Category — race reports

2010 Fort Langley Historic 10k & Half Marathon – Feb 21, 2010

It was a chilly but sunny morning out in Fort Langley for the Historic Half Marthon. With the Olympics cancelling the First Half Half Marathon in Vancouver, participation numbers were far higher at the Historic Half. All SAA members had great races on this challenging (i.e. hilly) course.  

In the 10k race, Brandon Jones tore up the course finishing 3rd overall and 2nd in his age group.

The Half Marathon race saw the following SAA members crushing those hills: Jackie Davidson, Jim Fox, Susan Gelinas, Joanne Fox, Marinus Waterberg, Fay Waterberg, Brain Flett, George Tiller, Calvin Gehlen, John Kibblewhite, Tess Zevenbergen , Ann Hayes, Trudy Harris, Karen Telford. Nice work to all of you.

Back in Steveston there was a post race refuelling at club sponsor Dave’s Fish & Chips.

Overlander Ski Marathon – Jan 24, 2010

Up in Kamloops where the snow was a plenty and the skys were slighlty overcast, Barton Pietras was cross country ski racing. This event was a five loop 50 km free technique race. Free technique is one where racers can use skate skis which makes for a fast race. Barton had a great race, congratulations!

PF Chang’s Rock ‘n Roll Arizona

While Deana Kastor and Canadian Simon Bairu were setting Arizon state records in the Half Marathon, our own Erin Lee was not too far behind running in the warm desert sun. Erin had a great race, congratulations!

Steveston Icebreaker 8k Road Race

In our home turf of Steveston there was a huge contingent of SAA members running the short fast 8km Icebreaker. Linda Hilts and her husband Mark Bostiwich both received gold medals, finishing first in their respective age groups.  Also putting in great races were the following SAA members: Richard Buckley, Peter McRae, Joel Waithman, Michelle Horstman, Jim Fox, Brian Flett, Susan Gelinas, Joanne Fox, Stephen Ptucha & club sponsor Speed Theory’s Doug Giles. If my records are correct, everyone ran Personal Best races, well done!!!

Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend – Jan 7 to 10, 2010

With colder then usual temperatures in the citrus state, two SAA members were feeling right at home running at the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. Jim Fox and Tricia Vanier ran the Half Marathon on Saturday, rested for the remainder of the day and then ran the Full Marathon on Sunday, which combined is appropriately named the Goofy Challenge.  Congratulations to Jim and Tricia!!

25 Annual Resolution Run – Jan 1, 2010

Starting the new year off on the right foot (well some chose the left), a few SAA members ran the Resolution Run out in Burnaby. This 5 km run started at the Running Room store and wound its way through the streets of Burnaby with participants receiving a very nice limited-edition Resolution Run Jacket. At the run were Linda Hilts, Mark Bostwick, JJ Hill, Amanda Hill, Ellen Hill, Nelson Hill, Dan McLaren and Jim Fox.

SAA Ice Breaker Triathlon – Jan 1, 2010

With weather on the wet side, a few SAA’ers held a very informal tri down at Jericho Beach and UBC. A quick (and I mean quick) dip in the ocean was followed by a group ride around UBC and completed with a run along the beach. Ben Hsu, Marinus Waterberg, Fay Waterberg, Susan Gelinas and Stephen Ptucha braved the cold with Ann Hayes, Larry Christie, Doug Harris and Trudy Harris cheering these nutbars on. This tri has the makings of a yearly event with expectations for a larger group next year.

Florida Marathon – Dec 19, 09

With only days prior to the winter solstice, Erin Lee was dressed in Floridian winter gear to run the last marathon of the year. Escorted by Segways through the country hills of Lake Country, Erin blasted her way to a personal best and 1st place in her age group. Well done Erin!

With snow warnings in Steveston, some of our smarter SAA racers seem to have timed their destination races perfectly. Congratulations to Jim Fox on his new Marathon personal best set in Honolulu last weekend. Way to go, Jim! What a great way to finish off an incredible year of racing. Good luck to Erin Lee as she hits the Florida marathon next weekend. Enjoy the sunshine!

Once again, Stephen has tried to be humble and not mention himself in the race results.

Good thing he is not the only one with access……

Stephen ran a smoking fast race and gives people reason to think that maybe he should start entering races in a different category.

As a long time member of the SAA myself, I would like to say that I am always happy to hear about how people have done, improved, met their goals and had success. This applies to all members including the Prez.

Congratulations Stephen on a great race and qualifying for Boston again. See what happens when you tri?

Rock N Roll Las Vegas Marathon – Dec 6, 09

Down in Sin City, SAA’s Jim Fox was at it again collecting more hardware at the Rock N Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon. Jim had another strong 1/2 Marathon (2nd in the last 7 days). Jim will be following this up with another run in Honolulu next weekend. Also down in Las Vegas was SAA’s pancake cook, Tim Lee, who finished strong in the marathon and snaged a PB. Nicely done Jim and Tim.

California International Marathon – Dec 6, 09

The weather was a chilly -2 C in Folsum at the start of the 27th Annual California International Marathon. The temperatures did rise as the sun came out but that was mostly due to the blazing speed of our SAA runners. The marathon was won by Tesfaye Bekele in a time of 2:13:42. Not too far behind Tesfaye were the SAA racers; Benji Chu and Susan Gelinas.   Benji battled cramping late in the race but held on to finish with a personal best. Susan also knocked off time from her previous best. Both Susan and Benji’s finishing times give them the sought after Boston Qualification. Looks like there’s going to be quite the SAA crew heading to Boston in 2011 (yup 2010 is already sold out). It’s nice to see that CIM was able to accomodate SAA by having the finisher’s medal in SAA colors. Congratulations Benji and Susan – great race!

Amica Seattle Marathon – Nov 29, 09

This past Sunday the club enjoyed a great post run breakfast thanks to the effort of Erin Lee, Tim Lee, Joel Waithman and Linda Hilts. While we were stuffing our faces with pancakes, bacon, sausages and those “oh so good” Waterberg Blueberry Bars (thanks Fay and Marinus), there were three SAA runners out on the race course. Jim Fox was down in Seattle running the Amica Seattle Marathon. While Jim’s finishing time was just shy of a PB, he was heard to saw “it was ok”. Jim is a man of many words, but inside sources say this was just a warmup for his next half marathon this coming weekend in Las Vegas where the bookies have him highly favored to PB. Also on the Seattle course running the full marathon were Tracy Marshall and James Copley, who according to inside sources, had a PB by a couple minutes.  Congratulations to all three of you.