The BC Bike Race is half way over with participants current completing the Sunshine Coast stages(s) of the race. Results so far are posted here.

So far two participants have posted regular updates from the race. Kim Steed on his blog here, and Selene Yeager on her blog here. Here’s a summary of the posts from each:

• Kim Steed – BC Bike Race- Day 1 on the Shore! – The start of the 1st stage of the BC Bike Race today was incredible. I have never been part of such a big biking event.
• Selene Yeager – A Rough Start – it’s been a long time since I’ve had a bad day. Too long. And eventually, well, you’re due. I was worried about Stage 1 of the BC Bike Race. And as it turned out, rightly so…
• Selene Yeager – BC Bike Race Day 2: Ouch – another day in paradise here at the BC Bike Race. Despite a pretty difficult day yesterday, I awoke feeling like I was ready for today’s 70 kilometer stage, which promised fewer death defying downhills (at least that was true)…
• Selene Yeager – Playing Hurt – As you’ve learned so far, in just two days here in BC I managed to blow myself out, tumble off a 5-foot bridge, and simultaneously taco my rear wheel and crack a couple of ribs…
• Kim Steed – BC Bike Race- Stage 4 – Here we are after Day 4’s 70k punishment! We started in Earls Cove and worked our way to Sechelt.

Following up from last weekend’s Hy-Vee ITU Triathlon Elite Cup, here are links to write-ups from Canada’s athletes which have been published so far:

• Simon Whitfield (winner of the men’s race) – and then that happened – well I’m home. and seeing Pippa launch herself at me for a hug when I arrived with “daddy daddy” was priceless. I wished I could just hit rewind over and over again, to see her reaction and to hear Jennie say “ahhhhhhh, Pippa misses daddy”. Life rolls on…
• Lauren Groves – Hy-vee Recap – So, I can’t lie, that was a pretty cool weekend. After three sleepless nights, I still feel as though I’m on a bit of a high from all the racing. We’re on the plane now and everyone around seems to be sleeping….except me!
• Kyle Jones – This is a tough one to write – I didn’t get much sleep last night and woke up this morning feeling like someone used my stomach as a punching bag. I’m very disappointed. I felt so rested coming into this race and after what happened last weekend I was motivated and confident that I could put together a great race…
• NTC Development Squad – pics from Des Moines – As you all know, a very big day for the big kids – Simon and Lauren both climbed onto the podium today..

Writeups (more to be added as we become aware of them):

• Madly Running Around – Scotiahalf – This is going to be short, but not because of anger or frustration, but just that time is seeping away from me…
• Running Gay - Goal Accomplished! I ran the Scotia Bank Half Marathon today and had a wonderful result. I was 8th overall with a 1:09.05.

Results:

The Kusam Klimb trail running race took place this past weekend at Sayward, located on the north end of Vancouver Island. The Kusam Klimb is an epic endurance event and includes over 1500 meters of elevation gain over very challenging terrain. This year saw Shane Ruljancich, men’s winner from the past two years, head up again to Sayward to race the event and attempt a 3-peat. The first part of his report is below. For complete results click here.

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With a catch phase of “Are you Tough Enough?” Kusam Klimb markets itself as an epic endurance event. With 1500 meters of elevation gain in 5.5km and some very challenging terrain, it lives up to its billing. It has even been listed by elite trail runner Dale Reicheneder (scroll down about half way) as the toughest race he has ever done. While I don’t consider it to be quite as insane as Dale describes, if you have never done it yourself, mere descriptions don’t convey the length and grade of the ascent. You can also read a longer article by Sarah Seads here.

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The Great Walk was this past weekend and two Victoria ultra runners, Jeff Hunt and Myke LaBelle, have written great reviews of the event on thier blogs: The Adventure Runs of Jeff Hunt & Myke LaBelle – It doesn’t get any better than this. The Great Walk is a 63.5 kilometer point to point foot race between the Vancouver Island towns of Gold River and Tahsis. The first part of each post has been included below:

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Jeff Hunt: The 63.5k Great Walk and Ultramarathon is a race that stretches from Gold River to Thasis along the “Tree to Sea” Highway. The highway, as it turned out, was about 40% paved and 60% gravel. Along the route, one will be witness to amazing waterfalls, lakes, trees and multiple clearcuts.

