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!

While World Triathlon Championship competitors were spending their cycle and run trying to thaw out their feet, at the Sandcastle 10K, several VFAC’ers were busy flying downhill so fast for PB and top finishes that they almost overshot the finish line at White Rock beach and ended up in the chuck anyhow.

Ryan Hayden got back into it, with a solo 30:30 win over the 270 other finishers. Also running solo, cold battling (no, not as in the weather) Graeme Wilson took 2nd in the 3rd Timex race in a row, with a good 32:07. New member Kevin O’Connor took an easy 3rd and 1st overall master in 33:54. Ernest Hawker was 3rd 45-49 in 36:28, while newly permanent Canadian-eh resident John Atkinson took 2nd in the 35-39 in 36:53, new member Amiel Logan had a huge 3 minute PB and just cracked the 40 minute barrier in 39:59, while Al Urquhart also PB’ed at 42:37.

First female was 48 year old Nancy Tinari, continuing her comeback with a 2 year best of 35:43. Helen Ritchie was the 1st VFAC woman, finishing 5th overall and 1st 40-44 in a 8 year! best of 39:33. Nicola Everton, also on the comeback trail, er road, ran a solid 40:29 for 8th overall, Sophie Dansereau had another PB of 41:39 to win the F35-39 for the 3rd Timex race in a row, and Sonia Hundal narrowly beat her Sun Run PB with a 42:33.

Definitely a June Sunday better spent than going for a ‘little’ swim.

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.

I would be remiss if I didn’t write an article about the Sun Run before it takes place. How so? Well, because so many of you have run not one , but two (plus!) PB’s already this year, that not only should I recognize those who may have been missed, but also as a ‘quiet’ confidence booster for Sunday (and Monday in Boston, Brad, John and Sophie!).

Since the 11 PB’s earned in the 1st Half 1/2 Marathon, over half of our participants in the Harry’s Spring Run-off 8k, March 9 (11 of 21) and the Fool’s Run 1/2 Marathon, April 6 (9 of 17) recorded PB’s, not to mention a couple of (not so) miscellaneous others. I do this at my peril as I’m bound to miss someone, but here goes: Katherine Moore leads the way with 4 PB’s (twice in the 8K to 30:57, 1:24:11 1/2, 19:13 5K); those with 3 PB’s are Susanne Russell (twice in the 1/2 to 1:23:08, 30:22 8K), Mary Walsh (twice in the 1/2 to 1:25:57, 31:45 8K), Mark Bennett (twice in the 1/2 to 1:17:15, 27:57 8K), Brad Cunningham (twice in the 8K to 26:30, 1:12:52 in the Comox 1/2 Mar), and Paul Krochak (16:03 5K, 25:48 8K, 1:11:40 1/2); those with 2 PB’s are Ryan Conroy (30:54 8K, 1:25:57 1/2), Jay MacDonald (26:02 8K, 1:12:00 1/2), new member Jeremy Hill (31:36 8K, 1:27:34 1/2), Chris Brandt (29:29 8K, 1:20:43 1/2), and Chris GT Downie (28:16 8K, 1:18:09 1/2). Katherine and the Chris’ squared are all ‘merely’ continuing from where they left off, having all shared last year’s Most Improved Award! Many others have had 1 PB since the 1st Half, including new members Vicki Mann (1:47:19), Sabrina Wong (23:28 5K) and Rory Carr (31:13 8K), and Natalie Closs (30:46 8K), Sue Werner (1:32:48 1/2) and John Atkinson (17:45 5K). Congrats all, and to all the others with near and ‘modern day’ PB’s (yes, that includes you Trefor!)

To be continued this weekend……

Chasing around trying to coach traveling athletes is a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it. And it certainly does warrant documenting the great performances I witnessed, even as it gives me yet another excuse for being tardy in doing so (but not for neglecting to mention the additional great performances by those on the home front).

