistler. The World Mountain Racing Championships are in Sauze d'Oulx, Italy on September 5. Karen Fry, taking some of the spotlight away from Steve Osaduik's 2:24 excellent marathon debut in Ottawa yesterday, ran a terrific Holland Cops Crunch 8K challenging cross country race to finish as top female in 40:20. She finished 7th overall of 229 in the Ladysmith race and established a margin of victory of nearly 3 minutes. The second female was Suzanne Gagnon in 43:13 and third place went to Tara Sawyer in 45:03. ORCA's Brodie Guild won the event in 34:25. Second place went to Mike Jorgenson of Nanaimo in 36:46 and Randy Steele took third in 38:56. Karen is now primed for the Westwood Plateau Gutbuster this Saturday and the Mount Douglas Gutbuster on July 10. Steve shifts his focus to the 3,000 metre steeplechase where he will compete in the Victoria International Track Classic on June 11, the Harry Jerome Track Meet in Burnaby on July 1 and the Olympic Trials and National Championships at Centennial Stadium on July 10.
May 31, 2004
Keith Mills and Alyshia Lawless
Two Harriers youngsters grabbed the spotlight this weekend as 11 year old Alyshia Lawless won a BC 100 Metre Championship and 22 year old Keith Mills won a bronze medal in his inaugural half marathon. Alyshia was outstanding at the Elementary Schools BC Track and Field Championships on Saturday at Clement Track in Richmond. Against the top sixty-four Grade 6 students from around the province she emerged as the fastest with a winning time of 13.68 seconds. Last year's winning time was 14.26 and the meet record is 13.28. Adding this BC Championship to her 100 metre victory at the Greater Victoria All-Schools in 13.30 and her Dogwood Track Meet 200 metre win in 28.53, Alyshia is headed for a brilliant track career. She is now enrolling with Victoria Track and Field Club to obtain proper coaching and training to further improve. How much better can she get? Her next three meets are in Duncan on June 12, Port Alberni on June 19 and in Kelowna on July 2. Keith bolted to third overall, out of 61 finishers, in the second annual Saltspring Splash Half Marathon on Sunday, his longest race and first one in a Harriers singlet. His time was 1:27:49. The race was won by Rob Harmsworth in 1:18:41 which was a new course record. Rob Reid finished second overall, top master with a new master's course record, in 1:24:01. Keith surged into third spot by passing Sylvan Smyth and David Melanson on the last killer uphill with less than half a mile to go. His youth and enthusiasm will carry him to many more successful races with the club as this half marathon only scratched the surface of his potential as a top level runner.
May 31, 2004
Aaron Holmgren, Stefan Fairweather and Stephanie Raill
Making a successful return to racing, another young Harrier, 24 year old Aaron Holmgren won the second annual Saltspring Splash 10K on Sunday with a time of 34:00. Not bad for his first race of the year on a hilly course! Aaron has recently relocated back to Ladysmith and resumed training on the Holland Creek trails, the venue of Sunday's Holland Cops Crunch 8K. He is a former winner of the Sidney Days 5K in 16:18 and ran an outstanding Songhees 5K in 16:29 finishing a mere 28 seconds behind talented Steve Osaduik. The Harriers couple of Stef and Steph also dominated at the Saltspring Splash 10K. Stefan finished second overall to Aaron with a time of 35:41. This was more than SIX minutes ahead of Neil Kerrigan who placed third in 41:49. A staggering margin of victory for Aaron and Stefan. Next to the finish line in fourth position overall was our top Harrier and the top female, Stephanie Raill, in 42:48. The second female was Nanaimo's Michelle Krall in 43:58 (yup, that's Diana's sister) and third place went to Sara Simpson in 45:21. There were 117 finishers in the 10K race and 61 in the accompanying half marathon. Stef and Steph can be found at the TNW's and recently conquered Mt. Work with the MAM group.
May 24, 2004
Don Moffatt and Stacey Butterfield
Don and Stacey were the top Harriers at the 8th annual Penticton Peach City Marathon yesterday. Don was 6th overall of the 168 finishers with a time of 3:05:07. He was second master. Stacey was the top female, 14th overall in 3:24:07. She finished third in the F25 division of the Island Series, 11 points behind Claire Townsend. Second finisher at the Peach City Marathon was Lisa Kallio from Whistler in 3:25:53. Overall winner was Vernon's Trevor Jordan in 2:48:01. Jordan also won the 2002 Royal Victoria Marathon in 2:35:07. Conditions were very hot and hilly for the Penticton event as only three runners broke three hours.