This was one of my big races for 2009. With the distance being 63.5k, it would be my second longest run ever. Races like this require careful planning and ample training if one is to be successful in even finishing it in one piece.
My partner in crime for this event was my buddy Myke LaBelle. At 22 years old, he has huge potential in the world of ultrarunning as his speed, distance and training are all impressive.

Continue reading…

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Myke LaBelle: Where to begin…

Wednesday night before the race a few friends and I got together for a beach campfire down in telegraph bay. The night was enjoyable and I went home around 11pm to wake up the next morning to find my feet covered in Sand flea bites. Gross I know. I panicked for a bit but nothing really happened. Friday morning, my feet were incredibly itchy and I had a race the next day. I got some medication for the bites but nothing was guaranteed to get rid of the problem by the next morning. Last year, two days before the Scorched Sole 50k I had my I.T. band flare up and I could barely bend my left leg while on the plane ride to Penticton. So I tried to keep positive and not think about my issue with my feet.

Continue reading…

Finally a writeup from someone who rode the marathon XC! Kim Steed has just wrote about the event on his blog, the first part is included below:

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Finally, a bike race on the North Shore for the first time in years!!! With all the amazing trails we have, it took James Wilson’s passion and organizing skills to put together an incredible, exciting event, which will shape future bike seasons as we know them. I spoke to a lot of people who plan on training hard to improve their time for next years event!

The race started out on the paved road headed towards the Seymour Dam. This was lead out by James Wilson in his Toyota Truck and suprisingly got going very fast right off the start. There was a couple of short steep climbs that you had to push hard to keep up the speed. Once we had thinned out a bit we were directed down a gravel road for a short out and back to really string out the 200 racers, before heading South along Fisherman’s Trail.

Continue reading...

Results from this past weekend’s Iron Knee 25K and Tender Knee 12K trail races are now posted on the Race Headquarters website:

• Iron Knee 25K overall results
• Tender Knee 12K overall results

In addition, several write-ups have been posted by athletes who participated in the event:

• Brad Cunningham - This was the race that started it all. I had been running trails before this race, but once I had run this course, it was love.
• Nicola Gildersleeve – The start of this race has always been a weakness of mine because it begins uphill. My heart rate is usally in the 180’s before we even get into the single track trail…
• Betty’s Blog – After a full day of activities the day before, Ray and I with Jeremy were up early this morning at 6am to get ready to head out to the start of the race at Grouse Mountain for Iron Knee 25K…

If you know of any more please let us know!

Following are some of the athletes write ups that have become available over the past few days. Results are available here.

• Simon Whitfield – a solid weekend done and done – I love the intervals, long rides with the boys are fun, long runs in the woods are brilliant, swimming is….. meh. I really like the intervals, head to head…
• Studio YVR – Shawnigan Lake Half Iron – Race Report – My swim time was about the same as last year which is amazing to me because I went so far off course this year since the morning sun on the lake had completely blinded me.
• Meyrick Jones Racing – Subaru Shawnigan Lake International 1/2 Iron Triathlon Photos – Sunday was the Subaru Shawnigan Lake International 1/2 Iron. If you are going to slap a grand title like that on a race it better be good – and this one is awesome!
• Triing in Victoria – Shawnigan Lake 1/2: Race report – What a day for a race, the weather was absolutely spectacular, the water was a good temperature, and I was feeling ready to have a good race.
• Vincent’s Ramblings – 2009 Shawnigan Lake Half Iron Race Report!!! – We once again were blessed with amazing weather for race weekend. Jody and I joked that we bring good luck to races because this is our 6th race together with next to perfect weather.

