The 1st race of the 2017 Island Race Series, the Pioneer 8K, was held 8 Jan on the roads throughout Central Saanich. The weather was overcast, calm and about 3 deg which made it perfect for the 492 finishers down from the 2016 total of 525. Luckily the snow and rain did not appear till after the race. The overall (OA) winners were from the Vancouver Thunderbirds. The mens winner was Lucas Bruchet (25-29) in a time of 23:24 and the woman’s winner was Rachel Cliff (25-29) with a 26:51 and 11th OA. The top Male master was Harrier’s Bruce Deacon (50-54) in 27:09 and 13th OA. The top Female Master was Heather MacDonald from the Island Striders. Harriers John Woodall had a great run braking the old record in the 85-89 grouping with a 49:36.
STARR had five runners competing in the field. Our 1st STARR in was Jonathan Dvorak (40-4) in a PB time of 33:39. He was 7th in a field of 21 and 93rd OA. Congrats Jonathan. Our next runner in was Jason Seysener (25-29) in his 1st Island Series race. He crossed the line in 36:08 and was 12th in a fast field of 14 and 147th OA. Well done Jason. Next to cross was Mark Ziegler (60-64) in a time of 38:33 and was 11th in a field of 22 and 202nd OA. Our next STARR was series ironman Bruce Hawkes (75-79). This is Bruce's 1st year in this division. He hit the mat with a 45:57 and was 5th in a field of 7. Closing out the STARR field and in her 1st island series race wasMegen Seysener (40-44) with a 54:08 and was 29th in a field of 31 and 441st OA. Good job Megen on your first series race. Congratulations to all the STARR,s who competed in this 1st race. See you all at the next race, Cobble Hill 10K on 22 Jan. HAPPY RUNNING TO ALL !!