By Leslie Ann Bent
Lining up at the start-line this past cool Sunday morning brought back some fond memories of my first Goddess run in 2019, the year Andy and I moved to Sooke. With fellow STARRS, Carol and Jenny, and our husbands as our personal cheering squad, we ran (took over more like) the streets of Westhills with hundreds of other runners.
Five years later the Goddess Run is still going strong and has moved to the much nicer location at Elk Lake/Beaver Lake. Scenic and traffic-free, the course offers groomed trail and gentle hills circling the lake. Options for 5k and 10k on-site as well as virtual, makes this sold-out race so popular. This race started back in 2012 with a focus of women supporting women. Although men are encouraged to run, it’s a race that is dominated by females. (Sorry guys if you needed to the use the facilities, it was taken over by the ladies). It’s also much earlier in the year now and is a great event to kick off the race season.
For me it was about shaking off the ol’ cob webs and testing my racing readiness. In addition to the cardio and muscle readiness, as a type 1 diabetic, the season also starts with re-jigging insulin levels and carbohydrate balancing with the more exerting level exercise during a race –no year is ever quite the same for minor adjustments. So, a first race is a good opportunity to test insulin levels and nutrition choices without it being at a goal race.
The well-organized event (in its 13th year) gets a lot of support from the community in terms of sponsors and volunteers, and also gives back. This year’s charities included the Victoria Hospice, Victoria Women’s Transition House and the Esquimalt Military Resource Centre. Superheroes of Victoria were there in full form and costumes to support the cause. Many people young and old got their photos taken with the likes of Batman and Captain America, while the Lady Octopus did the dance moves on stage with the warm-up team.
The race started at the Filter Beds at the end of Beaver Lake. The first 120 meters were up a hill but then flattened out to a gentle trail with some roots and rocks to watch out for. The first 800 meters or so were crowded but by the first kilometer marker, the athletes had spread out and it was a comfortable race after that. The 5k course was out and back so it was a great opportunity to cheer on other runners. Volunteers in dinosaur costumes made sure that the 5km turned instead of following the 10k participants. The 10km circled the lake.
Since the start was up hill, that made for a great downhill sprint to the finish and I took full advantage. It wasn’t a stellar performance for me (exactly middle of the pack in my age group) but it was a lot of fun and very motivating seeing so many runners out there. The stats showed 289 women finishing in each of the races and a couple of token men – 2 in one and 3 in the other. It was a great way for me to start 2024 racing. I’d encourage anyone who hasn’t run it to try it for 2025.
