Blackberry Mile, August 16, Powell River
Not the usual hot sunny weather this year. It was nearly a 1 mile swim, it rained so much! Still, 50+ people came out and ran the new downhill course that took us through the festival area in the second half, while the vendors were setting up. Great audience support considering the weather — lots of cheering and clapping. The rain stopped for a while afterwards for early festival-goers, but then started in again with a vengeance. The fireworks were cancelled due to lack of a permit, but with the rain, no one really cared!
Times are approximate based on what people saw on the clock. Distance was exactly 71m less than 1 mile.
2. 4:30 Larry Nightingale
6. 5:01 Alex Nightingale
11. 5:33 Teresa Nightingale
37. 7:31 Maria Nightingale
Four Lakes 10k, August 11, Garden Bay
Our 6th Annual Four Lakes 10k/3k saw a record turn-out of 81 finishers in both events (86 registered, 42 in the 10k, 44 in the 3k)! The weather cooperated nicely with a cool break from the recent hot weather. Results and photos are here
59:03 Litze Boghean 1st F50-59
Squamish Days 10k, August 4
Steve and Suzette were busy racking up more LMRRS points…
47:42 Steve Merrick 6th M45-49
49:16 Suzette Narbonne 2nd F50-54
Sea Cavalcade Mile, Gibsons, July 27
The weather was perfect for a mile race, warm but not really hot, and a bit of a tailwind. A big new PB for Alex again in the mile: 5:11.3 and second place overall! Full results here — over 100 people participated.
Club results:
5:11.3 Alex Nightingale 2nd overall, 2nd M16-19
6:11.8 Steve Merrick 4th M40-49
6:50.4 Suzette Narbonne 1st F50-59
7:33.1 Maria Nightingale 7th F10-12
Summerfast 10k, Vancouver, July 20
Photo by Leo Lam
Excellent weather for this race, sunny but not scorching hot. It was a little too warm in the first half but once we got past the 6k mark we were in the cool shady side of the seawall, with a light breeze. Alex and Teresa actually ran just over 47 mins (not including a 1 minute pit stop at 5k!). As in the Longest Day race, Teresa went ahead from the 8k mark, and Alex caught up right before the finish line with a terrific sprint. Carl was very pleased with his time in his first 10k of 2013.
It's actually not a really fast course, despite the name. Too many turns on that seawall. But a really fun and well-organized event, with a huge array of home-made goodies from the host club VFAC. This year they sold out at 500, way up from 350 last year.
Photos by Keith Dunn: Carl, Teresa, Alex, Steve, Suzette, Elizabeth
Of special note was an incredible breakthrough run by Gibsons' Kimberley Doerksen. She had a whopping 4 minute PB to finish second in 35:22, only 21 seconds behind Natasha Wodak and ahead of a bevy of other elite women. What changed? She found out that she had been anaemic for some time and got it treated, AND started training with VFAC under John Hill, and the combination of those two factors made for a huge improvement for the 22-year-old. Keep an eye on this upcoming talent!
Club Results:
37:53 Larry Nightingale 1st M50-54
46:39 Carl Green 4th M65-69
48:04 Alex Nightingale 7th M19&U (includes 1 min stop)
48:05 Teresa Nightingale 4th F45-49 (includes 1 min stop)
49:06 Steve Merrick 10th M45-49
50:21 Suzette Narbonne 4th F50-54
56:48 Elizabeth Boghean 9th F50-54
Halfmoon Bay Trophy Run 5.4k, July 14
Thanks to Sally Benner for organizing this annual fun run! New 9:30 start time was great to avoid the heat and most of the traffic at the finish area. Also, this was the first year the runners were at the fair in time for the pancake breakfast! All results are posted here as they are not online anywhere else. (We found out that last year's results were lost, and we never got a copy.)
