January 29
Steve Osaduik and Shauna Skinner
Steve scored his second win today in the 2012 Timex BC Road Race Series, crossing the line first at the Kajaks Icebreaker 8K in Steveston. His winning time of 24:53 was seven seconds slower than he clocked at the Harriers Pioneer 8K three weeks ago. Sam Pawluk was 13 seconds behind Osaduik at the finish, improving both his time and his position from Pioneer, clocking 25:06. Jerry Ziak completed the podium in 25:18. The women's race produced a close finish, as Shauna Skinner held on to win in 28:44, just one second ahead of Catherine Watkins, who was also first master. Sabrina Wilkie was not far behind in 28:57. The top master was Kevin O'Connor in fifth place, who bested Graeme Wilson, 25:57 to 26:08. The Icebreaker was also the first event in the 2012 Lower Mainland Road Race Series. It attracted 228 finishers this year compared to 270 last year where Harriers' David Jackson and Sabrina Wilkie were the race winners. |
January 28
Sonja Yli-Kahila
Six Harriers participated in the Orcas Island 25K race today. It was a fantastic result for Sonja as she was the first woman to cross the finish line in 2:28:44 with a 4:16 lead over the second place woman, Georgia Daniels, of Tacoma, who finished in 2:33:00. This is Sonja's first-ever race victory, she was 13th overall of 198 finishers, 88 men and 110 women, and a big congratulations go to her! Larry Nylen ended up running 28K as he helped an injured runner but made up much of the time he lost by putting a great extra finishing kick in his efforts. He ended up in 26th position and was 4th in the M50 division in 2:41:00. Sara Pape-Salmon had the same finishing time as in 2010, 3:12:37, despite slower, more difficult, snowy and icy conditions at the higher elevations this year. She was 89th this year and 137th in 2010. Valerie Bell had a terrific race by finishing 9th in the master's division in 2:58:50. Andrew Pape-Salmon was second overall at the top of the mountain, but unfortunately sustained and injury and still managed to finish 9th overall, 4th master, in 2:22:34. Kathleen Birney did not finish, but thoroughly enjoyed the fantastic accommodations, hot-tub and all. The course is described as beautiful, soft and well maintained single-track trails through old growth forest with waterfalls, lakes, cascading creeks, and views of the Puget Sound, the surrounding islands, and on clear days, the Cascade and Olympic Mountain Ranges, including Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helen's. There is about 3,500 feet of elevation gain on the loop course. There is a 50K "sister" race also held on Orcas Island at the same location in February. Both events are sold out with 280 registrations in the 25K race today and 291 in the 50K on February 4. |
January 15
Gary Duncan
Gary was the only Harrier to master the QWOP Foddy.net running simulation game on the Harriers Running Forum by covering 100.1 metres without falling down to become a national hero. There were several failed attempts by other club members to beat the game. |
January 15
Dylan Wykes
PHOENIX, AZ - One hundred metres into the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Half Marathon today and the only race that was still going on was the one for second place. Harriers' Dylan Wykes, a 28-year-old Canadian currently training in Flagstaff, Arizona, separated himself from the sound of starter's pistol to win in 1 hour, 2 minutes and 38 seconds, nearly 6 minutes up on second-place finisher Tibor Vegh of Flagstaff, who crossed the finish line in 1:08:32. Jon Harmon of Phoenix was third in 1:08:53. "I was hoping maybe someone would be willing to go with me the first 5K or 10K," Wykes said afterward. "But it is what it is. I was prepared to run alone. I wanted to run hard. I really got up for this race." Going through the first mile in 4:47, Wykes was already 80 metres clear of the field and looked cool and confident as he time trialed through the streets of Tempe. Wykes came through the 5K mark in 14:50 and passed 10K in 29:42. Despite having no one to race against except the clock on the back of the press truck, Wykes easily held his metronomic pace all the way to the finish line. There were 15,663 finishers at the Rock 'n Roll Arizona Half Marathon, 6,185 men and 9,505 women. |
January 14
Jason Loutitt
Jason, 37, had a another strong performance in Hawaii today by winning the H.U.R.T. 100 Mile Trail race for the second consecutive year. His finishing time was 22:44:12 compared to last year's winning time of 22:27:35. Second place went to 46 year-old Dan Barger, of Auburn, CA, in 23:37:00, while Kihei's Paul Hopwood, 48, took third in 23:46:00. The top female, Tracy Garneau, 42, from Vernon, was seventh overall in 26:07:00. Jason and Tracy were the only two Canadians in the field and made a championship statement as to the strength of ultramarathoners north of the border. There were 125 starters and 46 finishers in the 100 Mile race and 34 finishers in the accompanying 100K Race. Many participants were forced to drop out before the 36-hour cut-off time. |
January 8
Steve Osaduik, Lucy Smith, Ian Hallam, Sisi Hallam
In the 33rd annual Harriers Pioneer 8K today it was a clean 1-2-3 sweep for Harriers athletes with Steve Osaduik, from Langley, winning in 24:46. It was Steve's sixth victory at Pioneer including his personal best 8K time of 23:35 set in 2010. Last year's winner, Jim Finlayson, came second in 25:03, and was the top master in his first-ever race as a master. Dylan Gant, of Burnaby, placed third in 25:10. Four-time champion, Lucy Smith, dominated the women's field finishing in 28:30, also making her the top female master. Lucy ran 26:29 to win the 2002 Pioneer 8K. Another master, Marilyn Arsenault, proved she was back on the competitive scene, placing second in 28:59. Care Wakely, of Frontrunners Athletic Club, took third in 29:25.
There was a large contingent of high performance runners from the Lower Mainland at Pioneer, claiming four of the top six positions overall and two of the female runners placed third in their respective age categories. Harriers athletes swept the four yellow jerseys for the race champions and the four green jerseys for the fastest sprinters over the final 100 metres of the race course. The champion Frontrunners Yellow Jerseys went to Steve Osaduik (open), Jim Finlayson (40+) and Lucy Smith for both the open and 40+ categories. The Frontrunners Green Jerseys for the fastest sprinters were won by Harriers' Chris Callendar (12.72 seconds) and Ian Hallam (40+) in 16.36 seconds. Sarah Daitch won the open female division in 17.05 and Sisi Hallam won the 40+ division in 18.68. There were 80 PIH finishers today and another 80 PIH volunteers under the leadership of new Race Directors Kathleen Birney and Heather Bretschneider who did an outstanding job. There were 629 finishers compared to 647 finishers last year.
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January 1
Yuki Otsubo
Yuki finished with a mere 3 seconds on the clock to win the coveted platter of fruit and cheese at the 16th annual Harriers Memorial New Year's Day Run/Walk. Claire Morgan and Jeremy Lawrence were 4 seconds off their predicted times to place second. The event was dedicated to four Harriers that we have lost in 2011 including Robert Bostrom, Jim Sargent, Jim Meadows and Ken Smythe. A new Cross Country Bursary was announced in honour of the 32 years of service that Ken Smythe has given to the Harriers. Nearly 100 club members and friends attended the New Year's Day Memorial Run/Walk and donated $2,400 to the Ken Smythe Bursary at the University of Victoria. |
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