Mark, Jonathan, and Greg
By Mark Ziegler
The Vancouver Island Race Series continued on Saturday, June 8th with the Westwood Lake Race on the north side of Nanaimo.
Both the short and long course (10K and 17, respectively) were beautiful and well marked. There were only a few extended climbs and the footing was mostly fine. The weather was perfect - dry and cool.
Three runners wearing the STARR logo completed the long course Jonathan Dvorak, Greg Carson and Mark Ziegler. The picture above shows them on the beach before the race, hoping to land work for the summer as lifeguards.
Nick Walker (30-39) who is well-known to many STARR members was the first finisher in the long course, with a time of 1:20:03 (one second ahead of Sean Chester). Jonathan was not far behind; he finished in a very impressive 7th place with a time of 1:28:04. Terrific!
The top woman was Mandy Johnson (40-49) with a fine time of 1:42:59.
Greg Carson (40-49) ran a strong race, crossing the finish line at 1:58:16. He finished 63rd overall.
Mark thumped in at 2:13:27 (60-69) with a smile on his face and without injury (85th overall).
The short course had 100 runners versus 85 for the long course. The winner of the 10K was a fantastic young woman, Justine Stecko (16-19), who tore through the 10K with a time of 40:46. A woman also finished second: Bailey Washbrook (30-39), who crossed the line at 52:04, ahead of Doug Stuart
(20-29) with 52:08.
The Island Trail Series provides a chance to get away from hard road surfaces and see some breathtaking scenery.