By Leslie Ann Bent

STARR was well represented at the VIRA Hatley Castle 8K race this Sunday. Set on the grounds of the national historic park, the race offers some challenging terrain – steep climbs on a mix of road and gravel terrain. Twelve STARR members were up for the challenge. The race conditions couldn’t have been better – sun and single digit temperatures. The racing field was deep with 412 runners tackling the course. To add to the excitement and novelty of a live race, someone lost the key to open a gate that blocked the course, delaying the start. There’s always some sort of excitement on every race.

First across the line for STARR was Marika Nagasaka with a time of 38:47. Breathing down her neck was Steve Eriksen, speeding thought the finish at 38:58. Bruce Hawkes took home a first-place finish in the M80-84 category.

There were no course records this year. First to cross the finish line was Andrew Russell (M40-44), no stranger to the VIRA series with a time of 26:46. On the female side, Natasha Parsons of Nanaimo clocked in at 31:47. The top 12 runners all finished under 30 minutes.

Our runners had lots of great things to say about the race.

Marika - “I felt pretty good, my foot didn't give me any trouble so I was happy with that. Eight km seems so short these days so it's hard to know how fast I should pace myself. The race started a bit late as they didn't have a key for a gate that was locked that was on part of our route, but it was nice and sunny so not too bad to have to wait a little bit on the start line. I didn't have a watch so I am not sure how long the delay was, maybe 10 min or less. The course was lovely and pretty much dry the whole way, maybe an old puddle or 2 on the course but small and easy to miss. Everyone seemed cheerful with the lovely weather. We got free Endur running hats so that was nice as I have been meaning to buy myself a hat.”

Claude - “A beautiful day for the run. There was a lot of people just trilled to be doing an in-person race again, me included. I forgot how tough that course was though. LOL. Funny though, a delayed start by 15 minutes because they didn't have a key to the gate. All and all, it was good to be back into the Island Series.”

Maggie – “The race was amazing. Beautiful sunny day and three good hills and a nice trail portion. It was nice seeing STARRs out there.”

Kari – “It was such a fun event.”

STARR results (clock time)

Marika Nagasaka (F40-44) 38:47 (4th)

Steve Eriksen (M45-49) 38:58

Stephanie Croft (F45-49) 41:00 (4th)

Pauline Nielsen (F50-54) 41:34 (5th)

Claude Laforce (M60-64) 42:11 (9th)

Maggie Curtis (F50-54) 46:43 (7th)

Melanie Eskildsen (F40-44) 48:19

Crystal Heath (F40-44) 53:24

Kari Toovey (F45-49) 55:43