Bob, Pauline, Greg, and Andy celebrate a successful 5K and Island Series.
By Andy Smith
Last weekend marked the final event in the Vancouver Island Race Series; the Synergy Health Management Ltd. Bazan Bay 5K located on the Sidney waterfront. The 2019 series was a big success with race attendance building from prior years. The Bazan Bay 5K course is a fast out and back heading south from Sidney along the seaside on Lochside Drive. The route is mostly flat with gentle undulations to break up the pack. On Sunday the weather was sunny and cool, perfect for racing! Runners faced a slight headwind on the outbound leg but benefited from a nice tailwind on the return.
As the shortest event in the series, the Bazan Bay 5K attracts additional entrants including both younger and older runners testing their legs in a competition. This year there were 472 competitors in total. The youngest competitor was 6 and the oldest was 96 - a 90 year spread, surely one of the largest in any sporting competition! The race winner was Martin Sobey from Victoria in 14:56 and the first female was Julia Tschanz in 17:26. If you are curious just how fast the winner was, his pace translates to an astonishing 2:59 per km! The enthusiastic crowd of family, friends, and teammates at the finish cheered on young and old alike. It was inspiring to see many older runners participating as well as the next generation of racers chasing their parents.
There are eight races in the VIRA series with cumulative points awarded to teams and individuals. Race and Series awards as well as great door prizes were presented at the ceremony immediately following the race. Eight STARR runners travelled to Sidney for the event; an excellent turnout, with final placings still to be decided in the final race. To qualify for series awards competitors must complete five of eight races including one of three longer events – 12k, 15k and ½ marathon. Six STARRS qualified for series age group awards this year and five finished in the top 3 of their age group; an outstanding achievement!
The award ceremony at Sidney’s Mary Winspear Center immediately followed the race and was well attended as medals and ribbons for the race and series were awarded. Fittingly the ceremony started with a touching tribute to much loved racers lost in 2019 including STARRs’ own Vince Trahan and Rin Raap.
STARR runners were a frequent presence on the stage across male and female age groups. In addition, Stephanie Croft scored a door prize pair of running shoes and Leslie Ann Bent won an entry to the Victoria marathon 8K race! It was a fun ceremony and a good chance to mingle and joke with competitors and team mates at the end of the series. This event is the final one in the 2019 VIRA series so congratulations to everyone who participated and/or cheered! It was great fun and the race events on the calendar certainly made the winter months feel shorter!
