Archive for the 'Club News' Category

5K

Overall Male / Overall Female

1 Jay MacDonald 15:13 / 1 Anne-Marie Madden 17:30
2 Kevin O’Connor 15:32 / 2 Catherine Watkins 17:51
3 Drew Nicholson 16:07 / 3 Nancy Fedoruk 18:41
4 David Palermo 16:11 / 4 Emily Solsberg 18:57
5 Mark Sherman 16:17 / 5 Janette Purdham 19:28
6 Colin McArthur 16:39 / 6 Kristin Smart 19:59
7 Roy Millen 16:46 / 7 Clio Carthy 20:16

Masters Male / Masters Female

1 Kevin O’Connor 15:32 / 1 Janette Purdham 19:28
2 Mark Sherman 16:17 / 2 Kirsty Siemens 21:04
3 Dave Stephens 17:22 / 3 Karyn Mitchell 21:50
4 Russ Ladd 17:38 / 4 Michelle Ball 22:00
5 Jo Astoria 17:48 / 5 Sabrina Wong 22:43

8K

Overall Male / Overall Female

1 Jay MacDonald 25:06 / 1 Anne-Marie Madden 29:02
2 Ian Druce 26:54 / 2 Katherine Moore 30:04
3 David Palermo 26:59*/ 3 Catherine Watkins 30:26
4 Drew Nicholson 27:20*/ 4 Susanne Russell 30:56*
5 Colin McArthur 27:20*/ 5 Helen Ritchie 31:47*

Masters Male / Masters Female

1 Dave Stephens 28:24*/ 1 Helen Ritchie 31:47*
2 Guy Smith 28:40*/ 2 Janette Purdham 32:06*

* denotes 5 mile (Club race) - 10 seconds

10K

Overall Male / Overall Female

1 Jay MacDonald 30:49 / 1 Katrina Driver 36:37
2 Kevin O’Connor 32:05 / 2 Anne-Marie Madden 37:10
3 Graeme Wilson 32:32 / 3 Catherine Watkins 37:52
4 David Palermo 33:02 / 4 Emily Solsberg 39:42
5 Mike Wood 33:49 / 5 Nancy Fedoruk 39:54
6 Mark Sherman 33:54 / 6 Mary Walsh 40:52
7 Mark Bennett 34:30 / 7 Kristin Smart 40:57
8 Roy Millen 34:44 / 8 Mirabelle Tinio 41:31
9 Drew Nicholson 34:55 / 9 Helen Ritchie 42:12

Masters Male / Masters Female

1 Kevin O’Connor 32:05 / 1 Mary Walsh 40:52
2 Mark Sherman 33:54 / 2 Helen Ritchie 42:12
3 Mark Bennett 34:30 / 3 Kirsty Siemens 43:00
4 Dave Stephens 36:24 / 4 Kate Dilworth 43:47
5 Jo Astoria 36:47 / 5 Karyn Mitchell 45:03

Half Marathon

Overall Male / Overall Female

1 Kevin O’Connor 1:10:17 / 1 Anne-Marie Madden 1:21:02
2 Graeme Wilson 1:11:12 / 2 Katherine Moore 1:21:16
3 David Palermo 1:12:56 / 3 Katrina Driver 1:21:27
4 Drew Nicholson 1:13:58 / 4 Catherine Watkins 1:25:04
5 Ian Druce 1:14:34 / 5 Susanne Russell 1:27:08
6 Mark Sherman 1:14:47 / 6 Janette Purdham 1:28:54
7 Mike Wood 1:15:57 / 7 Mary Walsh 1:29:41

Master Male / Masters Female

1 Kevin O’Connor 1:10:17 / 1 Janette Purdham 1:28:54
2 Mark Sherman 1:14:47 / 2 Mary Walsh 1:29:41

Marathon

Overall Male / Overall Female

1 Graeme Wilson 2:28:17 / 1 Ellie Greenwood 2:49:54
2 Ian Druce 2:42:49 / 2 Mary Walsh 3:12:33
3 Mike Wood 2:44:41 / 3 Kristin Smart 3:15:02
4 Mark Sherman 2:46:35 / 4 Janette Purdham 3:20:43
5 Guy Smith 2:47:02 / 5 Kate Dilworth 3:29:13

