BY IAN THORPE
A tip of the cap this week to all Bastion Run Club members who took part in this year’s Island Race Series.
The Nanaimo club was well represented in all eight road races of the series, which involved competitions of varying distances held at different Island locations from January through April. Some weeks ago we covered results from the first four races, so we now catch up on Bastion results from the second half…
The fifth race of the Island Series was the Sooke River 10K, where about a dozen local runners were part of the field of 262 participants. Fastest of the Bastion crew was Yanna Debelic, whose time of 41 minutes and 40 seconds rated her first in the F45-49 division. Then came Daniel Frick in 57th place with a finish in 45:09. Jeff O’Donnell reached the finish line in 45:24, Jorgen Jensen in 48:18, Dave Shillabeer in 48:55, John Berger in 50:28 and Bob Cook in 50:37.
The longest event in the Island Series was the Comox Valley RV half marathon. Of the 347 finishers this year, 50 of them were Bastion Club representatives. Jonathan Behnke was the fastest local. His time of 1:19:11 gave him seventh overall and third in the M25-29 grouping. Jon Hillier was 16th in 1:23:50, while Melissa Ross was 19th and first in the F30-34 division at 1:24:52. Patrick Dwyer placed 25th in 1:27:07, with Debelic first in the F45-49 group at 1:32:23. Christopher Redden finished in 1:32:38, Sheila Dorman in 1:37:30, Norm Thibault in 1:37:54 and Mike Giesbrecht in 1:38:10.
Next competition in the series was the Port Alberni Paper Chase 10K. Some 243 runners took part in total, with Behnke again the fastest of the 27 Bastion representatives. Behnke posted a time of 34:43, good for fourth overall. Debelic was first in the F45-49 division with her time of 41:43. Frick was 29th in 43:56, then Dorman finished 38th and first in the F55-59 group in 44:36.
This year, Nanaimo hosted the final race in the Island Series with the running of the Cedar 12K. Race director John Durkin saw a total field of 262 runners take part, including 45 from the Bastion Club. Once again the first local to the finish line was Behnke, who was fourth overall with his time of 41:39. He was followed by Shelby Drope, sixth in 43:28, John Hillier who was 11th in 45:46, Mike Gregory 13th in 46:11 and Dwyer 18th in 47:26. Quickest Bastion female was Ross whose time of 48:09 earned her first in the F30-34 division. Debelic was 31st and first in the F45-49 grouping with a time of 50:55.
Based on points accumulated from all races in the series, Ross was the top female Bastion runner and Behnke the top male. In total team points the Bastion Club did well to finish fourth overall.
Whatever your sport, a reminder in closing to play your hardest, play fair, and show good sportsmanship.