Stephanie finished third among females in the community race. Photo courtesy of Joseph Camilleri
By Leslie Ann Bent
Andy tackling one of the course’s hills. Photo courtesy of Joseph Camilleri
STARR supported bringing this exciting international event to greater Victoria and it came! The Pan Am Cross Country Cup is held every second year, attracting teams from North, South and Central America. It is a competition between national teams in men’s and women’s senior and junior races. The last Pan Am Cup was held two years ago in El Salvador. The 2020 event is the first time that Canada has hosted these championships which took place this weekend at Bear Mountain. The organizing committee expanded the event to include a North American Masters Cup, a Pacific Northwest Youth Cup (high school), a kids’ race, and the community race to kick off the day (an open mass participation recreation event). STARR had representation in the community race and middle school event.
Lila
It turned out to be a great day for a race. The 5km community race course was a tough one. There were steep climbs, descents, some sand traps, grass and waterlogged areas to cool and wet your feet. The course was extremely well marked with coloured flags indicating the route and many marshals on site to help. Spectators including Jill and Georgia Wark were able to watch the better part of the race as it was a looped course, twisting and turning back and forth across the fairway. The race website describes the course as providing “…a mix of long stretches of flat and gently rolling terrain along the fringe of the fairways.” STARR runner Andy Smith said, “I don’t recall any long stretches of flat.” Our runners all did well on this international world-class course, tearing up the route for the other runners who would follow. Our first athlete to cross the finish line was Andy Smith with a time of 23:04. Stephanie wowed us with a 3rd place overall finish in the female division. The fastest male was Jonathan Behnke of Vancouver with a time of 18:06. On the female side, Ally Ginther of Surrey finished first with 20:51. Our STARR results are as follows:
Andy Smith M55-59 23:04
Stephanie Croft F45-49 27:04, 3rd place medal
Robin Wark M45-49 30:40
Leslie Ann Bent F50-54 DNF
Leslie Ann finishing. Photo courtesy of Joseph Camilleri
Stephanie had more than the hardware to be proud of. She organized a few students from Journey Middle School to experience the event, and Robin’s daughter Lila Wark was one of those students. The students raced on a shorter course, had the exposure of watching world class athletes compete and all got finishing medals to inspire future performances in the sport. Stephanie helped provide them with a great experience.
What does this type event feel like? This is what our runners had to say about the event:
Stephanie Croft – “I thought the whole event was great! I really enjoyed watching the elite runners compete. The course was definitely challenging. That one hill that we did three times and right before the finish was particularly gruelling. I felt like throwing up every time I got to the top! I was so pleased to have a couple of students from Sooke be able to participate in and experience the world class event. It was a great day!”
Challenging Course. Photo courtesy of Joseph Camilleri
Robin Wark - "It was a great day. We got to spend time with fellow STARR members and friends. The toughness of the course made me appreciate even more the performances of the elite runners."
Lila Wark – "It was a good race, but it was a bit challenging for me. I enjoyed watching the elite women's and men (U20) race. On a course like that it doesn't matter if you are first or last or in the middle - the goal is just to finish the race and if you tried your best, that's all the matters. Please mention that I appreciated Madame Croft organizing the Journey Middle School team.”
Andy Smith – “Tough but fun. Nowhere to rest. “
Leslie Ann Bent – “It was definitely a tough course. It was one to get the heart and lungs pumping. I loved watching the U20 women. They sure tore up the track so to speak. These young women truly inspired me.”
Congratulations to our runners. A special thanks to Jill for taking photos and holding our gear. We also appreciate the permission of Joseph Camilleri to use his photos.