May 24, 2004
Alyshia Lawless and Steve Murenbeeld
Following in the footsteps of her mother, 11-year old Alyshia Lawless continues to blaze around local tracks, setting stunning times in her new track career. Yesterday at UVic, running her first race entered as a Harrier at the Dogwood Track Meet, she won the 200m in 28.53 seconds, against older kids with lengthy experience in track clubs with certified coaches. Alyshia was also the overall 100 metre winner in the finals of the All-Schools Track Meet at UVic last week in 13.3 seconds. Merm wins the PIH Relay Team MVP award as he ran an outstanding Stage 8 of the Vancouver Island Relay on Saturday to overtake Fat Bastion after they had established an impressive eleven minute lead on PIH in the first two stages run by Steve Osaduik and Geoff Dunback. The lead dwindled over the next five stages, however, with Anthony Estey, Karen Lawless and Helena Watling producing solid efforts to pull back a few minutes. When Merm started at the Nanoose Bay Community Hall, PIH was just over six minutes behind Bastion. When he passed off to Rui Batista at Eastwind Road, he had gained 6 1/2 minutes over 7.8K (4.8 mi.) and passed the 33rd and final team paving the way to a Harriers victory. Stage 8 is rated as 'Very Difficult" with long steep uphills. Obviously Merm flattened them out as he flew into the lead and anchored a monumental comeback for PIH. This is the third victory for the Harriers in the Island Relay as PIH also won the event in 1987 and 1988.
May 17, 2004
Steve Osaduik
Steve won the Energy Capital Half Marathon in Edmonton yesterday with a personal best time of 1:06:40. Second place went to Andrew Hahn in 1:06:56 and third was claimed by Stephen Drew in 1:07:07. There were 616 finishers in this race which is the official Canadian Half Marathon Championships. Because Steve ran under the 1:07:00 qualifying standard, he will now be invited as part of Team Canada to participate in the World Half Marathon Championships in New Delhi, India on October 3, 2004. It will be his second National Team honour as he competed in the World Cross Country Championships in Brussels, Belgium earlier this year. The win in Edmonton earned Steve $4,500 in prize money.
May 10, 2004
Rob Grant
Mr. Durability was at it again last weekend with a tremendous "double" accomplishment. Rob ran the Harriers Elk/Beaver 50K Ultra on Saturday and finished in 3:58:34, good for 4th overall and 3rd master. Then the next day he ran the Oceanside 10K in Parksville in 39:00 to win his age category! How many others can race 60K in two days and do well at both races? Rob improved his E/B time this year over last year by 6 minutes, 40 seconds. In the Island Series, he ran 8 of the 9 races and finished first in his age division a perfect eight straight times. The only Series race he missed was the Comox Half Marathon in favour of the Chuckanut Mountain 50K in Bellingham where he placed 2nd in his age class to Charles Crompton with a time of 5:07:31. He was one of the top Canadians.
May 10, 2004
Claire Townsend
Claire turned in an awesome performance in the Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race in Duncan this weekend. She was 2nd in the women's race and 9th overall out of 150 competitors in the grueling 4-hour plus kayak/beach run/mountain bike/run adventure. Her time was 4:44:14. The top male and female were both from North Vancouver with Dave Norona winning in 4:04:39 and Annie Kvick taking the women's race in 4:26:59. She was second overall to Norona. The 150 finishers included 32 solos and 42 teams comprised of 2 or 4 athletes.
May 3, 2004
Maarten Van Strien
With a debut of 2:57:14 yesterday at the Vancouver International Marathon, Maarten firmly established himself as a top master long distance runner. He placed 50th overall out of 4,411 finishers and was 6th of 345 runners in his M45 age category. Maarten started running with a TC10K training clinic out of the Juan de Fuca Rec Centre in 2003. After the TC10K, he joined the Harriers and started appearing regularly at the TNW's and long Sunday morning runs at Royal Roads. Both his speed and endurance improved to the point where he nailed a sub-3 at his very first marathon attempt. A sub-2:50 is a good possibility at the Royal Victoria Marathon in October.
