Elite runners find another gear
Top finishers divided on weather, united by accomplishments
Joseph Gray hails from Colorado Springs, but he’s no stranger to Vancouver. Like so many people, including both guests and locals, he has given the Grouse Grind a try, hiking his way up the famous — and daunting — 2.9-km trail.
Mountain running is Gray’s discipline of choice, but on Sunday, he traded in the rough terrain of the trails for the pavement circuit of The Vancouver Sun Run, crossing the finish line with an official time of 29:38 to capture first place in the men’s elite category. Not bad for his first entry into the 10-kilometre race.
“It’s always good to come away with the win. It would’ve been nice for a little bit better weather so we could run a little faster,” said Gray, referring to the cool and cloudy conditions in Vancouver.
“We had to deal with the weather and it ends up being more of a tactical race. Either way, it was a good experience. Any day you can wake up and breathe the fresh air, it’s just a blessing. It’s a cool way to win. It’s just icing on the cake.”
Gray will soon transition into his mountain running season, with the U.S. Mountain Running Championships coming up at the beginning of June, according to its website. The clear difference in terrain from road running to mountain running provides a stark contrast in the styles runners employ in those respective disciplines.
“This type of (running), you’re working a lot more on your speed cadence. Mountain running is more strength. This is tough,” Gray said. “It’s real fast. A lot of the times, when you come from mountain running to road or flatter stuff, it’s difficult to transition. You don’t have that cadence.”
Gray finished eight seconds ahead of Geoff Martinson from Vancouver in the men’s elite category.
Martinson was one of four local competitors in the men’s elite category to finish in the top-10. Kevin Coffey of Vancouver finished fifth with a time of 30:20. Paul Kimugul of Surrey finished at 30:30 and Caleb De Jong of Langley finished at 30:38.
Karolina Jarzynska-Nadolska of Poland captured first place in the women’s elite category, with a time of 32:39. Kinsey Gomez of Moscow, Idaho, finished second at 33:20 and Rachel Cliff of Vancouver finished third at 33:35.
“It’s first time for me in Vancouver, so I’m very excited. The city is beautiful. The race is a very nice course and the weather is better for (a faster) run. So I am very happy,” Jarzynska-Nadolska said.
So, there were conflicting opinions about the weather’s role in the elite race. After about five kilometres, Jarzynska-Nadolska said, the wind kicked up in the face of the runners, which did add a degree of difficulty to the front-runners.
Ben Thorne of Kitimat was the first race walker to cross the finish line, with a time of 39:45, followed by Evan Dunfee of Richmond at 40:15.
Dunfee’s public profile raised dramatically last August when a midrace collision in the Olympic race walking competition cost him a chance at a medal in the 50-kilometre event in Rio.
Thorne, a 24-year-old UBC student, also attended last year’s Olympics and is a bronze medallist from the 2015 world championships in the 20-kilometre race in Beijing.
He started his track and field career as a runner, before making the move to race walking — a sport of distinct technique as competitors propel their bodies forward at impressive rates of speed without breaking into a running stride. On Sunday, Thorne was able to set a pace of 3:58 per kilometre.
“It takes probably a couple of years to get the hang of it. Once you do get the hang of it, it feels just like another gear — if that’s a good way of putting it,” he said. “I was a runner in high school. I was reasonably OK. I think I could run maybe a 33-minute, 34-minute 10 (km race). It was good but not nearly at the top of my age category.”
He said he saw race walking at the B.C. High School Track and Field Championships and decided to give it a try. He has since become an Olympic athlete. His focus now is the world track and field championships in London this summer. He’ll compete in the 20-km race event.
“Didn’t do so well at the Olympics,” he said of Rio. “But I hope to … be back at least in the top-five, hopefully back on the podium again.”
Taking part in his fifth Vancouver Sun Run, Tristan Smyth of Maple Ridge won the men’s open division winner in the wheelchair race with a time of 24:02, improving on his time from last year’s event by five seconds.
This event, he said, didn’t require any preparation or training, but his schedule is about to get increasingly busy as the summer approaches.
He was a member of Canada’s 4x400m relay team that won bronze in the 2016 Rio Paralympics. This year, that team expects to once again factor into medal contention at the World Para Athletics Championships (July 14-23) in London.
“We’re going to put our best effort in to try to improve on that at world’s,” he said. “Personally, I’m also going to try to be racing the 5,000m on the track.”
Jessica Frotten, who was celebrating her 29th birthday Sunday — “And feeling fine,” she said, cracking a smile — completed her first Vancouver Sun Run with a first-place finish in the women’s open division in the wheelchair race with a time of 31:13.
“It’s totally awesome. I don’t really have a whole lot of words for it,” said Frotten, who lives in Regina after moving there from Yukon. “It was super fun to come out here with all these guys and it’s a beautiful course.”
She made the decision to come out to Vancouver for this race only two weeks ago. Talk about making last-minute plans.
“It’s my birthday present,” she said.