The Hatley Castle 8K race took place Feb. 24 in Victoria. The fourth race of the Frontrunners Island Race Series, Hatley Castle is both one of the most scenic and most difficult races in the series.
The race tours the grounds of Royal Roads University, taking advantage of the ocean view, the beautiful Hatley Castle itself, and the forested grounds. The race is also difficult and slow as it includes several significant hills and large sections of trail, both of which result in generally slower times.
Geoff Martinson once again won the race, finishing in a time of 25:23 and narrowly missing the course record. The first Comox Valley Road Runners racer was Brad Crowe, finishing in a personal best time of 28:37. He was closely followed by Vince Brotherston, who dropped off his pace due to a fall in the middle of the race. Brotherston finished as the second Masters racer overall. The third local to finish was Wayne Crowe (Extreme Runners/Asics) who had a solid run and finished second in his age group.
The CVRR women were lead by Laura Wyatt, who had a great race and finished fourh in her age group. She was followed by mother/daughter duo Linda and Arielle Agar. Next was Kiyoko Marton, who also had a great race.
There were many other outstanding results in the race. Patrick Montgomery of the CVRR completed one of his major race goals, winning the green jersey for the fastest 100-metre sprint in a time of 12.26 seconds. Les Disher won his age category with a time of 32:07. Following close behind was Roger Plamondon who finished third in his category. Jerry Van and Brian Rose also had great races, finishing respectively as eighth and 10th in their very competitive age groups.
The Comox Valley Race Weekend is fast approaching. It kicks off with the 5K Fun Run on Saturday, March 23. The run starts at the Filberg Centre in Courtenay at 9:45 a.m. and is a celebration run for the participants of the CVRR 5K Running Clinic. It is also open to the public. Saturday night is the Race Weekend Pasta Dinner with keynote speaker Jim Finlayson. It will also include local musicians Paul Rodgers and Jeff Drummond.
The finale of the weekend is the Comox Valley RV Half Marathon on Sunday, March 24. The race starts at 11 a.m. from the Filberg Centre, with an early start at 10 a.m. For more information on any of these events visit cvrr.ca.
– Comox Valley Road Runners