Masters Male / Masters Female

1 Mark Sherman 2:46:35 / 1 Mary Walsh 3:12:33
2 Guy Smith 2:47:02 / 2 Janette Purdham 3:20:43
3 Dave Stephens 2:49:08 / 3 Kate Dilworth 3:29:13

Here is some feedback we’ve received from Matt Johnston at Centered Lifestyle Services, the race charity of the Dave Reed 5K…

I have been meaning to thank everyone for their kind donation to the work that I do with inner-city children and youth.  Through the generous donations from the Dave Reed Memorial Run, I have been able extend my counselling services by offering Adventure-Based Counselling to some the clients on my caseload.

In fact, on May 7-9th, Jeff Schiebler and I took three grade six boys on a camping trip to Hope.  These trips serve as a good excuse to take clients out of their usual environments for the weekend and expose them to healthy male role models.   I am able to utilize metaphors in nature to assist them in gaining greater understanding of their circumstance and “decompress” from the stressors in their life.  It is a weekend without any electronics, which for the demographic I work with, is quite out of the ordinary.  By the end of these trips, the typical response is a desire to stay and/or return.

The funds provided through VFAC over the past two years, translates into servicing about eight youth in this capacity.  I would like to once again thank you for your continued support.

Thanks for the feedback Matt.

Guys,

Hot on the heels of Kate & Janette’s praise, I just wanted to belatedly second (or I guess that should be third?) their words of thanks and appreciation for all your great support out there on Sunday:

Fresh in my memory are Jo, Mary, Drew & Ellie sending us on our way at & just past the start; Coach Johnny, Sabrina, Bonnie, Sharon, Marty & Rory (& Ellie again) cheering us through the first 10k (& passing young Davey Palermo as he led the way in the 8k); high-fiving young Brian (Irish) in Gastown; a drenched Denis & Enej riding with us on the way into Stanley Park, then firing us up as we exited it; Davey Seabrook pumping us up just before half-way; Coach Johnny shouting out our half-way splits on Stanley Park Drive (& his twin brother doing the same on the run-in to the finish); passing Jay & Kim on Pipeline, then posing for Rick at the Corner of Lost Lagoon; high-fiving Sharon & Marty as I turned to tackle Burrard Bridge for the first time; then feeding off the energy & support of Emily, Bonnie, Sabrina, Mike & Amy Wood, CP Chris, Helen, Anne-Marie & Susanne during the tough stretch through Kitsilano. The turn onto Pacific (after negotiating Burrard Bridge a second time) and sprint for home was all a bit of a blur, but I know many of you were out in force again along Pacific — including ace photographer Rick, who (as you’ve seen) did another sterling job in capturing some of those magical (and sometimes painful) marathon (& half-marathon) moments.

And what about those performances? Graeme was 3rd overall in a mind-blowing 2:28:17 (only 20 secs from a PB, I believe); Guy ran a NEGATIVE SPLIT! in posting a 2:47:02 (only around 4 mins shy of his PB); Dave broke 2:50 (2:49:48) despite missing a stretch of training through injury; Mikey P. knocked almost 2 minutes of his best BMO VIM (2009) time in clocking 2:53:37; I snuck in a few minutes behind in 2:56:33 (a PB by just over a minute), Kristin set something like a 4-minute PB in running a stellar 3:15:02; Janette was just behind in 3:20:43, another solid effort off less-than-perfect training; and Kate showed SHE’S BACK, cruising under 3:30 with a time of 3:29:13 which put her (more-or-less) in the top 10 of the field. There were also notable performances from Ian (1:14:34 and 3rd M30-34), Katrina (1:21:56 and 4th overall female) & Shu (1:27:29) in the half, and the young Welsh-Italian stallion, Davey Palermo, who took second overall in the 8k (27:23), just behind honorary VFACer Ben Maas.

Sorry if I missed anyone out there.