Results from the 2009 Oak Bay Half Marathon are now posted:

• Individual
• Relay

A number of athlete writeups are also available:

• Yan Lyesin – Running portraits from the May 24, 2009 Oak Bay Half-Marathon.
• Woman on the Run - Race Day – Too fast=long race - If there’s one piece of race-day advice I’ve retained since my first 10K clinic six years ago it’s “Don’t go out too fast.”…
• Carlos Castillo – Oak Bay 1/2 marathon - Today as part of my training for the Scourched Sole 50Mi, I took in a local Half M and made a movie…
• Jeff Hunt – Oak Bay 1/2 Marathon – May 24th, 2009 – After recently posting that I would not be doing any more races until June, I somehow managed to rework my schedule to fit in this race…
• Heather Hollman – Oak Bay Kool Half Marathon – Behind the Scenes - This past weekend marked the date of two wicked races in Victoria, the Oak Bay Kool Half Marathon and the Shawnigan Sprint/Olympic/Half Ironman Triathlon….
• Madly Running Around – Oak Bay Half – Having found myself in Victoria this weekend, I decided to jump into the Oak Bay Half Marathon…

• May 24, 2009 – MOMAR 001, Squamish, BC
• May 24, 2009 - Subaru Shawnigan Lake International Triathlon, Shawnigan Lake, BC
• May 24, 2009 - Oliver Sprint Triathlon, Oliver, BC
• May 24, 2009 - Rhythm of Life Run, Burnaby, BC

All athlete writeups from these events will be added to the site as they become available.

Results from the event can be viewed here.

• NEW! Heather Hollman - North Shore Triathlon - Thankfully, lack of sleep and leg stiffness (from the 10 x 1km Run WO on Saturday morning and Crazy Doctor Dancing), didn’t seem to affect my race too much…  
• NTC Development Squad - 2009 North Shore Triathlon Results – Congratulations to our North Shore racers….
• Meyrick Jones - North Shore Triathlon 2009 – Mattias and his buddy Carter rocked this thing. SWIM: Mattias was first out of the water – he took a few wallops on the head and got run into the side of the pool a couple of times but he distanced himself in the last 25m to emerge first out of the water…
• Nicola Gildersleeve - North Shore Spring Triathlon – Today was the 20th anniversary of the North Shore Spring Triathlon. I don’t normally participate in this event, to be honest, I haven’t even gone out to watch before…

Any others? Please let us know!

By Christopher Kelsall

The first Black Press 5000 (5 kilometre) race took place at the Jack Wallace Memorial Track (Oak Bay Track) May 15, under sunny skies and mild temperatures.

The main event featured one of Canada’s top runners, Langford’s Ryan McKenzie who runs for Pacific Athletics.

Ryan owns an impressive 5000m personal best time of 13:35. He won the Black Press 5000 in 14:02. Second place went to Prairie Inn Harrier Scott Simpson.

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Chris Price, a Trainharder blogger, has just posted his race report from last weekend’s 5 Peaks trail ran at Golden Ears Provincial Park:

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I awoke at 6am on Saturday to a beautiful sunny morning.  I made my brecky and set to checking some emails before getting myself ready for the trip out to Golden Ears in Maple Ridge.  I swung by Feldblooms place and got him to work on the iphone and Google maps as we made our way out of the city and out to the burbs.

Golden Ears

We got a good park and made our way over to registration.  I checked in and waited for Brian to complete his race day registration and then we set about running about, back and forth to the car, toilet visits and warm ups before settling in near start line.  We lined up near the front, a few rows back from the tape and set about waiting (cooling down) for the sports course registration to finish up so they could start the race.  This gave me some time to look around and acknowledge all the familiar faces that had shown up on the day.

Continue reading on Chris’s blog…

Following is an update on the 22nd Annual Elk/Beaver Ultras which occured over the weekend in Victoria, BC.

