By Leslie Ann Bent
Saturday marked the first race of the exciting and challenging Vancouver Island Trail Running Series. This race is listed by the event organizers as a fast, flowy and scenic single-track season opener - great for the beginner trail runner to seasoned veteran. The race has a 10km long course (300m vertical gain) and 6km short course option. Given that the Vancouver Island Running Series final race was the following day, the turn out seemed good. The long course had 125 runners while the short course had 107 (71% female). STARR had 2 runners taking on the challenge and I caught up with them to find out more about the race. Saturday’s race was cool and overcast but had no rain – a perfect race day.
Greg describes the race way more eloquently than I ever could. “The figure 8 trail race course took us across Hatley Park, starting at the old 400 meter gravel track which is now a parking lot. We headed west through the outermost trail following the perimeter fence, down to the southwest, then east towards the gym. Then we ran along the waterfront to the bottom of Charlies' Trail. Charlie’s Trail is a two part trail. We entered on the lower half, and wound our way up to the top, where we emerged at the greenhouses, within site of the finish line. The ground was wet, but not slippery. There were lots of tree roots on this trail, and two downed trees to navigate. (Actually there were three trees, if you count climbing over one of the trees twice!).” Obstacles are what can differentiate a trail race from road.
One of the challenges for trail running compared to road running is that the runners need to be much more aware of their footing with rocks, roots and other obstacles to watch out for. This trail race had pink ribbon trail markers hanging from the trees to indicate the route. These are hard to see when you are running fast along the trail with your head down navigating the terrain. There is often not the luxury of looking up and down at the same time. Some of the runners (including our own!) missed one the markers and ended up off course. That is one of the hazards of trail running.
It must have been a battle for the finish line. First across on the long course was Gregory Laviviere with a time of 45:49, while the second place runner was just 10 seconds behind. The first woman over the finish line was Patricia Roney with an amazing time of 49:55. STARR runners also did very well. Greg Balchin was first across the finish line for STARR earning a 3rd place age-group ranking with a time of 59:05 (M50-59). Pauline Nielsen crossed the finish line next with a time of 1:05:14, earning her a first place award for the F50-59 age group.
The short course appeared to be quite competitive. I noticed that runners came from all around the island. Youngsters dominated the top ranking, each from the 16-19 age category. The
winner of the short course was Wil Rice (Powell River) with a time of 27:41 and women’s winner was Kyra Gillette (Nanaimo) with a time of 29:08.
The race is a well-managed event and competitors were courteous using single-track trail etiquette. Is this race for you? It is fun, close to home and the course provides you time to warm up before the hills start. It is a beautiful trail if you have time to enjoy it while racing. Greg encourages everyone to try it. “In this trail series, there will be plenty of opportunities to stop on a steep hill, look around, and realize how lucky we are to live on this island!.”
Congratulations to Pauline and Greg for star performances.
Upcoming races – TC 10k April 28 and Cobble Hill, Vancouver Island Trail Running series May 8.