We may not have been blessed with the sunshine of 2009, but your terrific support and those sterling performances still made it a day to remember… and one I’m going to dine out on for quite a while!

Cheers,

Johnny A

Editor’s Notes:

-Graeme won $750 for 3rd overall, plus $500 as 2nd Canadian
-Guy and Dave were 1st and 2nd in the Male 50+
-Janette was 2nd in the Female 40-44
-Charles Mackey resumed his long career with a respectable 3:49:35 (just to prepare himself to come back to workouts and to get to indulge in the 4-5 pints that follow)

Several VFAC’ers enjoyed the perfect sunny weather that has characterized the Spring Olympics, which caused the cancellation of the First Half 1/2 and diversion of many runners to this hilly Fort Langley race:

David Palermo 1:13:57 PB, 2nd overall
Drew Nicholson 1:13:58, 3rd overall
Ian Druce (new member) 1:15:54, 4th overall, 1st M30-39
Mike Palichuk 1:24:30, 4th M40-49
Susanne Russell 1:27:09, 4th overall female, 2nd M30-39
Bill Codville (new member) 1:31:45
Alex Lea 1:34:06, 5th F20-29
Kristin Smart (new member) 1:34:28 PB, 6th F20-29
Raena Dumas (new member) 1:45:16

Good job all…owned the podium more than Team Canada!

The Vancouver Falcons are very sorry to have to announce the passing of new member Peter Holmes.

Peter, 24, known as ‘Pete’ (and ‘Pistol Pete’ back in his native UK) only started training with VFAC in April, having moved to Canada from England to start his dream job as Communications Manager for the International Triathlon Union (ITU) in March.  However, the Briton quickly made a positive impression throughout the club, his passion for running and living life to the full proving infectious to everyone fortunate enough to come into contact with him.  He also very quickly excelled as a racer, making it into the Top 3 of the club’s 2009 rankings, 2^nd in the 5k (15:36) and 3^rd in the 10k (32:51).

Tragically, Pete’s life came to an extremely premature end when he died last Saturday (December 5^th, 2009), following a freak snowshoe accident on Goat Mountain (near Grouse).  Pete was with two friends when one got into a bit of difficulty as they started to descend the mountain in treacherous icy conditions just below the summit.  The courageous Master Holmes went to try and assist his stranded friend, but lost his footing and slipped, falling 400m down a cliff-face onto a frozen Kennedy Lake.

Tributes have been pouring in for Pete both sides of the Atlantic, many being left on the social networking site Facebook – both on Holmes’ personal page and a memorial page set up in his honour.  There have also been hundreds of tributes made on the UK-based runners forum Eightlane.com, which Pete founded.

The following maybe of interest to anyone wishing to know more about this outstanding young man:

* Pete’s blog posts about his time with VFAC

* Athletics Weekly obituary

* Daily Telegraph article

* Vancouver Sun article

* North Shore News article

* Eightlane.com runners forum (that Pete created)

* ITU Website

————————————-

Meanwhile, below are some tributes – made on both Facebook and Eightlane – from VFAC members upon whom Pete left a lasting impression:

(ON FACEBOOK)…

John Hill (Posted on Dec. 6^{th at 6:22pm)}

^{Pete, you just touched our lives over this side for a brief time, but already we were making memories with an engaging, encouraging and enthusiastic person – and, oh ya, a damn, good runner! All too soon to be gone… but certainly not forgotten. RIP bud.}

^{Kevin O’Connor (Posted on Dec. 6th at 9:04pm)}

^{I’m still in shock, several hours after hearing this very sad news. Very recently, Pete and I bumped into each other on a run on the sea wall. We were running in opposite directions and, in such a situation, runners usually give each other a nod or say “Hi”. On very rare occasions, they stop and turn around to come join you. Well, Pete turned around, and ran further than he needed to… keen to help me out on my run, as I was struggling with the flu. Our healthy conservation about life, running, relationships and other worldly issues helped the run breeze by. I live on the other side of False Creek to Pete, but we often saw each other on the seawall. I ran past his place tonight, looked up at the brightly-lit apartment windows and dedicated my short run to him. It seemed the right thing to do. Your time with us in Vancouver and with the Falcons was all to short, but we [and I] will never forget you, Pete. KO}