May 3, 2004
Lindsay Pellow and Wendy-Sue Andrew
Lindsay came within a whisker of winning the Harriers Elk/Beaver 50K Ultramarathon in her very first ultra and Wendy-Sue capped off three 50K races in a six week period and came within a whisker of being top master at E/B, her best performance of the three ultras. Lindsay ran the E/B race steadily with lap splits of 54, 55, 58, 60 and 59 minutes which propelled her from fourth female to second female overall on the last 10K lap. She started her final lap nearly 6 minutes behind eventual winner, Shelly Hanson, and made up all but 43 seconds to finish in 4:46:23. Hanson's winning time was 4:45:40. Wendy-Sue also came charging to the finish line in 4:46:36 to claim third overall and second master. The 56 seconds separating the top three women was the closest finish in the 17 year history of the event. Lindsay collected the gold medal as top open runner. Wendy-Sue ran the Chuckanut Mountain 50K in Bellingham on March 13 in 6:06:48 to finish 108th of 197 then did the Diez Vista 50K in Port Moody on April 10 in 6:39:15 finishing 52nd out of 118. She saved her best race for last by nailing a 4:46:36 at E/B to claim 13th overall out of 30 finishers in the 50K division.
May 3, 2004
Kelvin Broad and Debbie Scott
Kelvin and Debbie destroyed the master's fields by finishing the Oceanside 10K yesterday in 33:38 and 38:09 respectively. They were both the top Harriers and collected the BBB's along with their gold medals at the race. Kelvin beat the next master, David DePasquale, by 2 minutes, 30 seconds to finish 2nd overall to Nik Southwell who won the race in 32:38. Debbie's F45 win was even more impressive as she finished 3 minutes, 13 seconds ahead of Jennifer Stefik. She was 27th overall of 472 finishers and second female, less than a minute behind winner Cheryl Murphy who won the women's race in 37:15.
For Kelvin and Debbie, this capped off a tremendous year in the New Balance Island Race Series where Kelvin won five consecutive races in the M40 division and set course records at Mill Bay, Hatley Castle, Comox Half Marathon and Oceanside. Debbie won six consecutive races and set F45 course records at Central Saanich Pioneer, Hatley Castle, Bazan Bay, Sooke River, Merville and Oceanside.
April 26, 2004
Steve Osaduik
In back-to-back weekends, Steve proved that indeed he is one of the finest 10K runners in Canada by placing very well in the two largest 10K's in the country. At the 50,000+ Sun Run he ran a personal best of 30:18 to finish 5th overall and collect $500 prize money as 4th Canadian. Only Canadians Jeremy Deere, Mark Bomba and Matt Johnston beat him to the line. The Sun Run was won by Kenyan Thomas Kiplitan in 28:43. On his home court of Vancouver Island, Steve was seeded first and finished first in the 15th annual Times Colonist 10K with over 10,000 registrations. His time of 30:30 secured the win and $1,500 prize money for a 54 second margin of victory over Peter Cardle, many-time World Cross Country Canadian team member. Joseph Maina of Kenya finished 3rd in 31:35. Steve's time of 30:30 has a magic ring to it as it was the third time he has achieved that mark. He won the 2002 Mill Bay 10K in 30:30, then followed it up with a 5th place Canadian finish at the Sun Run three months later in, you guessed it, 30:30. Believe it or not, I predicted his first 30:30 at Mill Bay, right to the second.
April 26, 2004
Robbie Cracknell and Meghan Day
Robbie ran a big P.R. of 37:18 and Meghan improved on her Sun Run performance of last Sunday as both Harriers had fine races at the Times Colonist 10K yesterday. Previous to this, Robbie's personal best was recorded at Sooke River where he ran 38:31. This 1 minute, 13 second improvement earned him a new pair of NB shoes compliments of Dr. A. He also picked up another pair of New Balance shoes for winning his age category at the Island Race Series in Parksville. The TC10K course is considered to be about 30 to 60 seconds slower than the Sun Run course due to hills, corners and finishing at a higher elevation, yet Meghan ran it 9 seconds faster. Her Sun Run time of 35:37 was bettered at the TC10K to 35:28, very close to her road best of 35:18 recorded at Mill Bay in January. She also improved from 99th overall, 13th female at the SR to 41st overall, 4th female at the TC. Meghan collected $300 in prize money for her performance.
April 19, 2004
Nancy Baxendale, Judith Leroy and Steve Murenbeeld
Somewhat overshadowed by Steve Osaduik's terrific 5th place finish at the Sun Run, Nancy, Judith and Steve M. also had personal best 10K times and were top Harriers performers at the Sun Run yesterday. Merm ran 32:00 to finish 21st overall, 8th M20 and edged VIRS team mates Craig Odermatt by 3 seconds and David Matte by 4 seconds. Judith ran 35:00 to finish 79th overall, 8th female, 3rd F30 and edged VIRS team mates Stephanie Mills by .5 second and Cliff Kennell by 2 seconds. Nancy had a podium performance as second master at the event. Her P.R. time of 37:32 was good for 181st overall, 25th female, 2nd F40 and she edged Parksville's Carla Dunn by 5 seconds and former-Victorian great Jerry Ziak by 13 seconds. The Sun Run had 48,640 registrations, 38,224 finishers including 999 teams with 20,580 members and 127 school teams with 5,563 participants. There were 20 bands along the course and the race had over 3,500 volunteers. The final walker finished in 3 hours, 11 minutes and 19 seconds, a time many people take to run a marathon. The Sun Run is certainly the biggest 10K in Canada and perhaps the largest in North America.