Starting with the RVM on Oct 7, we had good representation and results in each of the 8K, 1/2 Marathon and Marathon races. In the Marathon, Graeme Wilson finished 2nd overall in 2:29:40 (to Steve Osaduik’s 2:20:14), after passing a (2:22 best) American with about 15k to go. It was his best of 3 consecutive RVM performances, so his $500 prize was well deserved. Chris Gt Downie also ran an even race to pass several runners and finish 14th in a 3 1/2 minute PB of 2:47:40, completing a 1-2 sweep of the M35-39. Shu Sanantani (3:02:46) and Marty Glendinning (3:07:54) ran solid races, while Kirsty Siemens ran 3:15:06 to place 2nd in the F40-44, and Sarah Louw 3:34:38 in her marathon debut. In the 1/2 Marathon, Paul Krochak had a big 2 1/2 min PB of 1:11:47 to place 6th overall and 1st M30-34, Chris Brandt added to his unending 2007 PB streak with a 1:21:33, Laura De Munain just missed her PB with a 1:26:47 to win the F35-39, and Rhys Howard ran a seasonal best 1:35:06. In the 8K, Rita Ivanauskas ran a 29:46 PB to set a new VFAC Masters Female record, while placing 3rd overall and 1st F40-44. Jim Davies got his racing groove back with a 34:32, Bonnie Kramer placed 2nd F35-39 with a 35:45, Sharon Emslie placed 3rd in the F45-49 with a 35:55, and Trudi Jackson was just behind to place 3rd F30-34.

In the Chicago Marathon the same day, Katherine Moore overcame the rather significant obstacle of humid 30 degree C weather, a feat several world class runners were unable to do, to finish an amazing 28th woman overall in a 3:05:01 PB. She was also 1st Canadian woman among the ~37,000 finishers! Good thing I wasn’t there too, or I would have pulled the defrocked Irish priest trick and tried to pull her off the course before halfway.

At the Turkey Trot 10K the next day, new club members Chloe Gendron and Kristina Bangma kept up Vancouver appearances by finishing as 3rd and 4th females overall in 40:51 and 41:33.

Over to Ottawa Oct 13, where Rita Ivanauskas represented BC at the National 10K Road Championships by virtue of her 3rd place overall finish in the Timex Series. In a small, very elite women-only race, she ran a very even pace to place 13th in 37:38, her 2nd PB and VFAC Masters Female record in as many weekends.

The next day, while I was almost being out-run by Rita on her recovery run in the Gatineau Hills and spraining my ankle in the process (hey, I was mesmerized by the brilliant fall colours), back in Vancouver 12 VFAC runners were almost being out-run by the course measurer in The Flatlands 10K Plus. It was too bad, as woman’s winner Natalie Closs was denied a big minute-plus PB and several others seasonal bests. Anyhow, through 2 independent sources (Google Maps and GPS- thanks, Matt!) it was determined to be 10.33K, so I have taken the liberty of adjusting the times to 10K, both in this report and the updated rankings. The race was won by Tristin Simpson in an adjusted 32:47, followed by our Ynuk Bosse in 33:05. Matt Fedoruk was 8th overall among the 169 finishers and 2nd M30-34 in 35:43, Ernest Hawker won the M45-49 in 36:17, Joel Werner was 3rd in the M30-34, and Trefor Smith got back on track with a 39:11. Among the women, Natalie’s adjusted winning time was 38:47, while Helen Ritchie ran 40:51 in her 1st race in several years to win the masters, Chloe Gendron just missed the medals in the F35-39 with a 41:39, Trudi Jackson and Sue Werner placed 2nd and 3rd in the F30-34, and Sharon Emslie ran a seasonal best 44:37 to win the F45-49.

Whew! Better stay home a little more.

PS Not to be forgotten, 2 weeks ago, Natalie Closs also traveled to a PB. In the Toronto Scotiabank Half Marathon she took over 3 minutes off her PB in 1:26:26, to place 3rd out of 520 women in the 35-39 category!

As most of you have likely long since heard by now, given my writer’s cramp, Katrina and Simon Driver had great races at the World Mountain Running Championships in Switzerland. Katrina led the Canadian team to an 11th place finish out of 20 national teams. She placed 23rd in the field of 87, finishing in 44:00, to the 39:11 of winner Anna Pichrtova of the Czech Republic. Simon was 101st out of 152 in 1:02:18, behind the 51:49 of winner Marco De Gasperi of Italy.

Also, on the weekend, Katherine Moore and Matt Fedoruk competed well internationally….ok, in Bellingham. In the hilly Fairhaven Runners 15K, Katherine placed 4th female overall in 1:01:32 behind the 59:27 of Seattle’s Rose Wetzel. Shawn Miller of Juneau was 1st overall among the 571 finishers, while Matt placed 1st in the men’s 30-34 and 8th overall in 55:11.

Seventeen VFAC’ers made the trek to the Squamish 10K on Sunday. After all, it was a sunny long weekend, and Squamish is halfway to (and from) Whistler. But the race itself was more than worthwhile as we had the top 2 finishers for the 2nd Timex race in a row, the 3rd overall woman, 2 PB’s, and several age group medallists (or should that be muggists?).