^{Brad Cunningham (Posted on Dec. 8th at 7:42am)}

^{I ran with Pete in Vancouver. From the moment he joined our club, he made a lasting impression on everyone. A great training partner, runner, friend and person, he was affecting his Canadian community the same way he had at home (in England). He will be dearly missed over here as well.}

^{John Atkinson (Posted on Dec. 8th at 11:18am)}

^{This still seems completely surreal. I only trained with Pete 12 days’ ago on Vancouver’s seawall when, as per usual, he was kicking our (his fellow Falcons’) butts. I never got to know Pistol that well, though in many respects we were kindred spirits; a fellow Englishman who came to Vancouver to live the dream. It takes a certain amount of passion, determination and courage to turn such a dream into reality and Pete had all three in abundance. That he was trying to help a friend when he slipped on Saturday says everything about the man. Fearless, selfless and an inspiration to everyone fortunate to cross paths with him. Rest In Peace, Pete — you really made a difference.}

^{Phil Dickens (Posted on Dec. 8th at 12:50pm)}

^{As a fellow Brit in Vancouver, Pete told me I should get on the 8lane website as all the serious runners and coaches from the UK use it. I took a look and saw that ‘Pistol’ was way out in front at the top of the usage leaderboard with over 1300 posts. That was funny. 1300 posts! During the summer we could finish a club workout and then look forward to reading about it on Pete’s blog. There are a lot very passionate people in athletics, but it’d be hard to beat Pete. A great guy to be around, and to be motivated by. He has obviously had the same effect everywhere he’s been.}

^{(ON EIGHTLANE – the UK-based running forum created by Pete)…}

^{Kevin O’Connor (Posted on Dec. 6th at 4:18pm)}

^{I’m Kevin O’Connor, a Vancouver Falcon team-mate of Pete’s. It is sad and shocking news that his Vancouver friends received today. I posted the press report, although I realized how difficult it may be for some to read. We have very little news of the accident, but I do know that Pete was at (our regular) workout last Thursday, so most of the group got to see him before this very sad accident on Saturday. I’m a fellow Brit – from Cornwall – so if anyone requires information or there is anything I can help with, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’ll aim to keep you informed of any news that we hear via this site.}

^{We are all thinking of Pete. We have lost a good friend.}

^Kevin

^{Paul Krochak (Posted on Dec. 7th at 11:55am)}

^{I’ve been training with Pete in Vancouver since the early spring of ‘09. There is not enough room on this page to say enough good things about Pete. Not only was he an amazing runner, his passion for the sport, life and his friends, was contagious. We all warmed to Pete instantly here in Vancouver. He was willing to sacrifice anything and everything for a friend – this was true not only in racing and training, but in life. You will be missed by all my friend.}

^Paul

5K

Overall Male / Overall Female

1 Jay MacDonald 15:25 / 1 Kristina Rody 17:07
2 Peter Holmes 15:36 / 2 Anne-Marie Madden 17:41
3 Brad Cunningham 15:49 / 3 Ellie Greenwood 17:43
4 Graeme Wilson 15:53 / 4 Katherine Moore 18:10
5 Ynuk Bosse 15:58 / 5 Rita Ivanauskas 18:11
6 Paul Krochak 16:00 / 6 Catherine Watkins 18:34
7 Kevin O’Connor 16:11 / 7 Chessa Adsit-Morris 18:49
8 Phil Dickens 16:13 / 8 Nancy Fedoruk 18:53
9 Mike Wood 16:26 / 9 Janette Purdham 19:07
10 Phil Oreopoulos 16:41 / 10 Helen Ritchie 19:21

Masters Male / Masters Female

1 Kevin O’Connor 16:11 / 1 Rita Ivanauskas 18:11
2 Mark Bennett 17:13 / 2 Janette Purdham 19:07
3 Dave Stephens 17:22 / 3 Helen Ritchie 19:21
4 Jo Astoria 18:09 / 4 Rebecca Reid 19:43