Pl Time Name City Cat. Cat Pl
==========================================================
1 20:04 Larry Nightingale Halfmoon Bay M50-59 1
2 24:19 Alex Nightingale Halfmoon Bay M16&U 1
3 25:49 Greg McCarron Maple Ridge M30-39 1
4 27:42 Guy Hazelton Sechelt M50-59 2
5 27:49 Alexis Hauge Halfmoon Bay F20-29 1
6 28:00 Liz Dilasser Sechelt F60-69 1
7 28:42 Chuck Steemers Sechelt M50-59 3
8= 31:07 Ryan Daley Halfmoon Bay M30-39 2
9= 31:07 Carly Bevan Halfmoon Bay F20-29 2
10 31:12 Colleen McCarron Maple Ridge F30-39 1
11 31:58 John Jessup Vancouver M40-49 1
12 32:36 Susan Blair Sechelt F50-59 1
13 32:39 Linda Willesen Roberts Creek F50-59 2
14 43:03 Maria Nightingale Halfmoon Bay F16&U 1
15 43:03 Teresa Nightingale Halfmoon Bay F40-49 1
Sechelt Canada Day Mile, July 1
A pretty good turn-out (28 registrants) for the first time back since 2008 for this event, which will only grow in the coming years. Chatelech Secondary distance star Jordan Wilson took the win in 5:10, with Suzette Narbonne taking the top women's honours in 7:11. Club results:
5:30 Alex Nightingale 3rd M16-19
6:37 Steve Merrick 5th M40-49
7:11 Suzette Narbonne 1st F, 1st F50-59
7:56 Maria Nightingale 2nd F10-12
Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon & 5k, June 23
Perfect weather for this one! By 5:30am it was pleasantly mild, with clear skies, but shortly after the 7:30am start, clouds started to move in, which kept the heat away nicely. Smokin' hot times in the elite results, though! And an awesome post-race band. Helen won her age group (as usual!).
2:03:15 Helen Sabourin 1st F70-74
2:13:15 Elizabeth Boghean
North Shore Credit Union Longest Day 5k/10k, June 14, Vancouver
Photos by Charles Mackey
We weren't the only ones wearing a 5k bib in the 10k: Kevin O'Connor also switched distances (and ended up winning the 10k).
The morning was rainy but the weather cleared up beautifully for this evening race at UBC. We had planned to take the 2:50 ferry over and run the 5k (with Maria doing the kids' mile), but we left it a little too late and ended up missing by minutes (actually they closed the gate more than 5 minutes before actual sailing time, arghh). So we had to get the 4:50 (stupid summer schedule), which of course was 20 minutes late, and with Lions Gate traffic we ended up arriving at UBC just after the 5k had started. Maria didn't mind missing the kids' mile as she had Sports Day that morning (and we'd already run at least 800m from the parking lot), but the rest of us wanted to run somehow. The helpful folks at packet pickup asked if we would like to switch to the 10k which started 20 mins after the 5k, and we thought why not — and we'd all run it together to help Alex in his first ever 10k. THEN pig out at the BBQ.
Approaching halfway
This year the course direction was reversed due to construction at 16th and East Mall, limiting passage to the small pedestrian path — which was fine for a spread-out field at the end of the loop but wouldn't have worked for large crowds at the start. There were also several little out and back and loopy bits through campus which added more turns, slowing down the speedy types but not an issue for everyone else. The temperature was very pleasant in the evening sun, with no noticeable wind, beautiful shady areas, and some nice long flat sections. After a 4:35 first km, we settled into a pace that Alex could work at and maintain for the longer distance, with the goal to 'pick it up in the 2nd half'. At the end of the first loop, after climbing the hill at the bottom of 16th Avenue and the super steep little connection to the pedestrian path at the top, Alex didn't think he'd be able to go any faster in the second half. We crossed the 5k checkpoint at 23:30.
Alex & Larry flew past me with about 80m to go. All I could do was laugh and do my best to trail in behind them.
With less than 2k to go I told Alex and Larry I was going to speed up and put some distance between us, knowing that over the last 400m I'd have no chance to keep up with Alex's sprint. So off I went, checking behind at the corners to see how much lead I had, trying to gauge if it would be enough, but not too much. Flying downhill on Stadium Road they were coming on strong and I realized my pacing was a little off… just as I crested the final little hill on the grass approach to the finish line, a little too soon, they blew past me like rockets. We all ended up negative splitting, excellent for Alex's first ever 10k. Even though the race awards were based on very broad age groups, they have posted 5 year division results, and Alex was 3rd in the 16-19 grouping, only 9 seconds behind 2nd place. And 4th place was only 12 seconds behind Alex.