April 19, 2004
Helena Watling and Jon Brown
In two very contrasting marathons, two Harriers braved and beat the elements and turned in remarkable performances. Helena Watling battled the extreme heat in Boston while Jon Brown faught blustery winds and pouring rain in London. At the 108th annual Boston Marathon, temperatures soared to 85 degrees for much of the day causing many runners to withdraw with heat stroke. Helena came within 3 minutes of her personal best marathon time with a clocking of 3:21:59. She was 1,503rd overall, 111th female and 26th in her F40 age division. The men's race was won by Timothy Cherigat in 2:10:37. Upon finishing, Cherigat immediately spewed up all the orange fluids he had been drinking to fight the extreme heat. The top female was Catherine Ndereba in 2:24:27. Boston boasted 20,334 registrations, 17,950 starters and 16,743 finishers. At London, Jon Brown finished 15th overall in 2:13:39 and was the first British runner narrowly beating team mate, Dan Robinson, by 14 seconds. Both runners were named to the United Kingdon marathon team to compete in the Athens Olympics as they achieved the British and IAAF national standard of 2:15:00. Jon placed 4th in the last Sydney Olympics in 2:11:17, a mere 7 seconds from the bronze medal. The 24th annual Flora London Marathon was won by Kenyan Evans Rutto in 2:06:18 who felt that he had a chance to break the world record but took a nasty fall in front of the London Tower on the rain-soaked roads. Countrywoman Margaret Okayo won the women's race in 2:22:35. Victorian and Harrier Bruce Deacon struggled his way through the cold, wet elements at London to finish 25th overall in 2:18:30. His time failed to make the Canadian standard for the Olympics but he hopes to better his time at the National Capital Marathon on May 30 in Ottawa.
April 19, 2004
Andrew Green and Debbie Scott
While some Harriers were travelling across the water to participate in the Sun Run, two veteran Harriers were quietly and efficiently winning the BBB's in Merville. For the first time this year, two masters were the top Harriers finishers in Island Series Race No. 8, the Merville 15K. Andrew Green and Debbie Scott dazzled the 302 finishers by earning 6th overall and 10th overall respectively. Andrew's time was 55:49 to collect the silver medal in the M40 division, a mere 7 seconds behind top master Greg Leiman. Rui Batista was third M40 about 2 1/2 minutes behind Andrew. Debbie destroyed the women's field by winning the race in 57:41, establishing an F45 course record and continuing her string of five consecutive age class victories. Tasha Dilay was second at Merville, 2 minutes, 47 seconds behind Debbie, who won her age class over Jennifer Stefik by a staggering 4 minutes, 28 seconds. Sylvan predicted that the Harriers 45 year old standout, Debbie Scott, would win an Island Series race outright and Merville was her day to prove him right!
April 12, 2004
Ian Hallam and Steve Osaduik
In a controversial finish, Ian Hallam was the first to cross the finish line in the Mount Tzouhalem Gutbuster Race No. 1 near Duncan, with a time of 56:13. However, due to an error by race management in not positioning a course marshal in the correct spot, the two lead runners, Steve Osaduik and Graham Cocksedge, made a wrong turn with less than 2K to go. In the meantime, Ian Hallam and Stefan Jakobsen made the correct turn. Osaduik was able to catch Jakobsen and crossed the finished line in second place. Jakobsen held onto third and Cocksedge fourth. In reviewing this unfortunate situation, Hallam and Osaduik were awarded a tie for first place and Jakobsen and Cocksedge were given a tie for third place. Fairness was the objective in changing the final results. "Mt. Tzouhalem is covered with a maze of trails and roads and marking a course of this magnitude can be very difficult," said Race Director, Bryan Tasaka. "Racers are responsible for paying attention and going the right way, but in this case it was our error and that is why we adjusted the final result." The women's 11K race was won by Nina Wright, of Australia, in 1:05:58. She was 10th overall of the 125 long course finishers. There were another 36 runners in the 5K short course. 25 Prairie Inn Harriers ran the Mt. Tzouhalem Gutbuster.
