Q's Victoria Run Series 2013 Meet # 1

After the Golden Ears race on May 11 I headed to the ferry terminal at Tsawwassen, and took the 3 PM over to Victoria. I have a season's pass for the Q's Victoria Run Series, and I was running the Oceanside 10K in Parksville on Sunday morning. Since I was going over to Vancouver Island anyway, I decided I may as well go to Victoria first and run a race in their initial meet of the season before driving up to Parksville.

 

I arrived at Oak Bay High School with an hour to go before the meet start at 6:30 PM, and registered for the 800 meter open mixed race. Chris the meet director told me that mine was the first event of the night, so I went and got ready. First things first, I asked him where the washroom facilities were, and he directed me to the community centre adjacent to the track. Next I pinned on my bib number, warmed up, put on my spikes, and before I knew it they were calling us to the starting line.

 

The gun was fired and the 15 of us took off, with everyone soon moving in and claiming a spot in lane one as we raced around the track. I recognized Gary Duncan who I know is a fast runner in my age group, and I kept up not too far back of him for about 150 meters. I realized that he was going much too fast for me, dropped my pace off, and watched him and some others with him fade off into the distance. I did, however, manage to pass my soon to be new friend Frank Towler going around the bend before the straightaway that would take us to the end of the first lap. Running as fast as I could, I completed said straightaway as the spectators cheered us through, and just concentrated on keeping my pace up as I entered the last lap.

 

Rounding the first corner I passed a guy who I would find out later was Gary Donahue, and then I set my sights on a fellow up ahead. I gained steadily on him but as we hit the last straightaway with the finish line looming he kicked it into high gear too, and managed to cross not quite 2 seconds before I did. A few seconds afterward I looked and Gary was coming in with Frank behind him, and then Frank shifted into another gear and nipped Gary at the line!

 

I gravitated to the infield where I got talking to Frank, who told me that he was doing all 3 races, so he still had the 1500 and 5000 to go! I said I was only doing the 800 because I'd run a trail race that morning, and was running the Oceanside 10K the next day at 11 AM. Frank was running a 5K in the morning himself, and almost conned me into running the 1500 when they announced it would be starting. I thought better of it quickly though, and ended up just watching like I'd originally planned to do. Gary Duncan came over, it was a pleasure to finally meet him, and told us that he was only running the 800 and 1500 because he was running the Gutbuster trail race in the morning.

 

They had what looked like scarves for the top three of each gender in all the races, and an official called Gary over to give him his for finishing 3rd in our race. Frank told me Gary's getting soft in his old age, because in the old days not only would he have also run the 5000, but he would have found a race to run that morning too. My reply to this revelation was to say that the more I heard about this guy Gary, the more I liked  him!

 

Next we watched the elite men's 800 race, and it was great to be able to watch such fast runners up close.

 

Then I watched and cheered the racers in the 1500 that Frank almost got me to run, and did the same for the 1500 elite men's race right afterward. They were having the 5000 open mixed contest next, and I told Frank that though I really would have enjoyed watching them, I'd better get going as I had at least a 2 hour drive to Parksville. He told me it would probably be raining heavily on my way up there and to drive carefully, and I said thanks and I'd see him at the Q's next meet at the UVic stadium in 2 weeks.

 

I finished 9 of 15 overall, and 2 of 3 in my age group, with a time of 2:51 flat. This is a PB for me, .38 seconds faster than my only previous 800 meters race in the Trevor Craven meet last year.

http://victoriarunseries.com/results-2013-meet-1-800m/

In all the excitement I forgot to take any pics, but a film of our race can be watched here:

http://victoriarunseries.com/meet-1-800m-open-mixed-race-video/

There's more videos here:

http://victoriarunseries.com/

Lastly here's the rest of the meet results, Frank ran an amazing 22 minute 5K after running the 800 and 1500, and he's 69 years old! 

http://victoriarunseries.com/results-meet-1-2013/

5 Peaks Golden Ears 8.8K

On Saturday, May 11th I competed in the 5 Peaks Golden Ears 8.8K Sport trail race, in beautiful Golden Ears Provincial Park in Maple Ridge. At 9:15 AM they sent off the first wave. It was chip timed but to qualify for overall awards you had to be in the first wave, plus they said if you were planning on running a fast race you should be in there also. I told Vas that was us, and we took up spots very near the front of the pack. There was also a 14K Enduro race, and we all took off at the same time, running down a path to the walkway along the lake shore, and heading down it for about a hundred meters before we hit the woods. Very shortly we encountered a small creek that we had to get across. It was only about a meter wide but the tough part was the short but super steep descent and ascent over rough terrain and coming out of it unscathed.

