BY IAN THORPE
Recent weeks have seen some high-profile road races take place in this part of the world. So congratulations are due to Nanaimo runners who took part and represented our city well…
At the end of April was the 30th running of the Times Colonist 10K road race in Victoria. An impressive field of 8,919 participants completed the route along the capital city waterfront. Of them all, first to the finish line was Kenyan runner Haron Sirma who successful defended his title from a year ago with a time of 29 minutes and 38 seconds. First among female entrants was Scotland’s Sarah Inglis who set a new women’s record of 32:24.
Included in the field were more than 300 participants from Nanaimo. Trevor Ruck was the fastest local to the finish line, thanks to a time of 37:11 which earned him ninth in the M30-34 division. Next came Melissa Ross, quickest of the local women runners, who was fourth in the F35-39 grouping with a time of 39:21.
Oliver Jacobson posted a time of 40:08, Graeme Arkell finished in 43:27 and Ian McFadgen in 44:38. Then came Yingbo Hogeweide in 45:14, Joel Hampson in 45:24 and Catherine Watt in 45:48. Brett Ranger was seventh in the M60-64 division with this time of 45:56. Also finishing in the top 500 of the total field were locals Jordan Hogeweide, Jerson Marroquin and Adam Fraser. Special mention also goes to Bailey Rossnagel for placing second in the F19/under division with a time of 47:43.
RELATED: Nanoose Bay runner wins division at Victoria T-C 10K
Two Sundays ago, the 38th annual Vancouver Marathon was held, together with half-marathon and 8K events. A total of 5,147 participated in the full marathon distance of 42.2K, including former Vancouver Canuck stars Daniel and Henrik Sedin, who finished in 3:11:45 and 3:24:11 respectively. Top male and female runners in the race were Yuki Kawauchi, who won the men’s title in an amazing 2:15:01, and his fiancée Yuko Mizugouchi, who claimed the women’s title in 2:41:28.
From the large field, fastest local runner to finish was Dave McKay, 52nd overall with an impressive time of 2:53:54. Next was Ashley Clarke, top local woman, in 3:41:00. Matt Peppard hit the finish line in 4:07:20 and Shawn Daniels in 4:11:01. Lori Warwick had a time of 4:16:33, giving her sixth place in the F60-64 division.
Meanwhile, some 40 Nanaimo runners were among more than 9,000 participants in the half-marathon distance in Vancouver. Eric White finished 39th overall and sixth in the M35-39 grouping, in a time of 1:18:50. Then came Michael Olson in 1:25:24 and Ian Johson in 1:28:26. Sheila Dorman was the first local woman to the finish line and was first in the F55-59 division with her time of 1:36:29.
The 8K event in Vancouver attracted more than 2,600 participants. Top five locals were Dafydd Taylor in 42:40, followed by Christine Morrison, Mark Blachuras, Candice Raines and Ryan Clark.
Whatever your sport, a reminder in closing to play your hardest, play fair, and show good sportsmanship.