April 5, 2004
Steve Osaduik, Meghan Day and Debbie Scott
Three impressive new course records for three outstanding runners. Steve led the 403 finishers (a record) home with a stunning time of 30:19. Considering that Sooke is a challenging, hilly, course, this was Steve's best 10K ever, lowering his P.R. of 30:30 set at Mill Bay and tied at the Sun Run by 11 seconds. More importantly, it was his third consecutive Sooke victory as he won in 2002 in 32:02, and again in 2003 with a time of 31:38, which was the course record. He stepped it up by 1 minute 19 seconds today to finish in 30:19 a full 2 minutes, 25 seconds ahead of second place finisher, Colin Edwards.
The overall women's course record of 38:22 was set last year by Carla Dunn. Carla also won in 2002 in 38:37 and Kathy Rung won the first Sooke race in 2001 in 38:27. That was then, this is now. Meghan Day stepped up to the plate and ran 2 minutes 59 seconds faster than any other female at Sooke to record a new C.R. of 35:23 good for 10th overall of the 403 finishers. She won the women's race by 1 minutes 58 seconds over Cheryl Murphy.
When we say masters, we mean 40 and over. We had an F45 Harrier, Debbie Scott, who was the brightest shining light at Sooke. She was not only the third female finished but lowered the F45 course record, set by team mate Laura Leno last year, by an astonishing 4 minutes, 21 seconds! Debbie's time of 37:34 lowered the overall master's course best by 2 minutes 26 seconds. For Steve, Meg and Debbie, that isn't small change. That is a huge annihilation of previous course records as we aren't talking seconds here, we're talking minutes! Big, big victories and even bigger course records.
March 22, 2004
Helena Watling, Lindsay Pellow and Jill Hawe
Helena, Lindsay and Jill recorded their highest Series points total ever at the Comox Valley Half Marathon last weekend. Seasoned veteran, Helena, has run 32 Island Series races since 1996 and this 1:29:38 was her top effort in achieving 683 points. She was 4th F40, 63rd overall of the 524 finishers. Her previous best race was the Port Alberni Paper Chase 10K in 2001 where she ran 40:48 for 676 points. This is a good sign for her upcoming Boston Marathon in one month's time. Lindsay has done far fewer races but is impoving with every one. In 2002 she collected 566 points at the Central Saanich Pioneer 8K and 510 points at the Hatley Castle 8K. This year she achieved 606 points at Central Saanich then stepped it up to a Series high of 625 points at the Comox Half with a time of 1:37:57. She was 142nd overall, 4th of 22 in the F30 division. Jill ran the race of her life. I am sure it was a personal best performance at any distance. She ran 1:38:37 and was 144th overall, 7th F35 of 55, collecting 621 points, 4 more than her highest total at the Cedar 12K. In 13 Island Series races within the last two years, Jill has moved from 592 points at Central Saanich to 608 at Mill Bay, to 617 at Cedar and finally to 621 at Comox just this year.
March 15, 2004
Nancy Baxendale and Kelvin Broad
Nancy and Kelvin destroyed the masters fields at the Comox Half Marathon yesterday both finishing first with huge margins of victory. Nancy won her age division by 3 minutes, 40 seconds and narrowly missed Bernadette Duffy's 1998 master's course record of 1:23:54 by one measly second. Previous to that, 1:28:53 was the fastest master's time on the Comox course by Gwyn Woodson in 1999. In 32 Island Series races, Nancy recorded her second highest points total of 730 with her highest being 731 she achieved at the Merville 15K in 2001. It was her sixteenth consecutive age class victory. Kelvin smashed Peter Marshall's master's course record of 1:14:20 set in 1999 with a stunning time of 1:10:23, good for 2nd overall and nearly four minutes ahead of David DePasquale, the next master. Kelvin has run Comox three times winning the event in 1995 in 1:08:33, placing 2nd in 1997 in 1:12:48, then seven years later running a brilliant 1:10:23 as a 41 year old. It was his sixth consecutive first place finish as a master in the Series within the last two years and his third consecutive sizeable course record set this year.
March 15, 2004
Dee Ogden and Lorne Neil
When it comes to stepping forward with racing times, Dee and Lorne made gigantic leaps ahead by recording 7:22 and 11:24 respective improvements on their half marathon P.R.'s! Look at those numbers again. Lorne ran 1:37:39 at the Royal Victoria Marathon in October and five months later he nails a 1:26:15. Outstanding. Meanwhile, Dee's previous Comox Half Marathon best was 1:48:22 until yesterday when she hit the tape in 1:41:00. Both Neil and Dee have been vastly improving at the Tuesday night workouts and their race times have been dropping significantly as a result. I think the Vancouver International Marathon will be a pleasant surprise and yet another substantial personal best for the pair if they choose to sail across Georgia Strait to Big Smoke on May 2.