8K

Overall Male /Overall Female

1 Jay MacDonald 25:13 / 1 Kristina Rody 28:20
2 Paul Krochak 25:50 / 2 Ellie Greenwood 29:20
3 Kevin O’Connor 26:28 / 3 Rita Ivanauskas 29:39
4 Phil Oreopoulos 27:08 / 4 Anne-Marie Madden 29:56
5 Phil Dickens 27:42 / 5 Chessa Adsit-Morris 30:07
6 Mike Wood 27:50 / 6 Katherine Moore 30:11
7 Dave Stephens 27:53 / 7 Natalie Closs 31:01
8 Mark Bennett 28:40 / 8 Nancy Fedoruk 31:32

Masters Male / Masters Female

1 Kevin O’Connor 26:28 / 1 Rita Ivanauskas 29:39
2 Dave Stephens 27:53 / 2 Janette Purdham 31:59
3 Mark Bennett 28:40 / 3 Helen Ritchie 32:22

10K

Overall Male / Overall Female

1 Jay MacDonald 30:57 / 1 Kristina Rody 34:26
2 Graeme Wilson 32:42 / 2 Katherine Moore 36:22
3 Peter Holmes 32:51 / 3 Anne-Marie Madden 37:29
4 Drew Nicholson 33:11 / 4 Chessa Adsit-Morris 37:59
5 Kevin O’Connor 33:20 / 5 Catherine Watkins 38:30
6 Phil Dickens 33:29 / 6 Helen Ritchie 38:46
7 Ynuk Bosse 33:31 / 7 Rebecca Reid 39:17
8 Brendan Chrus 33:52 / 8 Nancy Fedoruk 39:22
9 Mike Wood 33:55 / 9 Janette Purdham 39:38
10 Brad Cunningham 34:06 / 10 Laura DeMunain 39:39

Masters Male / Masters Female

1 Kevin O’Connor 33:20 / 1 Helen Ritchie 38:46
2 Dave Stephens 35:12 / 2 Rebecca Reid 39:17
3 Jo Astoria 36:37 / 3 Janette Purdham 39:38

Half Marathon

Overall Male / Overall Female

1 Jay MacDonald 1:09:05 / 1 Kristina Rody 1:18:12
2 Graeme Wilson 1:10:06 / 2 Anne-Marie Madden 1:21:05
3 Paul Krochak 1:10:48 / 3 Katherine Moore 1:21:12
4 Kevin O’Connor 1:13:10 / 4 Rita Ivanauskas 1:22:59
5 Drew Nicholson 1:13:38 / 5 Helen Ritchie 1:24:03
6 Phil Dickens 1:13:55 / 6 Catherine Watkins 1:24:23
7 Simon Driver 1:14:15 / 7 Janette Purdham 1:25:56
8 David Palermo 1:14:32 / 8 Rebecca Reid 1:26:51
9 Mike Wood 1:14:40 / 9 Emily Solsberg 1:27:05
10 Mark Sherman 1:15:40 / 10 Mary Walsh 1:27:13

Masters Male / Masters Female

1 Kevin O’Connor 1:13:10 / 1 Rita Ivanauskas 1:22:59
2 Mark Sherman 1:15:40 / 2 Helen Ritchie 1:24:03
3 Mark Bennett 1:16:06 / 3 Janette Purdham 1:25:56
4 Dave Stephens 1:16:17 / 4 Rebecca Reid 1:26:51
5 Jo Astoria 1:20:58 / 5 Mary Walsh 1:27:13

Marathon

Overall Male / Overall Female

1 Graeme Wilson 2:27:58 / 1 Katherine Moore 2:47:25
2 Phil Dickens 2:38:27 / 2 Anne-Marie Madden 2:52:03
3 Mark Sherman 2:39:32 / 3 Helen Ritchie 2:59:53
4 Mike Wood 2:43:37 / 4 Mary Walsh 3:11:57
5 Dave Stephens 2:44:14 / 5 Mirabelle Tinio 3:14:37

