Club News
As usual, there was a strong VFAC presence at the Kajaks Steveston Ice-Breaker 8k, the first event in the Lower Mainland Road Running Series (LMRRS). Conditions on the day were near perfect, with cool temperatures and little breeze, a promising settings for the fast out-and-back course.
Leading the charge was Nic Browne, who crossed the line in 6th overall (1st M30-34) in 26:15. Right behind him was Drew Nicholson, continuing his excellent start to the season with a 26:22 PB (3rd M25-29). Next was David Palermo, who despite a lengthy absence from training ran a strong 26:45. Following him were Mark Bennett (27:05 PB, 1st M50-54) and Bryan Andrews (28:19 PB). Probably the stand-out performance of the day was by Catherine Watkins who finished as 2nd overall woman, 1st Masters in a time of 28:23, a personal best and a new VFAC Women’s Masters record. In fact, her time was only 3 seconds short of Kristina Rody’s Women’s Open club record.
Following her were Barry Young (29:05, 3rd M35-39) and Gordon Carscadden (30:15, 1st M55-59). Helen Ritchie was next, running a superb 30:55 PB for 1st F45-49. She was closely followed by Tim Nixon (30:57), Kristin Smart (31:59, 3rd F25-29), Jan Grude (33:03), Sabrina Wong (35:22 PB) and Vicki Mann (37:33). Rick Horne celebrated his first podium placing in an LMRRS race with a 41:47, 3rd M60-64.
Clearly a very promising start to the season! Congratulations to everyone who raced and especially those setting new personal bests. Full results are available here, and some photos here.
On a misty, but otherwise ideal day, 23 VFAC members (well for 2012 at least 
) took part in our annual get-back-into-race-mode 8K (that used to be 5 mile) Race, Saturday, Jan 19. With the coach having expertly handicapped everyone (or been bribed), everyone had an equal chance at winning the First One Home trophy, or the coveted Turtle Award for Last Runner Home. Courtney Powell was the racer of the day, easily winning the Handicap, but also the Fastest Female Award, with a new PB of 30:47! Running mostly solo, Nic Browne was Fastest Male in 26:15. Ted Walraven gamely ran with a respiratory infection without informing the coach, to steal the Turtle Award Well done all!
Results by fastest time:
- Nic Browne 26:15
- Barry Young 28:54
- Jono Lloyd 29:14
- Bryan Andrews 29:22
- Courtney Powell 30:47
- Russ Ladd 31:13
- Tim Nixon 31:21
- Kris Smart 31:24
- Gord Carscadden 31:45
- Crista Kundu 31:59
- Allison Ezzat 32:23
- Ben Hannemeyer 32:25
- Mirabelle Tinio 32:27
- Rian O Maol Chonaire 32:29
- Brad Firth 32:34
- Jan Grude 33:08
- Laurel Richardson 34:34
- Jim Davies 34:41
- Kim Jow 36:12
- Chris Chan 36:26
- Sabrina Wong 36:46
- Ted Walraven 41:14
- Sharon Emslie 41:27
The first race of 2013 was the 34th running of the Prairie Inn Harriers Pioneer 8k, on Sunday January 13th. As part of the Timex BC Road Race Series, it attracted a very strong field on an icily cold day in Saanichton, Vancouver Island. Drew Nicholson and Anne-Marie Madden represented the club, running 27:09 and 28:38 respectively, a 3 second PB for Anne-Marie who finished 4th overall woman. Aside from these performances, the talking point of the day was Natasha Fraser’s astonishing 25:28, a full two minutes faster than the fastest female 8k time in all of Canada in 2012! Full results are available here.
2012 BMO Vancouver Marathon
Big “home” race for VFAC on the new Full and Half Marathon courses at the 2012 BMO Vancouver Marathon.