Granfondo attracts 2,500 cyclists
Several Okanagan riders earn top-3 placings in race
The Prospero Axel Merckx Granfondo (PAMG) is the second largest bike race in B.C. With 2,500 riders, it is just edged out by the Vancouver to Whistler Granfondo.
The PMAG offers four distances — 160K, 126K, 92k and 55K. This year’s race was run under hot, sunny conditions, but thanks to an early 7 a.m. start, it was nice and cool for the first couple of hours, and only got really hot for the last 90 minutes or so.
I rode the 126K race again this year and was pleased to knock almost 15 minutes from my 2016 time. My time of 4 hours 46 minutes placed me third in the 70- to 79-year-old class, the same as last year.
Entrants come from all over B.C., Alberta, Washington, and elsewhere for this event, and our local cyclists took home more than their share of top-three places.
In the 160K race, Kelowna medallists were Richard Loney (2nd M40-49, 5th overall), Trevor wells (2nd M50-59), Skye Crawford (1st F20-29) and the ageless Cliff Serwa (1st M80+).
The 126K race, the Veocefondo, saw Kelowna’s Baili Guidi (M19) take first overall for the men and Kerry Sperring take the woman’s crown. Aaron Miller was second in M30-39, and my friend Mark Rebagliati beat me out for second place in the M70-79 class. Two Penticton riders medalled, Marty Heck (1st M40-49) and Susan Evans (3rd F50-59). Vernon cyclist Joan Barnett was first in F60-69.
Many local riders did well in the 92K and 55K races. Their results can be found online at granfondoaxelmerckx.com/results/.
I do want to mention Kelowna’s Jim Brown and his son Gary. They rode together in the 92K Mediafondo, with Jim taking third in M80+. Min Rayson, a long-time Kelowna runner, x-c skier and cyclist came third in the F70-79 class. Her hubby, Eric, is one of the top 70+ cyclists and x-c skiers in the country. He entered the Apex Hill Climb portion of the Granfondo on Saturday and won his class, with West Kelowna’s Phil Klotz taking second.
The Granfondo treats its entrants well. A T-shirt, souvenir glass, lots of good food at the finish, and this year a package of photos of each rider. They sent me a package of 17 photos of myself taken at various points in the race. I don’t know how they can do this as the race number on the bike is too small to be seen from any distance. However, it’s nice to have a selection of race photos and not have to pay for them.
B.C. Championship 8K
The Fresh Air Midsummer 8K was the B.C. Championship race again this year.
However, with all the flooding in Kelowna, it seems that not many runners from the Lower Mainland entered this year.
The surprise overall winner was young Chet Goerzen (M16-19,25:56), who was never seriously challenged. He is someone I look forward to following as he matures!
Two other young runners were also very quick — Bryce Turner of Kamloops and Liam McGrath of Vernon, finishing eighth and ninth overall.
Brad Bickley, the pre-race favorite took second place (M25-29, 27:25), with Kelowna’s Colin Wallace (M35-39) third. Penticton’s Josh Heinrich (M35-39), another of the prerace favorites, came fourth.
Both Brad and Josh were unsure of even entering the run as neither of them felt properly prepared for various reasons.
Cindy Rhodes, Kelowna’s Queen of Running, proved that she still wears her crown proudly, winning the F60-65 class and finishing third overall amongst the women!
Kelowna’s Diane Leonard continued her four-year unbeaten streak by winning the F70-75 class and placing 13th out of 60 women!
Kamloops runner Bruce Butcher continues to prove that age is just a state of mind by winning the 80+ class in a Canadian Tire Series race for the sixth time this season.
Other winners included: From Kelowna Jason Deleurme (M40-44), Jesse Gagnon (M2024), Beryl Tremblay (F65-69), Leslie Gamble (F50-54), Carla MacFarlane (F40-44), Jim Lawrence (M75-79).
From Penticton: Sergio Pio (M50-54), Gloria Woolnner (F55-59); and from Vernon: Mike McGrath (M60-64) and Curtis Wallace (M3034). (Congratulations to all the winners, you are now B.C. Champions!)
Fresh Air YMCA Strong Kids Race
The second race in this series was held immediately after the finish of the 8K.
Cindy Rhodes organizes this series and she had 62 excited kids lined up to compete at distances from 1K to 3K. The largest class was, as usual, the 6-and-under group with 37 kids. There is something special about watching these kids. Their sheer enjoyment, the high fives, even the occasional tears make this event so memorable.
Kelowna’s Dustin Quigley ran the Slay The Dragon 50K trail race at Silver Star on July 1.
Unfortunately, he was not impressed with the organization. The trails were poorly marked and many runners got lost and had to backtrack. Even worse, the organizers seemed to have no idea how long it took to run 50K, the volunteers had all left and the finish line with food, drinks, etc., was all gone by the time most of the 50K runners finished.
Vernon’s Shanda Hill, preparing for her deca-Ironman distance race in Switzerland this August, used the 50K as a short training run and finished in seven hours.
The Peachland Beach Run was a bit different this year as the 10K course was unusable because of flooding, so the race used only the 5K course.
A total of 165 runners took part and full results can be found online at peachland.ca/beach-run.
Special mention to a couple of class winners — my old friend, Fresh Air’s Owen Taylor won the M60-69 class, and Liz Borrett, who is virtually unbeatable, won the F70-79 class.
Janice Bradshaw continued her hectic racing schedule by running both the Midsummer 8K and the Beach run.
Most of the older Kelowna runners know Donna Nicholas. The annual Larry Nicholas 9K cross-country run is held every year at Mission Creek Regional park in memory of her son Larry, who was a keen runner and a friend of mine who died in a climbing accident many years ago.
Donna herself has been an active runner and cyclist. She has ridden across Canada and has won many medals at the senior games. Now her daughter, Pam, informs me that Donna’s grandson, Justin Nicholas, is following in Donna and Larry’s footsteps.
She writes: “My newphew Justin Nicholas, age 28, was born and raised in Kelowna and has accomplished some significant ultrarunning events this year. Justin currently resides in Revelstoke for his job with B.C. Wildfire Service, but he has many family and friends in Kelowna. Justin completed the Sinister 7 Ultra race of 100 miles (160K), split into stages, through the Crowsnest Pass (last weekend). Visit www.sin7.com for details. Justin finished 17th out of 216 male solo runners. Also of significance was his placing third overall in the Sun Mountain 100 KM run on May 20 near Winthrop, Wash.”
Bill Justus deserves a lot of credit for bringing the Parkrun to Kelowna. Parkruns hold 1,100 events in 14 countries around the world.
Kelowna’s was the first one in Canada, and now there are nine Parkruns, from Whistler to Quebec, and new ones are coming on stream every week.
The Kelowna Parkrun was named Parkrun of the month for Canada. For more info on this free 5K weekly run, go to parkrun.ca.