On a beautiful fall morning, five Sooke Trail and Road Runners participated in the first large-scale road race on Vancouver Island in more than 18 months. While there was no marathon this fall, the Royal Victoria name was back and so were the runners.
“It was just fantastic to be out there pounding the pavement with fellow competitors,” STARR runner Steve Eriksen, who ran the half marathon said. “I think just being out there in the element with so many people with the thirst for competition, and being in the group environment after such a long dry spell of nothing other than virtual runs was a definite highlight.”
There were new out and back courses. They took runners through James Bay and Beacon Hill Park before going along scenic Dallas Road.
In the 8K event, STARR Karla Barylski finished in 46:08. She placed 31st out of 106 in the F30-34 division. Surrey’s Sarah Inglis, a native of Scotland who runs for Great Britain, won the women’s 8K crow. She crossed in 25:35 to break her own record of 25:43, which she set in 2019. In the men’s event, Langley’s Reid Muller finished first in a time of 24:01 to be the first male.
In the half marathon event, two Calgarians won the titles. On the men’s side, Matthew Travaglini won in 1:06:44. The top female was Leanne Klassen in 1:17:15.
The first STARR in was Steve E. He finished the course in 1:45:48. That placed him 36th out of 104 in the M45-49 category.
“I had a goal of 1:55 and managed to pull out a delightful 1:45:48,” Steve said. “Today I am thankful for my super supportive STARR community and all of the runners and friends that have got me this far. 47 years old and three years of running in, I am feeling pretty good.”
Stephanie Croft was the next STARR in. She crossed the line in 1:47:15. That placed her 20th out of 115 in the F45-49 age group.
Maggie Curtis finished in 2:01:43. That put her 41 out of 103 in F50-54.
“I did the half in 2011, just after I turned 40 and got just over 2:13 at that time, so beating myself by more than 10 minutes 10 years later felt pretty good,” Maggie said.
Pascale Knoglinger came in at 2:25:27. In the F40-44, she was 131 out of 166.
Of course, the in-person races were only part of the fun this year. STARR’s own Andrea White took on the Royal Flush Virtual Series - tackling five different distances varying from a mile to a full marathon.
Congrats to all STARRs who took on the Royal Victoria challenges - whether in person or virtually.