Once out of there we ran along some paths through the forest. Vas was ahead of me but I finally caught up to him. I passed him but he stayed right behind me. A guy who looked to be in my age group passed me, and soon after we headed up a slight incline on a very rocky path, and I noticed he'd slowed up and darted by him.

He'd looked really drained when I went by him so I didn't expect to see him again, but a few minutes later I heard someone coming up behind me at a fast pace, and it was him again! I sped up trying not to lose him, and Vas was now running almost side by side with me. We came up to where we had to make a righthand turn, and I noticed his bib was yellow, not white like ours, meaning he was in the Enduro race. Since he wasn't competing with me anyway, I breathed a sigh of relief, one less opponent to worry about. 

We came up to where they split the 2 races, and they sent us up a steep hill on the mud, rock & root trail. A fellow was about 10 feet in front of me, but soon I heard no steps behind me. We wound our way up the trail, which after awhile seemed never ending. We would hit a flat spot and start trying to pick up some speed, but it was never more than a few meters later that the uphill suddenly continued. We both managed to keep running almost the whole way, albeit slowly. Vas told me after the race that he'd managed to run the entire uphill, and I told him the only time I'd walked was when the fellow in front of me did, but it was only twice and for about 10 seconds each time.

Finally things leveled out, and soon we were heading down a fairly steep decline. The trail was littered with tons of rocks, some of them a bit jagged, and so the going was slow and hard on the quads. A volunteer waiting along here said "Looking strong, way to go!", as I ran toward him, and then "Those rocks are dangerous, be careful!", just before I reached where he was.

After a couple of hundred meters it became a little less steep, and a lot less treacherous, and I was finally able to run normally again and pick up some speed. I hit a winding single track trail, and wound my way up it on a slight incline. Soon I heard someone behind me, and I moved to my right to let the person pass, and it was a young (to me) woman. She said "Thanks!" as she went by, and I said "No problem, go get 'em!" as she sped away. Not long after this I had someone else on my tail. I sped up and we were going the same pace for awhile, but eventually I heard "On your left!", and I moved over to let yet another young woman go by me. A couple of minutes later I was passing a guy myself, and I didn't hear him behind me anymore after only a short while.

Soon I was going through the creek again, and then I was out of the woods and on the concrete path along the beach. I heard the announcer at the finish line, and saw a fellow running about 20 meters in front of me, almost at the point where he'd turn left and run up the path to the parking lot. I sped up and managed to close on him, but by the time I was a few meters behind him, and he'd almost reached the parking lot, my legs started to feel like lead. I was almost out of gas from my surge, but I told myself that I was almost there, and to just keep going. There were plenty of people cheering us on, and when I reached the parking lot there was the finish line about 50 meters away. I managed one last burst of energy and ran for all I was worth until I was across the line, and the announcer was calling out my name and my club's name too.

Vas came in next behind me, and he said we must have done well, as there were hardly any other finishers in yet. I told him that's why I said we should be up near the front at the start, as we were 2 of the fastest in the field here today. The fellow who I'd passed came in next, patted me on the back, and said "I've finished behind you in quite a few races now!"

The food tables were stocked with sliced honeydew melons, watermelon, oranges, and bananas, plus chocolate chip and raisin cookies and various cut up bagels, with Nutella, peanut butter, jam and cream cheese to spread on them. There was also water, E-Power, and coffee to rehydrate with.

I grabbed a couple of cookies and banana pieces, spread some Nutella on a couple of bagel slices, and headed to my car and got my camera. On the way back I took some pictures of people coming up to the parking lot, and a few of them going over the finish line.

