The weather was ideal on Saturday, March 23 for the Comox Valley Road Runners (CVRR) 5K Fun Run. The event is the conclusion of the annual 10-week Learn to Run Clinic put on by the CVRR.
There were a record 96 runners for the first event of the Comox Valley Race Weekend. Additional weekend events included a Pasta Dinner held Saturday evening with guest speaker Jim Finlayson and the Comox Valley RV Half Marathon held on Sunday.
Promptly at 9:15 a.m. and following a spirited warm up by Frank Graham, those walking or anticipating more than a 45-minute finish started the 5K. They were followed by the majority of the runners at 9:45. Following the event refreshments were served and draw prizes awarded. The first 10 finishers and times are as follows:
20:19 Mike Bridges, 22:09 Barney Feenstra, 22:27 Angela Plamondon, 22:30 Gabriel Gledhill, 22:59 Ethan Glenwright, 23:30 Martha Grant,
24:43 Mark Myles, 24:59 Jeff Donovan, 25:46 Deanna Donovan, 26:14 Nick Feness.
Complete results can be found at www.cvrr.ca.
The following sponsors contributed draw prizes and helped make the event a huge success: Bowyer Massage Clinic, Central Mountain Air, Chew to Live, Comox Valley Airport Commission, Extreme Runners, Interfor - Coastal Woodlands Division, the Italian Navy, Jim Smiley-Ocean Pacific Realty, Safeway, Shoreline Orthodontics, WestJet and Zocalo Cafe. The grand prize of a return trip from Comox to Vancouver was donated by Pacific Coastal Airlines.
The CVRR 10-week Learn to Run clinic is held annually starting in January. The clinic is for runners or walkers of all levels and consists of a short talk on running related issues followed by a run. This year's very successful clinic, organized by Leslie Dargie, consisted of over 100 participants. The following businesses/individuals spoke at or provided additional support to the clinic: Extreme Runners, Bayview Chiropractic, Let's Go Personal Training, Elite Athletics, Kathy Rung (CVRR Coach), Sandy Riley, Dr. Wayne Crowe and Diane Palmason.
"The Comox Valley Road Runners look forward to seeing you at the next running clinic in January 2014," a club spokesperson said.
– Comox Valley Road Runners