10K Championship and BC Road Running Series Finale this Saturday

July 16, 2015 20:44pm

Shortly after the Women’s Marathon completes at the PanAm Games in Toronto on Saturday morning, the Summerfast 10K will get underway in Vancouver’s Stanley Park. The race, hosted by VFAC, is also the 2015 BC 10K Championship, plus the final event in the 2015 BC Road Running Series presented by Timex, as well as race #9 in the Lower Mainland Road Race Series. Consequently fast times and keen competition are anticipated.

Rachel Cliff jets back from Korea, where she placed 9th over 5000m at the World University Games, to defend her Summerfast and BC 10K titles. Last year she set a course record of 33:58.

Current leader in the BC Road Running Series, Dayna Pidhoresky, is not expected to run, but it will take an outstanding performance by Erin Burrett to displace her in the rankings. The most likely changes in positions will be for third and fourth places, where Shauna Gersbach and Jen Moroz may move up over Katherine Moore.

In the absence of record holder Catherine Watkins, who will have competed in Toronto earlier, there is no clear favourite in the womens masters race. Not so the masters men, where Jim Finlayson who set the masters record of 31:40 in 2013 returns. Finlayson is also the current overall leader in the BC Road Running Series.

Although two time winner, and course record holder (29:57) Kelly Wiebe will not be returning for a hat trick of wins, Finlayson will likely have to improve his masters record to win the race. He will face several challengers. Theo Hunt will be looking for that elusive win after being runner-up to Wiebe on both previous occasions. Jerry Ziak has a shot at both winning the race and nipping Finlayson for the Series. And look for Blair Johnston to make everyone work for a place on the podium.

Craig Odermatt and Kevin O’Connor, two more masters currently 2nd and 3rd in the Series rankings, should also be in the mix. So the final outcome of the mens Series may come down to seconds at the finish line.

Further down the field, Lenore Montgomery may have a shot at a world best time for the F85-89 age group. The time she has to beat is 1:06:49 set by BJ McHugh at this same race in 2013.

The race, which starts and finishes at Second Beach at 8:00am, circles the Seawall. Entries are still being taken at the Denman St Running Room on Friday (4 – 7pm), and race morning at Second Beach before 7:30am. Complete details, http://www.summerfast.ca/

Current standings in the BC Road Running Series, presented by Timex, can be found here, http://www.bcathletics.org/TimexRRSeries