The third race in the FrontRunners Island Race Series, the Cedar 12K, took place Feb. 9. Despite temperatures hovering close to zero at race start time, 419 athletes braved the start line.
The cool temperatures, some snow and ice on the route, the unusual distance, and the hilly nature of the course made for extremely difficult racing conditions, but it didn’t hold the athletes back and there were many exceptional performances.
The overall winner was Logan Roots of Victoria in a time of 40:33. The first Comox Valley Road Runner was Brad Crowe, who placed 8th overall and set a new personal best of 43:44. This also earned him 3rd place in his very difficult age category.
The next local finisher was Mike Bridges, who also placed 3rd in his category with a time of 47:38. Hot on his heels was Wayne Crowe (Extreme Runners/Asics) in 47:40, again earning 3rd place in his category. The Road Runners continued to file in in rapid succession with many excellent performances. Les Disher finished in 47:46 and placed 2nd in his category. He was followed by Roger Plamondon, winning his age category with 48:09.
Next was Keith Wakelin, who finished 4th in his category in 48:15. Kevin Park was right behind in 48:33, earning 8th in his category. Danny Keyes placed 3rd in his category, in 49:15, just ahead of Wille Scott, who finished in 50:49 for 10th place in his category. Hans Gane also had a great run, finishing in 50:55 and placing 6th in his category.
CVRR coach Kathy Rung had an excellent start to her season, finishing 4th in her category in 51:31. Marion Bryan also had a strong run, finishing in 53:00 and earning 5th in her category. Roslyn Smith continues to excel, winning her category and setting a new course record of 55:24.
Angela Plamondon followed close behind, finishing 3rd in her category with a time of 56:02. Rick Martinson finished in 1:00:40, with Kindle Parsons finishing 8th in 1:02:03. Next came husband and wife Sharon and Darrell Fisher, with Sharon leading the way in a time of 1:04:21, and Darrell finishing strong in 1:06:38. Tom Munro had a great run, and finished 8th in a time of 1:10:28. Chris Robinson also ran well, finishing in 1:14:40 and 16th in his category.
The next race in the Island Series is the difficult and beautiful Hatley Castle 8K on on Feb. 23 in Victoria. Be sure to check out the Comox Valley Race Weekend on March 22-23. It starts with the 5K Fun Run on Saturday morning. The Fun Run is the graduation for participants of the 5K Running Clinic but it is also open to all members of the public.
Next is the Pasta Banquet on Saturday evening, featuring the music of Helen Austin, and guest speaker Lucy Smith. Finally, on Sunday, is the Comox Valley RV Half Marathon. For more information on any of these events, visit cvrr.ca.
– Comox Valley Road Runners