Last month: the Coles Notes version

There have been many great performances and personal bests recently and I haven’t personally been doing my best to keep up. But I still want to try to recognize all those deserving so will report an abridged version of the Sun Run, Times Colonist, Vancouver International Marathon/ 1/2 Marathon, Mother’s Day 5K, and a couple of not insignificant others. In the Sun Run we had 41 participants and came away with 22 bests! Jay MacDonald led the onslaught with a 31:25, good for 18th place overall (7th 25-29) and 7th on the VFAC All-time top 10K list (see Records). He was followed by Simon Driver in 31:37, 21st overall (9th 25-29) and 10th on the all-time list. 1 second(!) and 1 place back (and 3rd 35-39) was Graeme Wilson. Also recording PB’s among the men were Paul Krochak in 32:05 and 33rd place (7th 30-34), Roy Millen in 34:04 and 8th 30-34, Mark Bennett in 34:06, 3rd 45-49 and into 8th on the VFAC All-time Master’s list, Ben Maas in 34:20, Tim Oftebro in 35:47, Chris Brandt (again!) in 36:10, Jeremy Hill in 38:13, Ryan Conroy in 38:57 (running in the yellows!), and David Poon in 45:35. Nancy Fedoruk led the women with a 37:26 PB, also good for 17th overall (3rd 25-29). She was followed by Susanne Russell in a near PB 37:49 for 20th overall (5th 25-29). Also recording PB’s among the women were Katherine Moore (ditto, again!) in 37:56 and 21st place (4th 30-34), Mary Walsh in 38:32 and 28th place (5th 35-39), Hisayo Matsumoto in 39:40, Sue Werner in 41:39, Sonia Hundal in 42:40 (from the yellows), Sarah Louw, 42:41, Janelle Belter in 43:24, Monica Owczarek (temporarily!) in 45:18, and Sabrina Wong in 48:02. In the Victoria Times-Colonist 10K the following weekend, Nancy Fedoruk again ran well to win her 25-29 age group in a race of almost 9000 finishers, while Monika Owzcarek took advantage of the near perfect conditions to knock 2 1/2 minutes off her Sun Run PB the week before with a 42:41. Liana Sipelis also had a PB of 45:20. The next weekend back to Vancouver, where we had 3 of the top 6 women overall in the BMO VIM Marathon. Ellie Greenwood, fresh off a 12 minute 3:07 PB in Boston 2 weeks previously, dropped another 12 to finish 3rd overall in 2:55:18, picking up $500 in the process! Susanne Russell was 4th in 3:03:37, and Jacquie Perrault ran an outstanding debut in 3:05:16, for 6th and 1st master! Simon Driver led the charge with a solid 2:39:58, while Guy Smith led the male 50+ with an excellent 2:49:48. Al Urquhart with a PB of 3:38:13 and Andrew Kamara met their goals of qualifying for Boston. In the Half Marathon, we had 4 women in the top 10. Katherine Moore placed 6th in yet another (1:23:44) PB, Emma Hann debuted in 7th (and 1st 20-24) with a 1:25:28, Helen Ritchie was 8th and 1st in the masters with a 1:27:28, and Laura De Munain rounded off the top 10 in a respectable 1:28:01 in her 3rd consecutive weekend of racing. Chris Brandt (again!) in 1:20:31, Jeremy Hill in 1:26:20 and Ryan Allderman in 1:26:52 also had PB’s. On Sunday, Graeme Wilson ran 15:57 and Ynuk Bosse 16:19, behind only Oliver Utting’s 15:49 in the hilly Timex Mother’s Day 5K. Sophie Dansereau ran a 20:44 PB only 3 weeks after her 3:11:16 PB in Boston to win the F35-39, while Liana Sipelis also PB’ed again in 22:21. The previous day in the 5 Peaks Golden Ears Trail Race, 48 year old Mark Bennett also had only Oliver Utting (less than a minute!) ahead of him in 59:41. Chris GT Downie was back at it with a respectable 5th in 1:04:15, and Ernest Hawker trail- debuted with an 8th overall time of 1:05:57. In the women’s side, Mirabelle Tinio was also second overall, only 27 seconds behind Martina Ramage’s 1:12:54, while Chloe Gendron returned from injury in 6th overall with a 1:15:50. Not last and certainly not least, Mary Walsh continued her PB streak with a 3:09:53, 6th place female finish in the Mississauga Marathon Sunday. Congrats all (and then some?). With all these great performances, it leaves me no choice but to produce forthwith a ranking list for the year to date.