The 5th race of the 2017 Island Race Series, the 17th Annual Sooke River 10K, was held 12 Mar 17 . There were 262 finishers (2016 356 runners) covering the challenging course. Not to be outdone by the Gunnar Shaw puddle, the Sooke River run had it’s own small version of the “puddle” for the runners to traverse. The weather was overcast, calm with a nice spring temperature hovering around 9 degrees. With his 3rd consecutive Sooke River 10K win, the Overall Winner (OA) was Nick Walker from FR Athletic Club (30-34) in a time of 33:50. The overall female winner was Julia Tschanz (25-29) with a 39:35 and 20th OA. Well done to both. The top Male Master was Warren Beattie (40-44) from FR Athletic Club who came in with a 38:47 and was 15th OA. The top Female Master was Fiona Talbot (50-54) with a 40:32 and 36th OA. Congrats to them also. There was an excellent turnout of 27 Sooke area runners competing in the race. STARR had 6 runners covering the course and picking up 4 ribbons in the event. In his 7th Sooke River run, the 1st STARR to cross was Jonathan Dvorak (40-44) posting a 42:23 and was 4th in a field of 8 and 39th OA. Well done. In his 1st Sooke 10K, Jason Seysener (25-29), came in with a 44:44. He was 5th in a field of 6 and 56th OA. Next to hit the line was Steve Kent (60-64). This was Steve’s 2nd Sooke River run since 2003. He hit the line at 53:06 and was 15th in a large field of 19 and 142nd OA. It was nice to see him out there again. Next in was our Ironman Bruce Hawkes (75-79). This was Bruce’s 17th consecutive Sooke run. He was in with a 58:24 and placed 4th in a field of 6 and 190th OA. Our 1st lady in was Megen Seysener (40-44) with a time of 1:05:41 and was 15th in a field of 16 and 231st OA. Closing out our STARR field was Jenny Adams (55-59) coming in with a 1:06:50 and was 9th in a field of 11 and 234th OA. These 2 ladies were running the race for the 1st time. Congrats to you both. One record in the senior divisions was set today. PIH's John Woodall set another record in the 85-89 division with a 1:01:47 breaking Jim McLean 2016 record of 1:10:08. Congrats John…WOW..you did it again. A big thank you to Mark Ziegler for coordinating all the STARR's and other club volunteers who were out early setting up, parking, marshalling and so on. A big thanks to the Wark family and Girl Guides for manning the water stations. Also for the Lions for their great pancake breakfast after the run. The next race will be the Comox Half next week in Courtenay. See you all there.