A flurry of firsts, many medals

Whew, almost too much to report on in the last few weeks. Graeme Wilson started things off with a 5 minute!! win in the Team Coastal Delta 1/2 Marathon on Aug 13, nudging his PR down to 1:10:58. Eddy Smith was 4th overall in 1:18:39 and Mark Wickstead 5th in 1:18:50. Katherine Moore was 5th woman in 1:30:48 (to Suzanne Evans’ 1:20:10). Two weeks later, Michelle Ball debuted with an amazing 11:06 in the Penticton Canadian Ironman on just 4 months tri training (don’t get any ideas you non triathletes!!) to place 5th and 1st Canadian in the womans 35-39, qualifying for Hawaii in October. Then in the final race of the Timex Series, the unseasonably hot Labour Day 8k, Graeme Wilson ran the last 3/4’s of the race by his lonesome to win by almost a minute (becoming a bit of habit, Graeme?) in 25:39. But in addition to his winning overall and the 35-39, we had Matt Fedoruk and Joel Werner placing 1-2 in the 30-34, Rod Urquhart grabbed 1st in the mens 45-49, and Dave Reed and Guy Smith 1-2 in the 50-54. On the womans side, Rita Ivanauskas was 2nd overall in 30:28 (to Kristine Rody’s 28:26). Trudi Jackson was 2nd in the 30-34, Bonnie Kramer 2nd 35-39, Rita and Josie Riebe 1st and 3rd in the 40-44, Adele Wilson, Leslie Black and Sharon Emslie sweeping the 45-49!, and finally Lilian Wong 3rd in the 50-55. Right after this medal haul, cash and shoes followed as Graeme Wilson took 3rd and $300 in the Series, and 1st in the mens 35-39. Other series age group winners were Dave Reed and Guy Smith again 1-2 in the 50-54, Steve Jackson (of the “Surrey Division”) 3rd in the 45-49, and Leslie Black and Adele Wilson 2nd and 3rd in the 45-49. Labour Day Monday and another first overall, as Paul Krochak raced to a very good 1:52:57 in the olympic distance Vancouver Triathlon, winning by almost 2 1/2 min. Eddy Smith was 4th overall, while Sue Werner placed 2nd in the 30-34. This past weekend featured the Katrina/Simon Driver duo being our 1st participants at an IAAF recognized World Mountain Running Championships in Bursa, Turkey (where Katrina finished 1st Canadian and 56th out of 83 and Simon 120th out of 156 in the very formidable competition). But thats just the start…. Rita Ivanauskas placed 3rd Overall female in 1:25:24 to win $250 in the tough Harbour City Half Marathon in Naniamo (to Lucy Smith’s winning 1:15:02), while the whole contingent medalled (well, ok, ribboned) with Rod (PR) Urquhart 3rd with a 1:24:13 in the 40-49 and Katherine Moore 2nd in the 25-29. Down island in the even tougher Lands End Half Marathon in Sidney, Eddy Smith placed 2nd overall in 1:18:00 (to Brad Cunningham’s 1:17:20), while Matt Fedoruk was 4th in 1:19:43 and Joel Werner 7th overall. Trudi Jackson was 7th female overall. Sue Werner placed 3rd overall woman in the 10K. Finally, way up north, Josie Riebe was first and Natalie Closs 2nd female in the 13.9 mile Stage 5 of the Klondike (Skagway to Whitehorse) Relay. Am I finished yet?? Congrats all!