They posted results, and Vas and myself had finished 10th & 11th overall, and I won my age group, while Vas was 3rd in his. Willi Ribi has moved up an age group this year, and finished 2nd in the male 60-69 category, the 2 women who'd passed me ended up being the 1st & 2nd overall females.

http://racedaytiming.ca/raceday-results?display=goldenearssport2013

Chris Barth came in as the Enduro finishers started arriving, and in spite of persistently injured feet managed to finish 5th overall, while Willi's son Marcus was 7th. Walter Kwan had decided to run the Enduro race, and he finished, but he'd turned his ankle and was lucky just to make it in without further damage. He told me he'd better get some ice on it and headed for the first aid booth staffed by North Shore Rescue members. A little later he came up and said he'd be heading out now, he wanted to get home and rest his ankle, so we shook hands and said we'd see each other next time.

http://racedaytiming.ca/raceday-results?display=goldenearsenduro2013

After most of the runners were in they started the awards right on the finish line, so any runners who did come in later actually got the most applause. Unfortunately quite a few people hadn't stayed for the ceremonies, so I was up there myself. Vas at least had one other guy up there with him, while Willi had the full complement. I didn't care, just very happy to get my medal, as was Vas!

They used to have wooden medals, but changed it up this year, and we now get nice ceramic ones.

I told Vas that I had to leave as I had a ferry to catch to make the Q's Victoria Track Meet at 6:30 PM that day, where I'd be racing the 800 meters, so I bade him farewell and headed for the terminal.

BMO Vancouver Marathon 8K

On Sunday, May 5th, I ran the 8K race at the BMO Vancouver Marathon. The race was scheduled to start at 6:30 AM, with shuttle buses leaving to take us from Burrard & Cordova in downtown Vancouver to the start line in Stanley Park starting at 5 AM. I walked down to where the buses were supposed to be, and it was 5 AM but there were few people and no buses. More people started arriving and then some race officials. The first bus arrived, but there was no baggage check yet, which we all needed to hand our bags into before heading to the start.

When at last we were able to check our bags at about 5:20, we filled up the first bus and headed to the start line. It took less than 10 minutes to get there, and the first thing most of us realized after we got off the bus was that it was a lot warmer downtown than it was here by the water. Those of us just wearing a singlet felt it the worst, but after awhile I did my warmup, and the cold was bearable after that.

There was a delay getting everything set up for the race, so we didn't get started until about 6:55. Finally they sent us off from the road by the Second Beach pool, and we ran along North Lagoon Drive with Lost Lagoon on our right for over a kilometer. There were 2 guys on the starting line near me who I recognized from other races and thought might be in my age group. I kept up to them for a couple of hundred meters, but then realized their pace was too quick for me to sustain so I let them go ahead.

The sun had risen and was in our eyes sometimes, but for most of the run our vision was unimpeded. As we ran up Pipeline Road heading to the 3K mark there was about a 40 meter gap between myself and a guy in front of me running by himself. I soon had some company, as a big guy who looked to be in his 30s came up and ran beside me. We came to a point where there was a road on our left going downward, and I heard him say "Which way?", and then we decided to keep going straight when we saw people running ahead of us who had done the same thing.

The end of Pipeline Road was also the 3K point, and we made a sharp turn right and were now running along the seawall. It was already starting to get warm, and I sped up and surged away from the big guy, but a few minutes later I heard heavy steps and breathing behind me, and he pulled up beside me and then ran past! I stayed behind him, and after we went by the 5K marker and I surged ahead of him again.

The fellow ahead had opened up about a 200 meter gap on us at one point, but we were now reeling him in. With a kilometer to go we exited the seawall and then the park, now running along Georgia Street toward downtown Vancouver. We could already hear race announcer Steve King at the finish line, and this seemed to cause everyone to speed up. We veered left onto Pender Street, and there were now only about 500 meters to the line! The cheering was loud from the people lining the route, and I sped up as best I could, closing in on the guy we'd been following the whole race.

He managed to stay ahead of me however, crossing the line a couple of seconds in front of me, and the big fellow came in right behind me! After we received our finisher's medals I went up to him and said "Wow, for a big guy you sure can move!" He said thanks and we shook hands and gave high fives to the people who'd finished with us. As I was coming up to the line Steve had announced that I'd won my age group, as another Gordon, Gordon Carscadden, had won the 55-59 category. I'd only expected to hopefully squeak out a third place medal, so I was pretty ecstatic about winning gold.