Simon Driver pushed the early pace with Graeme Wilson and early Timex Series leader Oliver Utting (Graeme has now clinched it!) in tow, before Utting tried to break away at 7k. However, Simon soon responded, pulling Graeme with him, and they gradually pulled away to comfortably take the top 2 spots. Simon finished in 32:26, 4 seconds up on Graeme and 26 seconds ahead of Utting. Jeff Lopes continued his great comeback from knee surgery, just missing his PB with a 35:08, good for 8th overall, and 3rd 25-29. Guy Smith won the 50-54 in 37:04, and pulled Chris Brandt (37:05) and Brian Devereux (37:09) to their umpteenth PB’s this year. Bob Wade placed 2nd 45-49, while Marty Glendinning ran 39:51 in his 1st race with VFAC.

Rita Ivanauskas was 3rd female overall (behind Kristine Rody’s 36:16) and 1st master in a close to PB 38:13. Laura De Munain won the F35-39 in 40:04, Fiona Jenkins was 2nd F25-29, Kirsty Siemens was 2nd F40-44, Adele Wilson was 2nd F50-54, Bonnie Kramer was 3rd F35-39, and Sharon Emslie was 2nd F45-49.

Also recently, several members have been relatively anonymously racking up some impressive results. At the ITU World Long Distance (double Olympic) Championships in Lorient, France, July 15, Michelle Ball placed a very respectable 9th out of 20 in the F35-39, ~ 20 minutes behind the winner in 4:59:48. Kapil Anand won the 1500M at the July 10th Hershey Harrier All-Comers Meet in a 4:17PB, before Ynuk Bosse set the club record at the same meet Aug 7, with a winning 4:09. Also on the track, Nicola Everton won the Women’s 800M in 2:27 at the Canadian Masters Championships in New Brunswick Aug 22, despite having torn her plantar fascia shortly before the finish. At the Canadian Trail Mountain Running Championships in Canmore, July 28th, Simon Driver, Katrina Driver (1st Canadian female), and Shaun Stephens-Whale (junior male) all again qualified for the World Championships in Switzerland, Sept 15th. Finally, new member Paige Gardiner placed 4th overall female amongst some very impressive competition at the Sri Chimnoy Triathlon in Victoria Aug 5th, with a 2:18:04 behind winner Cheryl Murphy’s 2:11:39.

Sorry if there’s anyone I missed, but at least it shows maybe you can run AND hide after all.

This year’s Scotiabank 1/2 Marathon produced a rare deluge of personal bests and near bests. Perhaps it had something to do with the thunderstorm from midway on at least being a better alternative than the usual summer heat. Also the new finish with a long gradual downhill down Pacific Ave instead of a too quick and steep drop to the Seawall was a big help, but would have been even better had anyone known that it also made the finish about 500m earlier than before.

The race was won as usual by a Kenyan, this time by Patrick Nthiwa in a very fast 1:03:10. Graeme Wilson again was top VFACer, finishing 9th overall and 1st 35-39 in 1:10:57 (exactly 1 second faster than last year and only 12 seconds off his PB!). Chris Drozda was next in 1:17:23 and just missing the top 3 35-39. Joel Werner returned to form, running 1:19:55, good for 3rd 30-34, Bob Wade had a big 3 1/2 minute 1:20:54 PB, and Shu Sanantini had a 2 minute PB at 1:24:07.

Another Kenyan, Magdalene Mukunzi, led the women this year in 1:14:02. Rita Ivanauskas led all the Masters (and VFAC) women and added $200 to her likely club record yearly winnings with her 2nd best ever time of 1:24:55. Katherine Moore ran 1:26:12 for her 3rd PB this year, to place 3rd 25-29, and Laura De Munain was close behind in 1:26:44, a 3 minute PB!

Other good performances were turned in by Ryan Allderman with a 1:26:43 PB, new member Marty Glendenning at 1:27:41, Tracy Hall in 1:28:25, Natalie Closs in 1:30:52, new member Mary Walsh in 1:32:55, and Sue Werner in 1:34:17. Off very little training, Simon Cowell ran 1:27:46 and Leslie Black 1:34:04….a mere foreshadowing of greater things to come(back)??

All 3350 soaked finishers definitely earned a gold star (did the other 700 hundred entrants know something was coming?)

VFAC half year rankings to follow soon….