March 8, 2004
Robbie Cracknell and Jim Sargent
Robbie and Jim once again dominated the youngest and the oldest age categories at the New Balance Island Race Series with victories in the M15 and the M80 divisions at Bazan Bay. Robbie ran 17:45 to top 25 runners in the junior division and claim a clear and convincing 3 minute, 10 second margin of victory. After finishing second at Pioneer, Robbie has claimed gold at Mill Bay, Hatley Castle and Bazan Bay. Considering that he is only 13 years old competing in a category of 15 and under, he has a bright racing future ahead of him with many junior course records within his grasp. Jim is the most amazing 80 year old runner in Canada. His 5K time of 28:16 at Bazan broke Richard Coulson's previous M80 course best of 40:54 by an unbelieveable 12 minutes, 38 seconds! Jim also set an new Canadian age class record by six and a half minutes. The previous M80 mark of 34:46 for 5K was held by Jack Galbraith of Ontario set on September 17, 2003. Jim now holds Canadian records for 8K, set at Pioneer in January, and 5K set yesterday at Bazan Bay.
March 8, 2004
Judith Leroy and Steve Osaduik
Judith finished second overall to Lucy Smith in yesterday's Bazan Bay 5K with an outstanding time of 16:41, lowering her previous age class record (and female course record) by 26 seconds. Steve fought a courageous battle with Graham Hood running shoulder to shoulder for 4 kilometres before surrendering to the 1,500 metre Canadian Olympian in the last kilometre. Graham's time of 14:55 was a new course record, three seconds faster than Steve's winning time at the event in 2002. Both Judith and Steve are tuning up for the massive 70,000+ Sun Run on April 18. Steve is also off to the World Cross Country Championships on March 21 and the National Capital Marathon in Ottawa on May 30.
March 8, 2004
Dave Reed and Debbie Scott
Dave and Debbie both set sizeable master's course records at Bazan Bay yesterday and topped the record field of 728 finishers in their respective age categories. Debbie, running in the F45 division, ran 17:42 lowering Nancy Baxendale's master's record set in 2002 by 35 seconds. The Harriers swept the F45 division with Debbie Scott, Karen Lawless, Wendy Davies and Laura Leno finishing 1-2-3-4 in a very close and highly competitive age category. Dave, on the other hand, dominated all other masters in three age divisions and broke Andy Mehl's previous master's mark by 46 seconds with a winning time of 16:33. He runs in the M50 division and, not only beat all 38 runners in that category, but he finished ahead of 47 runners in the M45 and another 42 runners in the M40 divisions. It was Dave's second consecutive M50 course record where he also set one two weeks ago at the Hatley Castle 8K with a time of 28:50.
March 1, 2004
Jonathan Withey, Wilf Dreher and Gary Duncan
The Hatley Castle 8K last weekend delivered two first time medalists and a highest finish ever in 40 races for a vastly improving Harrier. Jonathan and Wilf stood on the podium for the first time, both collecting bronze medals after a string of top ten ribbon performances. Jonathan finished 6th at Mill Bay, 4th at Cedar before cracking the top three at Hatley with a time of 28:09. This placed him 12th overall of the 500 finishers. Wilf has shown steady progress and improvement as well, starting with a 9th place finish at Pioneer and continuing with 8th at Mill Bay, 7th at Cedar and 3rd at Hatley. The bronzes were the first medals for Jonathan and Wilf in the Series. Gary finished in 30:47, good for 33rd overall and second in his M45 age category. It was his highest ever finishing position in any Island Series race after 8 years of competition and 40 races. Jonathan, Wilf and Gary are regular leaders at the TNW sessions and continue to excel at the 2004 Island Race Series.
February 23, 2004
Kelvin Broad
Kelvin dominated the master's division by shattering the Hatley Castle M40 course record yesterday with an outstanding time of 26:22, good for fourth overall of the 500 finishers. It was Kelvin's second course record after setting a master's mark at Mill Bay of 32:27. The Hatley race is a very demanding course and Kelvin beat Keith Butler, former Pioneer 8K, Times Colonist 10K and Royal Victoria 8K Champion, by 49 seconds for the M40 victory. He also lowered Dave Reed's course record of 27:12 set in 2000 by 50 seconds. Probably more impressive was the fact that Kelvin only ran 3 seconds slower at Hatley this year than he did at Pioneer, considered a much flatter and easier 8K race course.
