On a misty morning by the mountain, Nanaimo's fastest runners emerged from the fog to finish in record time.
Winner Peter Oxland and nearly 300 others made the Run for the Mountain a success Saturday at Westwood Lake Park.
The 16-year-old Prince of Westwood set a youth record for the course, finishing the six kilometres in 20 minutes, 56 seconds. It was the first time that a runner in the youth division won the whole race.
"I honestly didn't know how it was going to go," Oxland said. "I was just trying to have a good run."
The trick to a fast time around the lake, he said, is not to come out too fast at the start, but go all out on the home stretch after the hill. It helped, also, that he had some friends hot on his heels, as his Dover Bay LaserHawks cross-country teammates Anthony Serban, Miles Huynh, Thomas Oxland and Christopher Serban all finished in the top 10, as well.
Also setting a record on Saturday was Erin Burrett, who won Queen of Westwood for a fifth-straight year. Her time of 21:53 knocked more than a minute and a half off the ladies' record that she set a year ago.
Royd Burkart won the masters division in a record time of 21:16 and Wendy Simms set a record in the female masters division, finishing in 24:51. Shelby Drope won the adult men's division in 21:00 even and Nanaimo Track and Field Club star Madison Heisterman claimed the Princess of Westwood title with a time of 24:53. For a photo of this year's winners, please click here.
Top 50 results include:
Peter Oxland, 20:56; Shelby Drope, 21:00; Anthony Serban, 21:10; Miles Huynh, 21:15; Royd Burkart, 21:16; Thomas Oxland, 21:18; Jeremy Clegg, 21:19; Christopher Serban, 21:23; Robin Poirier, 21:29; Andrew Howard, 21:31; Stephen Struthers, 21:35; Erin Burrett, 21:53; Sean Miller, 22:09; Richard Light, 22:15; Jeff Larsen, 22:37; Nic Ascui, 22:42; Damian Allen, 22:51; Mark Carolan, 22:52; Darren Seaman, 23:02; Holden Gill, 23:13; Josh Bailey, 23:53; Thomas Grabher, 24:06; John Grabher, 24:06; Danny Yang, 24:16; Wes Richardson, 24:23; Carter Higgins, 24:28; Yosef Bassett, 24:28; Tyler Lucente, 24:47; Wendy Simms, 24:51; Andrew Degroot, 24:52; Madison Heisterman, 24:53; Luke Fletcher, 24:55; Miryam Bassett, 24:59; Arjan Gelling, 25:01; Amy Morris, 25:16; Nate Seaman, 25:30; Jacob Bassett, 25:36; Broedy Pomeroy, 25:36; Bryan Rehill, 25:38; Desneige Zvonarova, 25:44; Kafs Linden, 25:59; Zach Grigg, 26:11; Kristy Petovello, 26:21; Tyler Heisterman, 26:28; Pranay Ramash, 26:41; Nathan MacGougan, 27:12; Jack Milliken, 27:12; Niall Cobbe, 27:18; Warren Cronan, 27:24; Caelen Middleton, 27:47.
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