Masters Male / Masters Female

1 Mark Sherman 2:39:32 / 1 Helen Ritchie 2:59:53
2 Dave Stephens 2:44:14 / 2 Mary Walsh 3:11:57
3 Mike Palichuk 2:50:53 / 3 Janette Purdham 3:16:48

Appropriate to it’s name, The Longest Day 5K & 10K featured sunny twilight weather, continuing this year’s trend of good racing conditions (and who would have thought after so inauspicious a start to the year?). Consequently, there were again several PB’s (9?) and good performances amongst the 21 VFAC racers. Brad Cunningham started things off in the longest race, letting a couple of runners stay with him until halfway, before pulling away to win with a PB of 34:06. The 5K, a Timex Series event, resembled a VFAC workout at times, as the men placed 3rd through 8th, 9 of the top 17 men and 4 of the top 8 women!

Highlights in the 5K were:

Jay MacDonald 15:25 PB, 3rd overall male, $125
Peter Holmes 15:42 PB, 4th overall male, $75
Graeme Wilson 15:53, 5th overall male, $50
Ynuk Bosse 15:58, 6th overall male
Paul Krochak 16:00, 7th overall male
Phil Dickens 16:13 PB, 8th overall male
Mike Wood 16:26 PB
Phil Oreopoulos 16:41
Kapil Anand 17:08 PB
Jo Astoria 18:09
Jesse Popov 18:13 PB
Chessa Adsit-Morris 18:49, 4th overall female, $75
Chris Taplin 18:52
Janette Purdham 19:07 PB, 5th overall female, 2nd overall masters female
Helen Ritchie 19:21, 6th overall female, 3rd overall masters female
Rebecca Reid, 19:43 PB, 8th overall female, 5th overall masters female

In ideal (race) weather Sunday, 4 VFACers ran well in the BMO VIM, including a big PB by Mike Palichuk to smash through the 3 hour barrier in style, while Phil Dickens got his PB of 2:38:27, finishing 12th overall down in Eugene. However the VFAC BMO Vancouver Half marathoners weren’t going to be upstaged, as 4 out of 12 recorded PB’s, including another club record by Kristina Rody! The length of our withdrawal from YBP post-race debriefings set another record of sorts.

BMO VIM highlights:

Brendon Chrus 2:47:18, 1st M20-24
Mike Palichuk 2:55:21 PB
John Atkinson 2:59:42, 2 seconds off his PB
Alex Lea 3:32:29

BMO Vancouver 1/2 Marathon highlights:

Graeme Wilson 1:10:06 PB, 6th Overall, 2nd M35-39
Kevin O’Connor 1:14:24, 3rd Overall master ($100)
Kristina Rody 1:18:12 PB, 2nd Overall female ($750), 2nd Canadian female ($250), VFAC Club Record, 1st F30-34
Rita Ivanauskas 1:23:22, 5th Overall female, 1st Overall female master ($300), 1st F45-49
Anne-Marie Madden 1:23:24 PB, 6th Overall female, 1st F25-29
Sony Gawley 1:24:40 PB?
Helen Ritchie 1:26:59, 2nd Overall female master ($200), 1st F40-44
Rebecca Reid 1:27:02 PB, 3rd Overall master female ($100), 2nd F40-44
Janette Purdham 1:27:53 PB, 3rd F40-44
Doug Warden 1:29:49, welcome back Doug!
Jacquie Lewis 1:32:23, best in many years!

The Sun Run always brings on the superlatives, as a whole and within VFAC. This 25th Anniversary year was no exception, as the race is now some 56,000 strong, and VFACers Kristina Rody and Jay MacDonald were the 4th female and 12th male among them! Also way up in the percentiles were Katherine Moore as 11th overall female, Chessa Adsit-Morris as 15th overall female, and Helen Ritchie as 3rd overall masters female. Out of a total of 34 VFAC participants, 14 women (yes, the women get all the priority press here!) and 8 men placed among the top 100 overall females and top 100 overall males, 16 placed in the top 10 in their age divisions, and to the best of my rather anally retentive knowledge, 14 had personal bests! Well done all!