February 23, 2004
Debbie Scott and Steve Murenbeeld
Second place overall had a nice ring to it yesterday as Steve Murenbeeld finished second to Steve Osaduik at Hatley Castle and Debbie Scott finished second to Carolyn Murray. It was Merm's highest finishing position to date in the Island Series where he collected 10th at Mill Bay, 3rd at Cedar and now 2nd at Hatley. Both Steve O. and Steve M. proved that they are extremely good cross country runners and not afraid to tackle a challenging, tough, hilly and character course like Hatley. He won his age division by one minute, thirteen seconds. Debbie demolished the master's field (and all but one in the open women's field) by winning her F45 age category by almost 4 minutes. She was a clear 4 1/2 minutes ahead of the top F40 master female and made up some valuable ground in the second half of the course by passing many, many runners. Her time of 30:54 placed her 37th overall of the 500 finishers and establised a new F45 course record, previously held by Gwyn Woodson, by one minute 43 seconds!
February 16, 2004
Wendy Davies and Karen Lawless
Wendy and Karen finished 1-2 in the F45 division at Cedar last week and both ran their best race of the three Series events so far. Wendy surged into the Series lead for the F45 age category by overtaking TWC's Jennifer Stefik, 671 points to 669. Her gold medal time of 49:17 was 1:38 faster than last year at Cedar and generated 680 points, a solid 20 more points than she registered at Mill Bay. It was her highest points total to date for 35 races in the Island Series since 1998. Karen clearly had the fastest finish as she blew by four men and Rhonda Callender on her 100 metre sprint across the grass to the finish line in 51:06. There was plenty of gas in the tank. She has moved from 634 points and fifth place at Pioneer to 642 points and fourth at Mill Bay to 656 points and a silver medal at Cedar. Considering that Rhonda beat Karen by 1 minute and 12 seconds at Pioneer and four weeks later Karen beat Rhonda by 4 seconds at Cedar, that's a 1:16 swing. The TNW training is obviously paying off for Wendy and Karen as they are both improving every race.
February 9, 2004
Steve Osaduik and Steve Murenbeeld
Steve Osaduik set a blistering pace yesterday winning the Cedar 12K with a new course record of 37:23 while Steve Murenbeeld had a strong last 2 kilometers overtaking 2001 winner David Matte to collect third overall and first in his age category in 39:15. It was Stevie O.'s second victory at Cedar where he won in 2002 with a time of 37:37. More importantly, it was his highest points total of the Series so far where he stepped it up to 896 points after registering 872 points at both Mill Bay and Pioneer. Stevie M. raced from tenth place overall in Mill Bay with 833 points to third overall at Cedar with 854 points. Both Steves are looking forward to the next race, Hatley Castle 8K, as it suits their style by being a demanding, hilly and off-road course. Steve O. was a junior cross country Canadian champion while Steve M. was one of the top runners on the UVic Cross Country team. Too bad Steve Bachop broke his leg at E/B or, for the first time ever, we could have had a 1-2-3 Steve Series sweep show.
February 2, 2004
Robbie Cracknell, Kelvin Broad and Jon Brown
From a young, enthusiastic boy to a seasoned, grizzled veteran, to a superb, world-class athlete, Robbie, Kelvin and Jon topped the junior, master and open categories and did it with brilliant efforts. At 13 years old, Robbie nailed a 38:31 at Mill Bay last week and collected the gold medal in the M13-15 division narrowly defeating Lowell Rockcliffe of Saltspring Island by 4 seconds. At the Pioneer Lowell took the gold and Robbie the silver with the margin of victory being 37 seconds. A big improvement, an excellent time and a great race for Robbie at Mill Bay. Kelvin ran 33:06 last year and stepped it up to 32:27 this year to set a new master's course record and finish 7th overall in a highly competitive field. The previous master's record of 33:00 was set by Vlad Pomajzl in 1988, the very first year the course was moved from Cherry Point to Mill Bay. That mark stood for 17 years until Kelvin wrote his name in the MB record book. Jon was the class of the field winning the race in 29:41 establishing a new overall course record by 30 seconds. The previous record of 30:11 was set by Dave Campbell in 1989 and stood for 16 years. Jon's long, loping stride carried him to a 1 minute 56 second margin of victory over Harriers team mate Steve Osaduik. Jim Finlayson took third in 31:47 for a clean 1-2-3 PIH sweep.
