On a rare, hot Canada Day, 195 participants lined up at the corner of Fifth and Woods in Courtenay for the annual Fifth Street mile, sponsored by the Joint Physiotherapy Clinic and organized by the Comox Valley Road Runners.
Brimming with enthusiasm, the field ranged from the previous winner, Scott Commandeur, down to moms and dads with their families. Many dressed in red and white in honour of the day, proudly holding onto small Canadian flags as they awaited the 10 a.m. start.
The race went without a hitch. With an RCMP cruiser spearheading the charge, flanked by CVCC riders, the crowd was warned well in advance of oncoming runners. First across the finish line again was Commandeur, followed by Robin Poirier and Noah Lewis for second and third overall.
In nine and under category for boys, Kieran Ho took the gold, Jack Coley the silver and Nick Lineger the bronze. For the same age group in girls, Hayley Chang was first, Meghan Lineger second and Quinn Smits finished third.
For 10 to 14 year olds, Keir Shonavek, Danny Yeo and Gabe Shonavek received gold, silver and bronze respectively for the boys while Kayla Kalhus, Lizzie Gummer and Sequoia Bridges took the honours for the girls. The 15 to 19 year age category for boys had the fastest runner, Commandeur, followed by Lewis and Nicolas Toupin. The girls in this age group were led by Choe Gummer first, Savannah Glennie second and Nicole Adebar third. Crossing the finish line first for men’s 20 and older was Poirier, followed closely by Conor Buchanan and then Simon Coley, while premiere runners for the women were Elita Rahn, Melissa Decker and Marion Bryan in that order.
Those present at the finish line will be pleased to note that the gentleman who had the medical emergency is in the hospital and doing fine, thanks to the timely intervention of experienced bystanders and then professional ambulance paramedics.
– Comox Valley Road Runners