They had bottles of water and bananas and fruit bars to eat, all you wanted apparently but that was it. I grabbed one of each and went to look for the bag check. On my way there I ran into the fellow who had been running with the other Gord, Tim Nixon, and he was in the 44-49 age group, so he said we'd split it up nicely, winning an age category apiece. I got my bag and headed back to the finish line, stopping at a results table with volunteers armed with laptops. I just wanted to confirm that I had heard Steve right, and sure enough I had!

I went back to the finish line armed with my camera, but I only took a couple of pictures before my batteries died.

I saw Jimmy Hinze from my club who's a race official, and he asked how I did, and when I told him he gave me a big high five. I was hoping to welcome Pavani when she finished. I'd finally met her in person at the Expo the day before, where I was helping to staff the B.C. Athletics booth. I'd run into her in the morning at the start too, and she said she was sure she'd see me on the podium, but I said I didn't know about that, there were probably some fast guys in my age group in the race.

After awhile I was told I had to move out of the area though, as the first half marathoners would soon be coming in. I was wondering where the awards ceremonies were going to be, and walked a street over and asked about this at the info table. One of the volunteers told me it would just across the street in the square, but she wasn't sure just when. I ran into Ingo, who'd finished second in his age group. His friend Christine Blanchette, who was a pleasure to meet, was third in hers, so we would all be getting medals. Her friend Bob, out for support today, but who had obviously been on the running scene a long time as he was very knowledgeable, arrived and waited with us.

I'd seen a stage on the street beside the square, and it was all fenced in, but now it was being opened up and they were getting the mike working. Soon afterward the 8K awards began, and we went up and happily received our medals, which as always at the Marathon were beautiful. At least we thought so anyway!

The only thing we didn't like was when they read out our times, as the concensus was that the course was at least 400 meters too long, thus the slow looking times. One theory was that we were supposed to have turned downward at that fork, but c'est la vie! As far as we were concerned it didn't much matter now.

We'd been up super early, myself at 3 AM, so it was time to head home now, and I said goodbye to Christine, Bob, and Ingo, and we wished each other good running and vowed to stay in touch. Ingo took Christine's picture with her medal, which I promptly stole off of her facebook page.

I stopped at the Burrard Street IGA to get a few things, and was just checking out when I heard "Hi Gord!" It was Ellie Greenwood, who I'd had the pleasure of staffing the B.C. Athletics booth with the day before. She's one of the top ultramarathon runners in the world, and a delightful person! She asked how I did and then congratulated me when I told her I'd won my age group. Ellie had won the marathon the year before, and I asked how she'd done. She said she'd had to drop out at 30K, but it was the right thing to do. Ellie wasn't bummed about this at all, and in fact was heading back to the finish to cheer in the marathoners. I told her I needed to go home and get some sleep, and wished her well in the Comrades Marathon in South Africa. She's the defending champ and it was coming up in a few weeks.

I got home and had a google message from Pavani, she was walking back to Stanley Park and had seen a Gingerbread Man sprinting toward the finish line, and thought "That must be Tilman!" He'd done it again, running this half marathon in that suit, and with the weather getting hotter and hotter, in a chip time of 1:43:48!

The official results show me as 19th overall out of 729, and 1 of 19 in my age group, with a time of 35:29.

http://www.sportstats.ca/displayResults.xhtml?racecode=104288

Alan Benson from my club, who finished 12 of 119 in his age group in the marathon, and ran a great race after doing the same thing in Boston, emailed to congratulate me on my finish, and this was part of my reply to him.

I was walking home over the Burrard Street Bridge afterward, wearing my medal, and I was suddenly humbled and a little in awe as I watched the never ending stream of full marathon runners. They were at the 30K mark, struggling in the heat with still a long way to go, yet persevering no matter what. All seemed to have that same look of determination on their faces. It was "relentless forward progress" collectively personified. I was happy with what I'd accomplished, but knew that what these people were doing was on a whole different level entirely, very inspiring and a great testament to the human spirit.

My next race was the 5 Peaks Golden Ears 8.8K Sport trail race, on Saturday, May 11, at 9:15 AM in Golden Ears Provincial Park.

Game of Life 5K

On April 28 I ran the Game of Life 5K race, which started and ended at Lumberman's Arch in Stanley Park.

The 10K race started at 9 AM, and then we queued up at the start line. Man Kong Chan, who was 2nd in last year's race, was there at the front, along with myself, Tina-Louise Harris, Ingo, and Gillian Gook, and we all shook hands and wished each other a good race.

