Archive for the 'Race Results' Category

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!

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!

VFAC again easily won the team title at Sunday’s Harry’s Spring Run-Off 8K, with Kristina Rody beating her own best and club record in 28:20! Congrats to Jay, Kristina, John, Chris B, Rita, Katherine, Marty, Laura, Janette, Mary, and Rhys for snagging the 10 opportunities to try to get something for $100 at Harry Rosen’s (probably more difficult than their races). In the previous Sunday’s Barcelona Marathon, Dave Stephens celebrated his 50th birthday with an excellent 2:44:14, to place 71st in the European Championship Race (his time also would have placed him 2nd 50+ in Canada last year!).

VFACer’s also placed very prominently in the Dirty Duo Saturday, with Ellie Greenwood winning yet another ultra (by 1 1/2 hours!) with a 4:24:37 in the 50K, and Simon Driver had the fastest time for the 25K, while running 2:06:26 as part of the winning relay team. Mark Bennett was close behind in 2:07:21, while Katrina Driver placed 2nd female in the 25K with a 2:26:07, and Mike Palichuk was close behind Ellie in 4:25:20, to place 4th male in the 50K. Finally on Sunday, Nancy Fedoruk ran a solid 18:53 in the very competitive Bazan Bay 5K in Victoria.

Harry’s Spring Run-Off 8K highlights:

Jay MacDonald 25:28, 2nd M30-34
Kristina Rody 28:20 PB, 3rd overall Female ($300), 1st F30-34, VFAC Women’s Club Record
John Atkinson 28:52 PB (after a 55 min 10K Snowshoe Race Saturday!)
Chris Brandt 29:10 PB
Rita Ivanauskas 29:50, 1st Masters Overall Female ($250), 1st F45-49
Katherine Moore 30:27, 3rd F30-34
Janette Purdham 32:42, 1st F40-44
Mirabelle Tinio 33:22 PB

Perfect, windless weather, a great course and race, and of course some dogged improvised training (or needed extra rest??) during the winter’s record snows, led to a great VFAC presence at Sunday’s First Half 1/2 Marathon. We had 30 participants, 9 PB’s, 2 men and 4 women in the top 10 overall, 7 age group top 3’s, and another VFAC Master Men’s Record by Kevin O’Connor (breaking Brian Bjornson’s 1996 1:13:33!) . Not too bad for the ‘first’ half of the year! Highlights follow:

Jay Macdonald 1:10:38 PB, 8th overall, 2nd 30-34
Paul Krochak 1:10:48 PB, 9th overall, 3rd 30-34
Kevin O’Connor 1:13:10, VFAC Masters Men’s Record
Phil Dickens 1:14:13 PB
Simon Driver 1:14:15, just ahead of Phil gun time
Mark Bennett 1:16:06 PB
Dave Stephens 1:16:17
Ben Maas 1:17:38
Kristina Rody 1:18:55 PB, 3rd overall woman, 1st F30-34
John Atkinson 1:20:44 PB
Jo Astoria 1:20:58
Katherine Moore 1:22:56 PB, 7th overall woman, 2nd F30-34
Rita Ivanauskas 1:22:59, 8th overall woman, 2nd F45-49
Anne-Marie Madden 1:24:43, 10th overall woman, 1st F25-29
Laura De Munain 1:27:27
Helen Ritchie 1:27:41, 3rd F40-44
Rory Carr 1:27:56 PB
Ryan Allderman 1:29:04
Rebecca Reid 1:29:15
Sophie Dansereau 1:33:37
Kim Jow 1:34:14
Mirabelle Tinio 1:34:07
Rhys Howard 1:35:35
Vicki Mann 1:49:33, 1st race in 10 months

Conditions were also conducive to a new record for earliest outdoor post race imbibing (or for collective foolhardiness?). For all those ex-Brits and others ‘from away’, it’s a Vancouver thing!

Excellent results from all VFACer’s who ran Sunday at the Icebreaker 8km in Steveston. I quickly scanned for results and almost everyone ran quicker than last week’s Club 8Km. Two new VFAC records were set.
Jay MacDonald with a 25:13 PB broke Brian Bjornson’s Open record of 25:16 which has stood since 1988! He also finished 3rd overall.
Rita Ivanauskas with a 29:39 PB broke her own Master Woman’s record of 29:41 set just last week and finished 4th overall woman.
(editor’s note: all four VFAC 8km records have already been broken in 2009!)
Also competing were:
Paul Krochak 25:50 (great season debut for 4th overall)
Phil Oreopoulos 27:08 (last week 27:10, 1st M35-39)
Ellie Greenwood 29:20 PB (2nd overall female)
John Atkinson 29:26 (despite racing in a snowshoe event Sat)
Chris Brandt 29:41 (30:07 last week)
Jo Astoria 29:52 (30:38 last week)
Katherine Moore 30:11 PB (30:56 last week, 2nd W30-34)
Rory Carr 30:21 PB (2nd M45-49)
Anne-Marie Madden 30:22 (30:30 last week, 2nd W25-29)
Nancy Fedoruk 31:32 (last week 31:53)
Rebecca Reid 33:23 (3rd W40-44)
Rhys Howard 34:47 (last week 34:50)
Bonnie Kramer 35:41 (last week 36:12, 3rd W35-39)
Sabrina Wong 38:15 (last week 38:14)

Good job all!

The annual Club Handicap Race took place in sunny, but very cool (0 degrees) conditions on Saturday, Jan 24. This year the race was finally brought into the modern era as an 8K, rather than a 5 mile, as we did an out and back on the Seawall from km 0. Some very impressive early season performances were racked up, including several PB’s. Mike Wood won the Handicap race, and Kevin O’Connor and Rita Ivanauskas broke their own VFAC Master’s 8K records. Congrats all- one gold star each!

In order of fastest times:

1. Jay MacDonald 25:59 - Fastest Male Award
2. Kevin O’Connor 26:28
3. Phil Oreopoulos 27:10
4. Phil Dickens 27:42
5. Mike Wood 27:50 PB - First Home Award
6. Dave Stephens 27:53 PB
7. Mark Bennett 28:40
8. Mike Spagnut 29:17
9. John Atkinson 29:20
10. Kristina Rody 29:22 - Fastest Female Award
11. Rita Ivanauskas 29:41 PB
12. Chris Brandt 30:07
13. Anne-Marie Madden 30:30
14. Jo Astoria 30:38
15. Katherine Moore 30:56 PB
16. Jonathon Massel 31:22
17. Brian Devereux 31:26
18. Nancy Fedoruk 31:53
19. Janette Purdham 31:59 PB
20. Helen Ritchie 32:22
21. Rod Urquhart 33:30
22. Michelle Ball 33:52
23. Rhys Howard 34:50
24. Kim Jow 35:20 - Turtle Award
25. Bonnie Kramer 36:12
26. Sharon Emslie 37:27
27. Sabrina Wong 38:14 PB