Pauline won her age group at the Port Alberni Paper Chase 15K.
By Andy Smith
Stephanie earned second place in her age group.
The drive to Port Alberni was worth an early morning wakeup call for STARR racers Jonathan Dvorak (m 40-44), Andy Smith (m55-59), Pauline Nielsen (F50-54), Stephanie Croft (F45-49) and Bruce Hawkes (m75-79). Despite losing one hour’s sleep to Daylight Savings Time, STARR’s fearless fivesome made the trip to Port Alberni taking three age group wins and two second places at the Port Alberni Paper Chase 15k; the longest race in the Vancouver island Race Series so far this year.
225 racers were greeted by cool sunny conditions and light winds. Gloves or no gloves? It was five degrees at the start line but scheduled to warm up to eight degrees. The course was slightly modified this year due to snow on a trail section. The race director diverted the course using quiet local roads. The scenic loop had many elevation changes and a net climb over the first 10k followed by a rolling downhill to the finish 5k later. The uphill section spaced out the competitors as everyone adapted to their own 15k pace. Snow-capped mountains and giant trees (Cathedral Grove is nearby) provided a fitting backdrop for a Sunday run in the countryside. The course was well marshaled and oncoming traffic on the first Sunday of Pacific Daylight Savings Time was light. It’s a challenging but rewarding course with just enough difficulty to spread out the field. The downhill finish was much appreciated!
Jonathan Dvorak repeated last weeks’ success from the Cedar 12K, once again winning the M40-44 age group in 1:02:01, good for 11th overall. Nice job Jonathan! Not too far behind Andy Smith placed 1st in the M50-59 age group in a time of 1:04:34. Pauline Nielsen won the F50-54 category in 1:14:07 followed closely by Stephanie Croft ; 2nd in the F45-49 age group in a time of 1:14:24. Bruce Hawkes continues to inspire, placing 2nd in the M75-79 age group in a time of 1:40:35. Three age group wins for STARR and two second places! We continue to hold down 9th place in the series standings. A quick reminder to record your team affiliation when you register for your next race so team points are awarded!
The overall men’s winner at Port Alberni was Jackson Isnor from Nanaimo in a time of 55.05 and the women’s champ was Jessica McKierahan, also from Nanaimo in a time of 1:04:37. Both winners represented the Bastion Run Club. Awards were presented at the local community hall with some tasty food including an award-winning candied salmon chowder supplied by a local Port Alberni restaurant. All the STARRS looked great accepting age group medals on stage while the audience tucked into chowder and chili!
It’s a beautiful drive to Port Alberni and STARR’s runners are pleased to be returning home to Sooke with some hardware! Congratulations to all our competitors. The next race in the Vancouver Island Race Series is the Comox Valley RV ½ Marathon March 24th in Courtney, followed by the TriStar Sooke 10K on April 7th. Hope to see you there!
Frank, friend of STARR, and Bruce shake hands after being rewarded for finishing first and second.