Runners enjoy end-of-season fun runs
Although the local competitive running season has ended, there are still several fun events that take place in the fall and winter.
The Kelowna Running Club held their annual Pub To Pub relay in mid-November and, as usual, it was a great success.
Six-person teams from around the Valley participated, most while dressed in outlandish costumes.
This is a fun event, as explained on the KRC website: “The 19th annual Kelowna Pub Relay is designed to be simple, fast and, above all, not taken too seriously!”
The race took place in November and teams ran 32 awesome kms — or something darn close to that — covering six legs and stopping at six amazing Kelowna Pubs.
The catch? Each runner had to enjoy a beverage before the next runner on their team could start.
Registered teams of six runners arrived in their costumes at the Start/Finish at 10:15 a.m. and were handed a map of the first leg. The runner and team took off for the next Pub/Exchange, collected a map and a beverage, until, six legs later, they arrived back for lunch at BNA Brewing Co.”
The annual Santa Claus Shuffle was held on Dec. 2. Janice Bradshaw, one of the entrants, sent me this information about the run: This 5K run/walk event is held in cities across the country, and has been a major fundraiser for the Salvation Army for 28 years. The funds raised are used for local Salvation Army programs.
Kelowna had 540 registered runners, a new record for the Central Okanagan event.
The event mixes holiday cheer into a 5K run, offering participants a fun way to give back to their community.
Liz Borrett, Kelowna’s sensational 78-yearold marathon runner, has been invited to run in the Berlin Marathon again, after her impressive win there last year. However, she has decided to run the Chicago Marathon instead, as she and six other Kelowna runners have qualified for it.
If Borrett can win her age class in Chicago, it would give her a win in four of the world’s biggest marathons. She has already won at Boston, New York and Berlin!
KELOWNA’S RANSOM IMPRESSIVE AT WORLD CUP BIATHLON
Julia Ransom had her best-ever performance at the first biathlon World Cup of the season in Oestersund, Sweden. Ransom led the Canadian national team, finishing in ninth and top Canadian, out of 102 of the world’s best female biathletes.
Biathlon is a difficult sport. Competitors must ski as fast as they can, then somehow get their heart rates down extremely quickly in order to be able to shoot accurately.
Ransom learned to ski and shoot at the Telemark Nordic Club, with help from coaches Rob Swan and Adam Elliot.
This World Cup race was 15 kilometres of cross-country skate skiing with four shooting stops, two standing and two prone, with five shots taken each time.
Ransom was perfect with her shooting, going 20-for-20!
The Olympics are coming up and all Ransom needs to qualify is one more top-16 finish. I’m sure we’ll be watching her in PyeongChang, South Korea, this February.
On the subject of cross-country skiing, two good things are happening in our area.
The Telemark Nordic ski trails opened for the season on Thursday, and many of the best cross-country skiers in North America are competing this weekend in the Nor Am races at the Sovereign Lake ski trails near Vernon.
Many local skiers will be competing, with more than 50 competitors from the Telemark and Sovereign Lake ski clubs, and Kelowna’s own national team member, Gareth Williams.
JORDAN CHEYNE ON THE MOVE!
In my last column, I mentioned that Jordan Cheyne would have an announcement soon about his team for 2018.
Well, now I can break the news — Cheyne is leaving the Jelly Belly pro cycling team and moving to the Elevate-KHS cycling team. This is a great move for Cheyne as he will be given the opportunity, as a leader of the team, to win races rather than being a support rider.
Cheyne is excited about the move and will be joining another Canadian rider, James Piccoli, as co-leaders of the team.
Cheyne and Piccoli competed against each other many times early in their careers and, from what I understand, their skills are similar — both being strong climbers and fast time-trial riders.
I am looking forward to following Cheyne’s racing this coming summer.