Bruce Hawkes is recognized for finishing his 200th consecutive Island Series race.

By Leslie Ann Bent

It was touch and go with the weekend weather for the first VIRA race of the season. Wind and rain pelted through southern Vancouver Island for most of the weekend leaving runners wondering what kind of a race they might have, and runners from the mainland wondering if their ferry would be crossing or cancelled. When we left Sooke to head to North Saanich for the race, the rain was still falling. However, the weather did not discourage 16 of the STARR club members from competing – an amazing turnout for our club. In the end, the rain held off for the 41st edition of the Harriers Pioneer Race.

The Harriers Pioneer race is the first race of 8 races in the Vancouver Island race series and attracts a great mix of runners from elite to beginner, from young to 90 years old. The race is part of the BC Athletics Super Series and also the provincial championship for 8k. As a result, it attracts top talent and several Canadian records have been set on this course, but not with the strong head winds experienced in 2020. A record number of participants were announced, with 547 finishers.

The course is a fairly flat out and back route and a nice way to ease into the race season. Our first STARR runner to cross the finish line was Jonathan Dvorak with a time of 31:50. The STARR cheering team included Jill & Georgia Wark, Andrea, Danny and Leslie Ann. With gloves on and strong voices, we cheered in each of our runners, who all had fantastic results. STARR picked up three medals. Jackie brought home a gold medal to Sooke with a time of 38:48 in the F65-69 category. She was very focused coming down the finishing shoot. Robin’s daughter, Lila Wark sprinted to the finish line with a smile, clocking a time of 1:03:18, proudly earning a silver medal in the under 16 age-category. She enjoyed having such a big cheering squad as STARR runners joined the cheering team as they finished the race and gave Lila and Robin many high fives. Andy brought home a bronze medal in the M 55-59 with a time of 32:56, shaving off a minute from last year.

The top runners were amazing to watch. The first to cross the finish line was James Lam with a time of 24:23. Breathing down his neck was Blair Johnson with a time of 24:26. Both runners were from the Langley Mustangs. For the women, it wasn’t surprising to see Natasha Wodak as the first female runner to cross with a time of 25:55. She will be representing Canada in the Olympics later this year.

The real STARR performer on the race was Bruce Hawkes. He was honoured for running his 200th race in the series. The enthusiastic applause and many standing to recognize his accomplishment was wonderful to be part of. Later, Maurice Tarrant was recognized for being the oldest runner at age 90! It goes to show that there is place and honour for everyone who runs the race series.