At 9:10 we were off, hitting the seawall after about 100 meters. Man bolted ahead of the rest of us and Gillian was the only one who went with him. I just tried to stick fairly close behind Tina, and we hadn't even gone a kilometer before I heard someone coming up behind me. He went to pass me and I saw it was a younger guy who looked to be in his 30s. I surged ahead but he stuck behind me. We hit some headwinds and I thought he might be trying to draft off me, but since he was a lot taller than myself this probably wouldn't have been that great of a strategy.

At about the 3K point we began to pass the slowest 10Kers, and we came around a corner on the seawall. An older couple was standing there watching the race, and the woman yelled "It's the elites! Way to go!", and started clapping her hands excitedly. I mentioned this to the guy who was running with me after the race, and we both had a good laugh about it. But she was right, today we were the elites!

We came up to the lighthouse, and Tina, who'd been running about 10 meters in front of us, grabbed a railing and appeared to be in some sort of pain. Just before we reached her, however, she took off again and regained her lead. Tina had told me before the race that she'd been having ab problems, and would have to wait and see how they'd behave today. She'd had to stop and rest in other races since late last year, and unfortunately had to do so again today.

My pursuer passed me just after the lighthouse, so I let him lead for awhile. With about 400 meters to go I heard cheering from the finish area up ahead, and I bolted past him. Then with only about 200 meters left Tina stopped ahead of us, but this time she couldn't get going again before we went past her. The fieldhouses containing the washrooms loomed ahead. We'd be running between them to exit the seawall and loop up the path for the last hundred meters to the finish line.

I had almost reached them when one of the female 10Kers, who had to do one more loop of the course, suddenly came running out from beside one of the fieldhouses. She did this without any glance in our direction, and crossed right in front of me. I managed to slow up enough to narrowly avoid a crash, and the guy behind me told me later that he almost took a bad spill there himself. People like this show how important it is to make sure that electric cars make some kind of noise, otherwise there will be some tragedies happening for sure!

We dashed up the path, and just before the finish he passed me going very fast. It was doubtful that I could have answered his move anyway, but that close to the finish it was impossible, well played on his part! Tina came in a few seconds behind me, and Running Room founder John Stanton was waiting to put finisher's medals around our necks and congratulate us. We all shook his hand and thanked him, and then commended each other on having run a good race.

Tina was 2nd woman overall behind Gillian, and I'd ended up third overall, which I hadn't expected. I was just hoping for an age group placing before the race, which I knew won you a Mizuno towel. I hadn't checked further on the race website and was unaware until Tina told me, that we'd both won a pair of Mizuno shoes for our overall podium finishes!

 

We both waited at the line to greet Ingo, who finished 4th male overall, and then we hit the food tables where they had bottles of Happy Water, bananas, apples, and oranges, plus chocolate chip and sweet & salty granola bars.

I grabbed a banana and a granola bar, jogged to my car to get my camera and jacket, and then ran back to the finish line. John stayed there until everyone was in, putting medals around their necks and lauding them for their accomplishment. I stayed there awhile cheering runners in, and managed to get a few pics. Man was talking to me when my new friend Pavani came in, and I missed getting a picture of her getting her medal, but hopefully next time!

 

The awards started and Gillian, Tina, and the 3rd place woman, Vicki were first up.

Then Man and myself went up, the 2nd place guy having left already. The results reveal he was from Portland, Maine, so maybe he had a plane to catch. We got our towels and certificates for a pair of Mizuno Wave running shoes from the Running Room. The way John had us pose it looks like I won the race, but what can you do? Man's a really good guy so I don't think he cared, and I didn't realize it myself until I saw the picture.

 

Next were the 10K overalls, and then instead of having everyone come up for their age group awards separately, they just told the remaining racers to go and look at the results. These were posted at a table, and if someone was top 3 in their category they could claim their towel there.

 

 

With the awards over it was time to bid everyone adieu and head out, until we'd meet again. I did stay a little longer to talk to Ingo, and then we too bade each other goodbye until the BMO Vancouver Marathon 8K, on May 5th at 6:30 AM by the Second Beach Pool in Stanley Park.