Fellow club members Steve & Suzette raced the 5k with excellent times around 23 minutes, and Suzette was 2nd among women 50-54.
5k
22:57 Steve Merrick 13th M45-49
23:44 Suzette Narbonne 2nd F50-54
10k
46:19 Alex Nightingale 3rd M16-19
46:20 Larry Nightingale 4th M50-54
46:23 Teresa Nightingale 2nd F45-49
Running Room Shaughnessy 8k, May 26, Vancouver
As always this was a challenging course with that big hill at the beginning and two more hills mid-race. The conditions were excellent this year, cool and dry. This was Alex's first 8k. Photos by Keith Dunn. Videos on YouTube
30:42 Larry Nightingale 3rd M50-54
37:38 Alex Nightingale 7th M<20
Iron Knee 25km, May 26, North Vancouver
Roger's Report: One of my favourite Lower mainland races is the Iron Knee 25km event which was held on Sunday in North Van, great running conditions at about 14 degrees with really good trail conditions this year — dryish and fast. Some years it is a mud bath which can make the very rooty and rocky sections extremely treacherous (i.e. lots of wipe outs).
Have a look at the race profile, a real mountain running challenge this course! Starts with about 5km of steady climbing, this is an old profile that misses the first kilometre that has been added the past two years to bring the distance to 25kms, it now goes straight up from Cleveland Park to Grouse base when it eases off slightly before the bigger climbs to come.
Unusual age divisions this year — Under 40, 40-49 and Over 50 — so I was competing against a lot of "young" 50-year-olds but still made the podium (2nd).
2:18:48 Roger Handling 2nd M50+ (out of 20)
BMO Vancouver Marathon & Half, May 5
Probably one of the warmest Vancouver Marathons ever: by 5am it was already 16 degrees, and it only got warmer from there, with full sunshine and very little wind. A nice day for spectators but tough for the full marathoners who started 1 hour after the halfers. Didn't seem to bother Helen though — she ran nearly as fast as she would have in Boston if she'd been allowed to finish, handily winning her age group (out of 6).
Marathon:
4:45:08 Helen Sabourin 1st F70-74
5:02:35 Litze Boghean
Half Marathon:
1:49:52 Suzette Narbonne
1:51:13 Steve Merrick
Vancouver Sun Run 10k, April 21
Super nice sunny morning and lots of Coasters were running or walking. Club results:
1:06:54 Debra MacWilliam
1:26:17 Elizabeth Boghean
BMO Sunshine Coast April Fool's Run, April 7, Gibsons
For race report see race website. Here are the club results, congrats to everyone. Welcome to new club member Reece Taylor, for whom this was his first organized race!
1:47:48 Reece Taylor
1:50:44 Steve Merrick
1:52:07 Suzette Narbonne 4th F50-54
2:07:07 Janet Harrison
2:23:37 Litze Boghean
2:26:29 Shaunna Asselstine
Spring Run-Off Vancouver 8k, March 24
1:03:20 Litze Boghean
BMO St. Patrick's Day 5k, Vancouver, March 16
As always, a great race followed by a fun party with lots of food, drink and costumes! Alex beat his mum for the first time, after running together for 4.6km, then blasting up the finishing hill and putting nearly 30s between them!
18:15 Larry Nightingale 4th M50-54
22:49 Alex Nightingale 19th M<20
23:17 Teresa Nightingale 7th F45-49
23:35 Steve Merrick 19th M45-49
24:36 Suzette Narbonne 6th F50-54
BC 5k Championships at BMO St. Patrick's Day 5k
Teresa Nightingale 2nd F45-49
Steve Merrick 4th M45-49
Suzette Narbonne 5th F50-54
Larry Nightingale 4th M50-54
Dave Reed Spring Classic 5k, Vancouver, March 2
18:32 Larry Nightingale 3rd M50-54
23:18 Steve Merrick 8th M45-49
24:31 Suzette Narbonne 4th F50-54
BC Half Marathon Championships at "First Half" Half Marathon, Vancouver, February 10
2:04:24 Helen Sabourin 1st F70-74
2:22:22 Elizabeth Boghean 6th F45-49
Ice-Breaker 8k, Steveston, January 27
30:44 Larry Nightingale 3rd M45-49
Top