April 25, 2004, Victoria – Over ten and a half thousand runners and walkers took part in the Times Colonist 10k on Sunday morning, including 920 children in the 1.5K Kids’ Fun Run. Warm sunshine and many colourful flowers typical of Victoria in Spring added to the festive atmosphere of the scenic, mostly waterfront route which started behind the Parliament Buildings and finished at Beacon Hill Park – a net uphill.
Steve Osaduik of Nanaimo and Peter Cardle of Vancouver led the way for the first 5km or so, then Osaduik gradually began to pull ahead, continuing to do so through the second part of the course to build up nearly a one minute gap for a 30:30 victory. Cardle didn’t want to look back as he knew the chase pack was catching up, but he managed to maintain second place as the chasers ran out of distance and time. Cardle’s time was 31:24, followed closely by Joseph Maina of Kenya in 31:35, Nicholas Walker of Victoria in 31:36, Graham Cocksedge of Mission in 31:40, and David Njuguna of Kenya in 31:44.
The women’s race was dominated by Victoria’s Lucy Smith, looking very lean these days, cruising to a 33:51 clocking. Obviously some impromptu belly-dancing lessons at the Expo the day before didn’t impact her running efficiency.
Meghan Day of Victoria was feeling strong in second place for the first 7km, after a week’s recovery from a too-fast start and subsequent bonking at the Sun Run, but Stephanie Mills and Judith Leroy were matching paces a short way behind her. After 7km, Day’s good feeling evaporated and the pace became impossible to maintain. At 8k Mills sped by on the way to a second place finish in 35:01. Leroy outsprinted Day in the last 100m to nab third position (35:24).
The top three Masters men spots were all claimed by out-of-towners, starting with Norm Tinkham of Maple Ridge in 32:08 and eighth position overall. Calgary’s Paul McCloy was next in 32:49 (14th overall), with third place Larry Nightingale of Gibsons feeling somewhat flat for 34:44.
Cindy O’Krane of West Vancouver took the women’s Masters title and 6th female overall in 35:58, followed by Leslie Black of Vancouver (38:46) and Louise Leung of Victoria in 39:28.
Other notable performances included a close top three finish between young Victoria runners in the male 19 & Under division, with Brent Peluso taking first in 35:53, just ahead of Matt Park in 35:59 and Will Stewart in 36:12. In the women’s 19 & Under, Chelsea Bilsbarrow of Victoria recorded an excellent 38:46, over 5 minutes ahead of the next 19 & Under woman.
John Jackson of Vancouver dominated the 50-54 division in 37:17, while Peter Ladner of Vancouver did the same for the 55-59 group in 38:26, both men being about a minute ahead of their competition. In the men’s 70+ division, Victoria’s Maurice Tarrant clocked a terrific 43:16.
For photos see www.vancouverisland.com/TC10K/2004/photos.html, for full results see http://pih.bc.ca/results/tc/tc.php?nYear=2004.
Next Series event (#7) is the Mother’s Day 8k Spring Classic at the Port Moody Recreation Centre, hosted by Phoenix Athletics. This is a new date, new location and new distance for the former Spring Classic 5k held every March. Race day is SATURDAY, May 8th, 9:00am start. Details and entry information on this website.
