Paralympians dominate Reino 9K near Salmon Arm
The third race in the Starting Block cross-country running series, the Reino 9K, was held at the Larch Hills ski trails just outside of Salmon Arm on Oct. 14. This very popular run attracted a large field of over 100 runners. Three members of Canada’s para-nordic Olympic ski team were at the race, and they dominated it.
Mark Arendz (M25-29) who lost an arm in a grain auger when he was seven and won six medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze) at the PyeongChang Winter Paralympics, took first place overall in 34:43. He was followed by Robin McKeever (M45-49, 35:00), who has guided his sight-disabled brother, Brian, to more gold medals than any para-nordic skier in history, and is the coach of the Canadian para-nordic ski team.
The woman’s race was also won by a para-nordic skier, Emily Young of Kelowna (F25-29,39:52), who won a silver and a bronze at PyeongChang. Cross-country skiers are known to be the fittest athletes in sport, so it’s no surprise that they can run fast too!
Third place in the men was Armstrong’s Ian McKechnie (M35-39).
Following Young were two Salmon Arm runners, Joanna Hamilton and Bree Petch.
Age group winners included: Zach Jackman (M20-24, Kelowna), Mike McGrath (M60-64, Vernon), Roly Muller (M65-69, Kel), Karen Willes (F70-74, Kamloops), and Guenter Naumann (M80+, Penticton).
I would like to congratulate both Karen Willes and Linda Woodbury for terrific support of both the Canadian Tire road race series and the cross-country series. For over 25 years, these two ladies, now in their 70s, have been fixtures at our races. They do it for the enjoyment of running and the camaraderie of the runs. Neither of them are speedsters, winning is not important to them, just the joy of running and competing.
WANDERING MOOSE TRAIL RACE
This race was held on Oct. 6 in Myra Belleview Provincial Park. Three distances were offered: 42K, 20K and 12K. All three were very challenging with rocky trails and huge elevation changes: 1,650 feet of climbing in the 12K, 3,300 in the 20K and 5,300 in the 42K.
First to finish the 42K race was Kelowna’s Adam Kahtava (M30-39, 3:40) with another Kelowna runner, Peter Watson (M30-34) in third place. Top age group runs were put in by Adam Elliot (2nd M40-49, Kel) and my old friend, the indestructible Andy Daley (1st M70+).
Among the women, local medal winners were Tessa Wotherspoon (2nd F20-29, W.Kel), Sarah Purslow (F30-39, Falkland) and Natalee Peeters (F40-49, Kamloops).
In the 20K race, Vernon’s Andrew Sellers won the M40-49 class and finished second overall. Other winners were Tom Williams (1st M20-29, Kel), Steve Ganton (1st M50-59, Kel), Carrie McGillivray (1st F30-39, Kel), Christine Conibear (1st F40-49, Pent), Sarah Lowe (1st F50-59, Kaleden), and Judy Richardson (1st F60-69, Kel).
In the 12K event, West Kelowna’s Emma Leeder won the F20-29 class, Armstrong’s Leanne Ingham the 30-39 class, Penticton’s Debbie Finnie the F60-69 class and West Kelowna’s Janet “The Racer” Bradshaw the F50-59 age group.
Bradshaw has run an amazing number of races this year, trail races, Canadian Tire road races, marathons, etc. She sent me the following information about her success at the trail races: “Just wanted to let you know that I did it. I got the QUADZILLA for racing and finishing all four races of the Pace trail races. Including finishing my first ultra, the Wild Horse 50K. Scenic and tough trail races. I did it! 115 kilometres. This was my challenge for 2018. I raced the day after the Wandering Moose in the SunRype Kelowna 10K. Really did it as a recovery run and to have fun. No PB but still ended up third in my age group out of 62.”
KELOWNA’S SUNRYPE MARATHON
Kelowna’s annual fall marathon was held Oct. 6. With four distances to choose from (5K, 10K, half-marathon and full marathon), this is the Interior’s largest race, with over 2,300 participants this year.
In the 5K race, the Ingram kids, Keagan (M16-19) and Tayla (F11-15) from Summerland, who have done so well in the Starting Block cross-country runs continued to show their heels to the older runners by finishing first overall, out of 250 competitors, for their respective genders!
Delilah Topic, rounding back into form after missing about a year with an injury, finished second behind Tayla. Delilah gives a lot back to the running community. She is a coach for the UBCO Heat running team and has set up a bursary for a deserving female runner at her Alma Mater.
