Runners brave the Pineapple Express

Even by Westcoast standards, Sunday was a horribly rainy day. The kind of rain that soaks you less than 5min into your run. A few VFAC runners braved the elements to run in the Harry’s Spring Run Off, a new 8K in Stanley Park to support prostate cancer research. The race organizers put together a separate elite field consisting of some big guns on the local, national and international scene – the likes of Jon Brown (Olympian currently training for the London Marathon), locals Ryan Hayden, Steve Osadiuk, and Mark Bomba; and top female athletes, including Lisa Harvey (multi-time national 10K champion), Lucy Smith, and Lioudmila Kortchaguina (2006 Canadian Marathon champion). In the elite field, Ryan Hayden stole the win from UK-expat Jon Brown outpacing him by a few seconds to finish in 23:45. Brown’s first loss to a Canadian on Canadian soil. Lisa Harvey ran away with the woman’s win ahead of Lucy Smith in 27:44. A few VFAC women rose to the challenge and turned in great performances. Rita Ivanauskas was second Master to cross the line in 31:26. Natalie Closs finished in 32:00, and Katherine Moore ran 33:44. Kirsty Siemens was third Master’s woman overall also in 33:44. Tim Nixon ran 31:19 to finish second in the Master’s mens category. In the open race, Simon Cowell (M35-39) finished in 32:00, Kim Jow (M4549) in 34:32, Rhys Howard (M4549) in 34:59, Jim Peacock (M4549) in 35:03, and Lillian Wong (F55-59) in 39:41. Great work everyone!