By Leslie Ann Bent
The Vancouver Island Trail Running Series got off to a great start today with over 400 runners taking part in the first event of 2022. The Royal Roads race was the first of six in the series that take place between April and October. The race offers two distances – a 10k long course and a 6k short course. The website boasts “a fast, flowy and beautiful single track that is sure to impress even the seasoned trail runners.” If you are new to trail running, this is definitely a race to consider as it’s scenic, close to Sooke and has distance options.
The long course attracted 204 participants. STARR had two runners who tackled it. Marika (F40-49) was our first runner to cross the finish in an amazing time of 57:47, placing 4th overall in her age group. Pauline also got into the spirit of the race, finishing 1:11:19.
The long course was won by Brady Goreski (M30-39) of Victoria with a time of 44:25. On the women’s side, Patricia Roney (F30-39) of Winnipeg, took home first place, crossing the finish line at 46:02. Mike Walker (M30-39) of Victoria won the short course with a time of 26:40. Michelle Mark (30-29) of Cumberland was first in the women’s category, netting 30:19. It was a deep field with runners from near and far.
Both STARR runners captured some personal thoughts about the race.
Marika Nagaska- It was windy and felt chilly on arrival but turned out to be nice running weather with only one short section on the course where I felt some headwinds. Otherwise, the course was good, It started off pretty flat but a few km's in it turned into more challenging single track and some good climbs. I fortunately had someone in sight the whole time so it was easy to follow the trail but I think probably more than a few people went off course on some of the single track. It was lovely to run along Colwood Creek as we approached the end, that was the most scenic part of the course and was a lot more fun than running up the steep road (as you do in the road race) to the top parking area where the Start/Finish is. There was hardly any mud on the trail, just a couple spots on the last few km's. I got to see Pauline once we were done so that was really nice. All the volunteers were awesome as per usual and the post-race food was a pretty good selection, complete with pancakes!
Pauline Nielsen – It was a great day for a run. The sun was shining. Much better than the forecast for rain. I was still in the long line for bathrooms when the race began. I headed out about 10 minutes late by myself. Despite the ribbons I still veered off course about 4 times. I was running around in there like a squirrel 🐿 I managed to finish. Enjoyed myself and ran into Marika after the race.
A huge congratulations to our fearless runners. The next race in the series is Cobble Hill on May 14th. Why not give it a try?