It was also nice to see Brent Hobbs, the English Channel swimmer and a very active member of Telemark Nordic Club, win his age class (M50+) and finish a fine seventh overall.
In the 10K race, Kelowna’s Jeff Vogt was first overall. The half-marathon and the marathon were won by Alberta runners.
CHICAGO MARATHON
Chicago hosts one of the largest marathons in the world, with 20,600 female runners and 23,900 male runners! Several of the “Amazing” Kelowna women I have written about for years competed there.
British legend, Sir Mo Farah, one of the greatest track runners in history, turned his talents to the marathon and won in a very fast 2:05. The first female was a Kenyan runner, Brigid Kosgei, in 2:18.
Kelowna’s great 70-74 age group runner, Diane Leonard, hadn’t lost a race in her age class for a long time and she had another great run. This time, though, she was competing against the best 70-75 female runner in the world, American Jeannie Rice, whose time of 3:27 set a new world record for her age. Diane finished second, 42 minutes behind Rice, but still 50 minutes ahead of the third-place woman.
Our own Liz Borrett also ran in Chicago. Liz has previously won her age class (75-79) at Boston, New York and Germany, but she is just getting back to top shape after almost a year off for an injury. She ran well and, knowing Liz, she is probably happy with her fourth-place finish after what she has gone through.
Christy Lovig had another fine race, finishing sixth in the F40-44 age class among over 3,200 other 40-44 year old women!
Martha Sirdevan, who works at my physiotherapist, Wave Physio, ran an excellent 3:40 in the F40-44 class. The other “Amazing” Kelowna women all had good runs: Lynn Sparling (F60-64,4:37), Becky Williams (F6064,4:38) and Sandy Wike (F60-64,4:42).
Keith Parks (M55-59), who now lives in Surrey, was a Kelowna runner for years. Keith still likes to join up with the KRC runners for special events. In the Windy City, he ran his 100th-plus marathon, finishing in 3:42!
There has been so much going on in the running scene lately that it’s hard to keep up. A few highlights for local runners: Brad Bickley won a 10K race in Portugal in 31:15. Richard Plunkett took the M50-54 class at the Victoria marathon in 3:01, while David Goss continues to amaze the younger runners, winning the M55-59 age class in 27:38 at the companion Victoria 8K, and finishing 11th overall out of 2,200 competitors. RJ Dueck, the president of the Kelowna Running Club, attempted his first ultra run at the Whistler 50 Miler. Unfortunately, he was not able to finish and had to drop out after 50K. Don’t fret it RJ, 50K is still a lot further than most runners can go!
My old running friend Chris Greenway recently returned to his home country, the Netherlands, to run the Zeelander Marathon. This is a most unusual run, and here he tells a bit about it: “We started in downtown in a small village Burgh Haamstede. The first 20K was on asphalt and it took me just over two hours. We took a right turn to the beach and ran on the beach along the flood line for about 8K. From there into the dunes onto a trail for most of the way, except for about 2K before the finish when we went back onto the beach and for the last half kilometre on the street pavers to the finish. It took me five hours, nine minutes, 35 seconds.
“I found this marathon more beautiful than Big Sur and surprisingly harder. Lot of up-and-down running through the dunes and lots of stairs, especially in the last 10K. My time was a bit slow, but with arriving on Wednesday and the nine-hour time difference, jetlag and visiting family, it was never meant to be a record-setting pace.”
TRIATHLON
The Ironman World Championship was held in Kona, Hawaii, on Oct. 13. The winner was Patrick Lange (Germany) in 7:52, and the first woman was Daniels Ryf (Slovakia) in 8:26. Both times are outstanding! A few locals qualified for the championship. Yvonne Timewell (F50-54, Kamloops) had a great race, finishing second in her age class in 10:26. Kelowna’s Cailla Patterson (F45-49) also broke the 11-hour mark with a time of 10:53. Laurelee Nelson, who has been a force in her age group, is still working hard to get back to the shape she had before a few injuries. Her time of 13:24 placed her 11th in the F60-64 class. Penticton Pro-triathlete Jen Annett was expecting to do well, but it wasn’t her day as she felt ill during the race and finished in 25th position.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The final two runs in the Starting Block cross-country running series are the Larry Nicholas 9K in Kelowna this Sunday and the Kal Park 9K in Vernon on Oct. 28. The Kelowna event will also include the final Fresh Air Strong Kid’s Run of the year, which will begin at 11 a.m.