Local runners from Ladysmith and Chemainus took to the roads of North Sanich last weekend as the Vancouver Island Race Series got underway with the Harriers Pioneer 8K.
Wet, windy conditions didn’t seem to hamper the spirts of the 481 runners who raced on a new rural out-and-back course for the 39th annual event.
Ladysmith’s Steve Osaduik, competing for the Prairie Inn Harriers, was the top local finisher. He crossed the line in 29:29, good enough for 32nd overall and third in the M35-39 division.
Both Lucas Bruchet (24:06) and Rachel Cliff (26:23) repeated as overall winners in the male and female divisions. Nanaimo’s Shelby Drope crossed the line in 3rd place overall in 26:08.
“The weather played a role in me being slower and it isn’t as fast a course as the old one,” said Bruchet, who is a 2016 Olympian.
Cliff is also gearing up for the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Australia this coming April.
Cobble Hill’s Meg Lewis-Schneider, who now trains in Vancouver but competed at this race with the CeeVacs Roadrunners Club out of Cowichan, was 6th female overall and 1st in the F20-24 division. She crossed the line in 27:35, a new event record.
Ladysmith’s Mary Hulti was 16th in F50-54 (43:44), Amber Mancuso, 18th in F25-29 (49:47) and Dawn Taylor , 25th in F55-59 (55:18).
Chemainus’ Roger Plamondon was 7th in M55-59 (33:20), Amanda Stevenson, 14th in F25-29 (40:12), John Mountain, competing for the Ladysmith Striders, 21th in M60-64 (41:28), Michelle Peters, 11th in F55-59 (41:33), Joanna Galvin, 22nd in F30-34 (43:09) and Tim Hendrie, 15th in M65-69 (57:51).
The top male finisher with CeeVacs was Cory Ramstead with a finishing time of 30:18, placing him 7th in the M35-39 division.
The Island Series also announced the first donation of $1,020 presented to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation. Runners can still make donations when they register for the remainder of the races.
The next race is the Cobble Hill 10K on Jan. 21 hosted by CeeVacs.