January 26, 2004
Meghan Day, Claire Townsend and Sandi Heal
Three regulars at TNW's and at Thetis, Meg, Claire and Sandi were the featured female Harriers at Mill Bay yesterday, each showing a huge improvement in their race times. Meghan placed second overall to Lucy Smith (only 32 seconds behind) and improved her time from 36:49 in 2003, where she was 4th female, to 35:18 in 2004. A 1:31 improvement. Her 781 points is the highest she has achieved in 2 years of Series races with her previous high, also set at Mill Bay, being 748. Claire had her first sub-40 10K ever with a nice P.B. of 39:52. Last year she ran 41:40 at Mill Bay, so her improvement this year was 1 minute 48 seconds. Sandi hasn't raced in 9 years but has consistently improved with her workouts by moving from two days a week training to four. She set a realistic target of 48 minutes at Mill Bay and was rewarded with an outstanding 45:25, finishing just behind Jill Hawe. She was 14th of 34 in her age class and collected 607 points which was 16 more than she achieved at Pioneer.
January 19, 2004
Sabina Reska-Skinner, Claire Townsend, Wendy Davies and Gary Duncan
When it comes to improvement, Sabina, Claire, Wendy and Gary come to mind. They were the most noticed runners at the Pioneer 8K with their impressive personal bests for the course. Sabina improved fron 35:11 in 2003 to 32:35 in 2004 (2:36 better), Claire improved from 35:54 in 2002 to 31:53 in 2004 (4:01 better), Wendy improved from 33:37 in 2003 to 32:14 in 2004 (1:23 better) and Gary improved from 31:39 in 2003 to 30:11 in 2004 (1:28 better). All four Harriers were presented with a special race shirt for their tremendous improvement, especially within their age division where some jumped up 6 spots.
January 19, 2004
Debbie Scott and Kelvin Broad
Debbie and Kelvin were the top masters at the Pioneer 8K last weekend and had outstanding races. Nice to see Harriers collecting both crowns. Debbie's 30:14 was a W45 course record by 1 minute, 20 seconds in her first Series race after a ten year absence. She has won the race 3 times, including the inaugural one in 1980, and still holds the overall course record of 26:08 set in 1986. Kelvin was plagued with injuries last year and, as a result, could not complete the Island Series. He has has a great build-up and returned with a vengeance this year. He raced to a 26:16 at Pioneer, good for 5th overall of the 573 finishers. Considering he is a 13 time marathon winner, that is an excellent, fast, short race for a top level master runner.
January 12, 2004
Theresa Price and Jim Sargent
At the Pioneer 8K Harrier runners won an incredible 12 age groups and had the honour of having the winner of both the F01-15 and M80-84 divisions! How's that for a wide range of members? Theresa's time was 41:49 and Jim ran an incredible 46:22 to break the Canadian M80-84 8K record by over 7 minutes!
January 12, 2004
Meghan Day and Ian Hallam
Meg and Ian both showed remarkable steps forward in the Central Saanich Pioneer 8K compared to their performance of last year. In 2003 Meghan was 5th female in 29:45 while in 2004 she was 1st female in 28:13, a 1:32 step forward. Ian was 11th male in 2003 with a time of 27:31 and he ran 26:21 in 2004, good for 6th place a 1:10 step forward. Both were excellent races from the co-winners of the "Gunner Shaw Most Valuable Runner" last year.
January 5, 2004
Phil Cornforth
Phil won this year's Harriers' New Year's Day Memorial Predicted Time 10K by running a perfect lap of Elk/Beaver Lake and finishing with exactly zero on the clock. The annual event was a trememdous success. About 120 people participated and raised $1,000 for the Harriers Foundation.
January 1, 2004
Nicola Mill and Derek Machin
Nicola ran a personal best 22-minute 5K at the Run Through Time on New Year's Eve, and she did it on her birthday! 12-year-old Derek was thrilled with his 21:04, also a personal best for the distance.
January 1, 2004
Gary Duncan and Claire Townsend
Gary and Claire were the only two Harriers to finish off the year by running 3 races within 18 hours, and both ran very well in all three events. Starting with the Run Through Time 5K at UVic at 6:00 p.m. on New Year's Eve, the duo toed the line for the Harriers Memorial 10K Predicted Time Run at Beaver Lake at 10:00 a.m. the next morning, and finished by doing the YMCA 10K Race from the Y at 1:00 p.m. What a way to start the New Year, with a double race! It is no wonder that Gary was selected as "Most Improved Runner" at the club awards night as he ran 29 races in 2003, all 29 were P.R.'s. Claire, on the other hand, was chosen as the "Bright Shining Light" for her ambitious diet of multi-sport adventure races, road races, cross country events, duathlons, mountain gutbuster races and cycling events. She did it all including a world championship mountain race.
