5k Champs Results

On a FREEZING night tonight about 20 hardy souls took part in the inaugural Bow Valley Harriers 5k champs. A 3 lap course round Prince's Island Park. Times will be much faster when the weather is 20 degrees warmer and the wind howls slightly less.

A pack of 5 soon got away and the names Mann, Deere, Carruthers, Cummings and Jensen should say everything about the quality at the front. Blaine Penny also put in a valiant effort to stay with these guys for at least a full lap. It was cat and mouse (at speed) for much of the race with Travis Cummings looking strong at the front for most of it and Andrew Carruthers looking like he was not suffering from his injury lay off.

The first to crack was Scott Jensen, with about a mile to go. About 1k from home Lanny Mann put in a serious effort and broke the group for the first time and got a gap. Turning into the finishing straight, Mann was still in the lead with Jeremy Deere closing the gap at incredible speed. At the finish, 2 seconds covered the first 4 places with Lanny taking the victory in 16.03, Jeremy in 2nd (same time, and spectators claim that Jeremy conceded victory to Lanny), Andrew Carruthers in 3rd (1 second behind) and Travis Cummings in 4th (1 further second behind).

Special thanks go to Jodie Draude for his marshalling and extra special thanks to Bryan Davies who was official starter and finish official on a FREEZING night.

Pictures are attached. Unofficial results are below:

1. Lanny Mann 16:03 (Champion. Course record)
2. Jeremy Deere 16.03 (Joint course record)
3. Andrew Carruthers 16.04
4. Travis Cummings 16.05
5. Scott Jensen 16.21
6. Mark Fewster 17.02
7. Frank Woolstencroft 17.07
8. Phil Daum 17.23
9. Ryan Twa 17.31
10. Blaine Penny 17.34
11. Bob Banks 17.42
12. Darcy Bell 17.47
13. Mark Knoll 17.54
14. Kevin Lindland 18.06
15. Ed Bickley 18.40
16. Ryan Schellenberg 19.05
17. Matt Wanford 19.08
18. Dave Carlson 19.45

I'm bound to have got something wrong so please let me know of any inaccuracies. With 18 people under 20 minutes on such a cold night, this has to have been one of the highest quality 5ks Calgary has seen in a while.

The plan is to hold the same race on the last Wednesday of every month (next one in April). Watch this space...

Unofficial Official BVH 5k Champs

What? Unofficial official BVH 5k Champs
When? Wednesday March 24, 2010 at 7pm.
Where? Eau Claire. Start outside the Y. Run towards the river and turn left. 3 lap course round Prince's Island park (on roads only), finish under the Olympic monument outside the Y.
How Far? 5k.
How Much? Free.
Why? Low key, fast, fun. I will be the starter, lead bike and I will call the times as you cross the finish line. Remember your time as you cross and come and see me after so we can sort out times and places. VERY spectator friendly. There will also hopefully be chalk arrows on the ground. The paths are NOT closed so pleased watch out for walkers and other users of the park.
How Do I enter? Email duncanmarsden@gmail.com.

Just email me, turn up on the day, sign a waiver and away you go. Depending on interest there is also the possibility of a 4k head-to-head race against the 5k-ers. We already have a good number of 5k-ers so expect a good race.

King of the World!

(Sorry, Don, I couldn't help myself with the title).

We have a WORLD CHAMPION!! As some of you may know, the World Masters Champs was held in Kamloops this past week and our very own Don King was in the half marathon road race. Anyone over 35 (nearly all of us) qualifies as a Master and, putting it kindly, Don is one category above that. However, he showed all the younger competitors a clean pair of heels and won the whole race outright! Making him World Masters Champion for the half marathon!

Don's time (73 minutes) was very close to his PR and caps off a great season for him which started with the Sacramento marathon. Rumours that he had to take a drugs AND age test after the race have yet to be confirmed although we understand that officials took some convincing that he was anywhere over 30.

Wednesday night is the last night at the Oval before it shuts for the season so let's have a good turn out. We will be having outdoor Wednesday night sessions after that. And keep the evening of Wednesday March 24 free for our Club 5k champs. More details to come soon...

CRR XC Series Wrap – Fish Creek March 6, 2010

The final XC race of the winter season was welcomed with a beautiful bluebird spring day that saw double digits. There were young Harriers, veteran Harriers and rookie (or is it fair-weather?!) Harriers all on show.

3 Year old Julia Penny kicked off the day in the kids 1 km race. She was really pumped about running until someone said ‘go’. Julia being new to the racing scene (as an athlete) must have been feeling some pressure, or maybe it was the mud, and was in tears by the time she made a few strides. Sarah (her mom) found some words of motivation and she was in good spirits by the time she crossed the finish line.

The 8 km race saw one of the tightest finishes of the season for the top 3 spots. Andrew Carruthers (regular champion at these events) took the lead within the first kilometer, but didn’t get away too easily. Blaine Penny (rookie…well, first run with the BVH vest) chased him on the first decent climb and from there was hanging on for dear life. Andrew slowly extended his lead throughout the race but was pretty much always in Blaine’s sights. The Bridesmaid (Mark) Fewster was picking it up towards the end and in the last kilometer was on Blaine’s heels. Coming into the last climb Blaine was still hanging on to 2nd but starting to fade. Not knowing the course, Blaine dug deep and sprinted the last hill (thinking the finish must be close) with Mark right his tail and Andrew only a few seconds ahead. From the crest of the climb there was only about 200 m to the finish. Andrew held the reins up front, followed by Blaine 7 seconds later and Mark 9 seconds behind Blaine.

Also finishing in the top 10 were Phil Ukrainetz and Scott Manktelow who finished in 5th and 6th places respectively, with exactly the same time. Reports that they crossed the line holding hands are, as yet, unconfirmed... Ryan Rawlyk finished just outside the top 10, in 11th place. With 5 runners in the top 11, I'd say we pretty much dominated!

The pictures show Blaine leading Mark and Ryan powering through a tough section.

At the end, Blaine, who possibly had the best run of his life, had the following to say:

"Wearing the BVH vest for the first time, I felt I had a duty to make it proud. It was one of the best races I have had in a long time."

"Not having (or even owning a pair of spikes), I was feeling like a fish out of water when we hit the first decent climb. I just about body checked a fellow (not sure of the guys name) as I was out of control on some of the icy sections and was carrying some serious speed. Some fancy footwork kept me vertical and positioned right behind Andrew at the bottom."