Highlights are as follows:

Jay MacDonald 30:57 PB, 12th Overall M, 1st M30-34
Kevin O’Connor 33:20, 39th Overall M, 3rd M40-44
Phil Dickens 33:29 PB, 44th Overall M,
Brendon Chrus 33:52 PB, 55th Overall M
Mike Wood 33:55 PB, 57th Overall M
Kristina Rody 34:26 PB?, 4th Overall F, 2nd Canadian female ($1000), VFAC Female Record
Benjamin Maas 34:53, 75th Overall M
Phil Oreopoulos 35:01, 76th Overall M, 7th M35-39
Dave Stephens 35:12, 84th Overall M, 2nd M50-54
Chris Brandt 36:01 PB, 9th M35-39
Katherine Moore 36:22 PB, 11th Overall F, 5th F30-34
Jo Astoria 36:37
John Atkinson 36:40
Chessa Adsit-Morris 37:59 PB, 15th Overall F, 4th F25-29
Brian Devereux 38:11
Catherine Watkins 38:30 PB, 20th Overall F, 4th F35-39
Helen Ritchie 38:46, 23rd Overall F, 3rd Overall Master F ($250), 2nd F40-44
Rebecca Reid 39:17 PB, 29th Overall F, 3rd F40-44
Nancy Fedoruk 39:22, 30th Overall F, 9th F25-29
Shu Sanantani 39:23
Laura DeMunain 39:39, 34th Overall F, 6th F35-39
Janette Purdham 39:51 PB, 38th Overall F, 4th F40-44
Mirabelle Tinio 40:56 PB, 50th Overall F, 10th F30-34
Jacquie Lewis 41:59, 65th Overall F, 9th F40-44
Sophie Dansereau 42:16, 71st Overall F
Alex Lea 43:12, 93rd Overall F
Heather Wilson 43:14, 94th Overall F
James Howson 44:43 PB,
Trevor Fenton 44:53 PB

I’m trying my level best to keep up with the sheer quantity of quality performances recently, and not doing such a good job! Well, better late than never, following are the numerous highlights since my last report only 2 weeks ago.

On Sunday, in the Timex Series Comox 1/2 Marathon, Helen Ritchie ran 1:26:25, her fastest time in over 15 years, to place 5th female overall and 1st 40-44.

On Saturday, in the prestigious ultra trail race, the Chuckanut 50K, south of Bellingham, Ellie Greenwood again prevailed as 1st female by over 8 minutes in 4:34:23, while Mike Palichuk, determined to not be overtaken nor overshadowed, was 44 seconds ahead of her in 4:33:39, while winning the master mens division.

A week ago Saturday, in the St Patrick’s Day 5K in Stanley Park, Kristina Rody set yet another VFAC womens record, while Rita Ivanauskas tied her own VFAC masters womens record! There were 26 VFACers amongst the 792 finishers, including:
Jay MacDonald 15:26, 7th overall
Kevin O’Connor 16:11, 1st overall master
Ynuk Bosse 16:12
Phil Dickens 16:24 PB
Ben Maas 16:51
Mike Wood 16:52 PB
Kristina Rody 17:07, road PB, 2nd overall female ($100), 5:21.7 1st female Power Mile ($50)
Mark Bennett 17:13, 5th overall master
Anne-Marie Madden 17:41, 3rd overall female ($75)
Ellie Greenwood 17:43 PB, 4th overall female
Rita Ivanauskas 18:11 =PB, 1st overall master female, 7th overall female
Katherine Moore 19:07 PB, 10th overall female
Nancy Fedoruk 19:11
Helen Ritchie 19:28, 3rd overall master female
Rebecca Reid 19:51, 4th overall master female
Janette Purdham 20:08 PB, 6th overall master female
Sharon Emslie 22:35, 9th overall master female
Sabrina Wong 23:31

There, I’m now in extreme oxygen debt and will have to work the exhale…but at least (at last) I’m caught up!