The races are put on by Commonwealth Games Canada, and I got this off of their website, explaining where the funds raised go:

Proceeds from this event go towards Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC)’s grassroots sport programs in Africa and the Caribbean. CGC supports the social development of individuals, communities and organizations within commonwealth countries using the transformative power of sport. For more information on specific program details please visit www.commonwealthgames.ca/

 

Results are here, I finished 4th overall out of 75, 1 of 4 in my age group, with a time of 20:56.

http://startlinetiming.com/races/2013/gamevan/

Sooke River 10K

On April 21 I competed in the Sooke River 10K, the last race of the 2013 Frontrunners Island Race Series. At 11 AM the race director gave the countdown, we headed off down the road in front of Edward Milne Community School, and a couple of hundred meters later we turned onto Sooke River Road. I ran into former clubmate Nigel Barrett, who now lives on Mayne Island, and he told me that he'd asked some people about the course. He was told that there was a fairly tough hill at about the 2K mark, and that the entire course was pretty undulating, and tougher on the way back. It was actually around the 1.5K point when we hit the hill, which slowed me up a bit, but after a couple of hundred meters things leveled out again.

 

Soon after this I was surprised to be passed by 6 woman, but I managed to stay right behind them. Eventually 3 of them dropped back, but I dueled a bit with a woman in a yellow shirt. First she would burst ahead of me, then I'd repass her, and we did that a few times before she too fell back, and then there were 2 teenage females left in front of me, wearing identical shorts and singlets (I found out later they were in the Bastion Running Club).

 

The hills weren't overly steep, and in the last kilometer before the turnaround there were a couple of good downhills, so I told myself to be ready for a couple of early hill climbs coming back. We reached the turnaround cone and headed back, and to my surprise the hills going back weren't overly taxing, like I'd thought they would be. I seemed to be able to get up enough speed on the declines to power me easily up the inclines, so that worked out great.

 

Soon there were 2 kilometers to go, and I managed to speed up, passing one of the teenaged women. The other one, however, had already opened up about a 20 meter gap on us, and she was speeding up also. We had a bit of a headwind slowing us down for the next kilometer, but with only one to go it let up, and I was pleased that I was able to increase my pace some more heading in. There were about 200 meters to the corner when I upped my speed again and flew by a guy I'd been following for awhile. Then I raced to the corner and the volunteers directed me to turn left and run to the finish in front of the school. I didn't know it then, but as I approached the line I was leading a 5 man dash to the finish, and a guy raced by me right before the line and crossed ahead of me. He was bent over exhausted and said he didn't know where he'd found that burst of energy, but he had and now had nothing left. I asked him what age group he was in, and it turned out to be mine. I told him that ribbons went to the top ten, so hopefully we'd both make "the podium".

 

We went into the school gymnasium and down the hall to where they had the food tables set up, with small yogurts, miniature cinnamon buns, pita bread with hummus to spread on it, cheese slices, iced mini cupcakes, grapes, strawberries, bananas, oranges, cheezie & pretzel mix, paninis (genoa salami with cheese, ham & cheese, turkey & cheese), various gummy candies, chocolate milk protein drink and coffee. I grabbed a plateful of food and a choco drink and went outside to eat. After I was done I went to my car and got my camera. Then I went to the finish line to cheer some people in and got a couple of pics of another mad dash to the finish!

 

 

 

I headed back inside and the auditorium was filling up with incoming runners, and people were grabbing seats in the bleachers to watch the award ceremonies.

 

 

 

I headed down the hall again and there was now a huge lineup for the food tables, but only a small one for coffee, so I grabbed myself a cup.

 

 

 

Back in the gym by the door they had results up, and I looked, and I'd finished 10th in my age group. Myself and the fellow who beat me, Jeff Beddoes, would both be getting a ribbon, so it worked out perfectly!

 

They began the awards, with overalls first, followed by the age groups, with plenty of draw prizes too. I won a stainless steel travel mug, which will come in handy.

 

 

Finally they got to mine and I asked a fellow to take our picture while I was up there. Joe and myself were happy that we'd both got an award, and congratulated one another and the fellow beside us.

 

 

 I thanked the photographer when I went back and got my camera, and stuck around for a bit longer. I wanted to make sure I would catch my ferry, however, so soon I decided that it was time to head home. By now there was no lineup at the food tables, but they still had plenty of food! I grabbed a couple of things for the road and headed to my car, happy to have competed in another great event.

 

 

I finished 76 overall out of 389, 10 of 24 in my age group, with a time of 43:08. It was a smaller field than I thought it was, but a fast one, as the first person to take an hour or more to finish was 327th overall.

 

http://racedaytiming.ca/series?pg=raceresult&race=452

 

My next race was the Game of Life 5K in Stanley Park, on April 28 at 9:10 AM.

Oliver "Wine Capital of B.C." 10K

April 14 marked the running of the Oliver "Wine Capital of B.C." 10K.

 

 

 It was a few degrees above zero and overcast as the race director gave us a 10 second countdown and we took off from beside the Oliver Community Centre, running through the grass before hitting a narrow dirt road.

 

 A fellow wearing a red shirt was in front of me, and I just stayed behind him for awhile as he was going at a good pace. A young woman came up and ran beside me as the path turned to asphalt, and then I got a burst of energy and ran ahead of her and past the guy in front, who yelled "Way to go!" as I went by. I said I'd see if I could keep my pace up, and he said he hoped that I could too.

 

We were running along the Okanagan River now, being hit by a crosswind. As we passed the 4K marker the leader, Hans Aabye, came racing by us already heading back. We reached the turnaround after 4 and a half Ks, so we still had a few hundred meters to go before we were halfway home. The second place woman was just ahead of me and the the guy in the red shirt was heading toward me and the turnaround, looking determined. Just before the 5K point another fellow passed me and said "Almost halfway there!"

 

The wind was buffetting us much more heavily now that we were going in the opposite direction, so I stuck behind the guy in front of me, but he was shorter than me so he didn't block a lot of it. The young woman who tried to pass me before ran by us, and he went with her, but I just kept going at the same pace. She was now the third place woman, and a guy pulled up on a bike and rode alongside her briefly. Then he rode back past me and came around again, saying to me "Keep it up! You're going strong, with 2 women in front of you!" I said "Yeah, fast women!" For the rest of the race he kept riding ahead and stopping in various places to cheer us on.

 

I managed to stay behind them, but at the 7K mark they started to pull away. A few hundred meters later Marie-Josee Bedard, top woman in the River's Spring Run-Off 10K, came up alongside me and said "Keep going, you're looking strong!" I told her she did too, and then she raced ahead, passing the woman in front of us. Next she took off after the second place female, who in turn sped up. It turned into quite a duel, but in the end it was Tiffany Fowler prevailing, as she held off Marie-Josee, beating her by 3 seconds!

 

The guy in the red shirt also caught up to me and went by, and soon afterward as I ran past the 9K marker I could already hear the announcer at the finish line. So close but yet so far, as we now had to run through the grass along the edge of the field and over to the other side of it. A woman came up and ran beside me as we hit the asphalt path on the other side, and the bike guy was waiting there and yelled at us "One minute to go!" I took off ahead of her, turning right after a couple of hundred meters and now running along the winding concrete path until I was across the finish line!.

 

The announcer called out my name, and a volunteer congratulated me on my finish and broke off my bib number tag and took it.

 

I walked over to the Community Centre and went inside the auditorium where they had food tables set up. They had apples, bananas, oranges, muffins, bagels with jam, cream cheese, Nutella and peanut butter to spread on them, and 3 types of delicious cookies.

 

 

 I grabbed a coffee and a couple of cookies, and then went to my car to get my jacket and camera. From there I headed to the finish line, where I cheered some people in and took a few pictures.

 

                    

 

After awhile I went back inside, waiting for the awards to be presented.

 

 

 

Overall and age group (except underaged) winners received a bottle of wine or other prize if they wanted them instead. They got the awards going, and most people took the wine.

 

 

I was hoping for one myself, but as it turned out I wasn't even close, finishing 5 of 8 in my age group, and 25 of 131 overall, with a time of 44:32.

http://www.interiorrunningassociation.com/2013results.html

 

 After the awards were all done it was time to head out as I had a long drive back to Vancouver, leaving the lovely town of Oliver behind, but planning to be back again.

 

For some more detail here's Rick Jenkner's race report:

http://www.interiorrunningassociation.com/

 

My next race was the Sooke River 10K, on April 21 at 11 AM.