• The results has been nicely summarized by race organizer Carlos Castillo on his blog. Click here to read his race report.
• Rob MacKay writes about his experience competing in the 50 mile category and eventually finishing 3rd overall. His report can be read here.
• Trainharder blogger Donald Peterson shares his thoughts on dealing with stomach issues and pulling out at just over 40kms into the 50 mile event.
• Finally, Jeff Hunt competed in the 50 kilometer category. His review of the event can be read here.

Results from the 2009 BMO Vancouver Marathon are now posted on the Race Headquarters website. Athlete writeups from the event will be posted here as they become available.

• Marathon – Overall | Age Groups | Wheelchairs
• Half Marathon - Overall | Age Groups
• 8 km – Overall | Age Groups
• Kids Marafun - Overall

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Write-ups we’re found so far…

• Betty’s Blog – BMO Vancouver Marathon – Another successful race on a gorgeous morning as the forecast for today was 80% light rain 2 days ago. Awesome race organization with a lot of water/aid station and food for the whole course and at the Finish.

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The following press release summarizes the race:

VANCOUVER, BC, May 3, 2009 – Today marked the 38th annual running of the BMO Vancouver Marathon. Benard Onsare of Calgary, originally from Kenya, finished in first place with a time of 2:28:26. In first place for the women for the second year in a row was Mary Akor of California with a time of 2:46:24.

Continue reading…

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Also, this article on Adam Campell, 2nd overall on the men’s side and first overall Canadian, was published Monday in the Vancouver Province:

Harsh winter training has its reward – Adam Campbell slogged daily in knee-deep snow — and it paid off

By Marc Weber, The ProvinceMay 4, 2009

Adam Campbell’s training earned him $2,000 on a picturesque Sunday morning in Vancouver. It helped him through some fierce Maritime months long before that.

Campbell finished second to run-away winner Bernard Onsare in the BMO Vancouver Marathon men’s 42.2-kilometre race Sunday and snagged bonus money as the top Canadian.

It was just the second-ever road marathon for the fiancee of Vancouver triathlete Lauren Groves who spends most of his time on trails. The reason to sign up was simple.

Continue reading…

From the Victoria Times Colonist – Perfect running conditions reward the thousands at 20th Annual TC 10K; Kenyan, Olympian win – Willy Kimosop, an elite-class runner from Kenya, won the 20th Annual Times Colonist 10K Sunday. Kimosop, who was among almost 10,000 runners who came out for the race, completed the course in 29 minutes and 29 seconds, not a record but the first time in six years that it’s been run in under 30 minutes. The TC10K record time of 28:47 was set in 1995 by another Kenyan, Simon Chenowya.

Also, here’s what we’ve found on the blog-waves so far…

• Running Tough – Times Colonist 10K – I have been remiss on working on this race report. I just haven’t been able to find the time to sit down and do it so a somewhat summarized version will have to suffice.
• Jarhead – The 20th Annual Times Colonist 10K – With a record number of participants the Times Colonist 10K solidified its status as the second-largest 10K in Canada behind Vancouver’s 40,000+ participant Sun Run…
• Dirge Rhetoric – TC10k – Anyone speak Swahili or whatever language the little guys who ran out front today communicate with? I was trying to communicate with Willy Kimosop to get his race number from him and for him to autograph it…
• The Running Diva - Hooray for Juice! – Yesterday was a day off from running but I did a good session of strength and core work. Juice and I were up bright and early this morning (after a late night with the opera last night) and met Dave, Jon, Kathy and Matt near the TC start-line before the race…
• Woman on the Run - Drama at the finish line – For each one of the 12,600 people who ran or walked the TC10K, there is a story. Certainly, there is the headline achievement by elite athletes – but I’m thinking of those whose drama is recounted at the dinner table, not on a speaking circuit.
• Triing in Victoria - 40:20 so close yet so far!!! - Well, I set a new PB of 40:20, not quite what I was looking for, but still a good run.
• What’s up with ELM? - HURRAY ELM WOMEN! – CONGRATULATIONS to the crew of 17 ELM Women who raced in the TC 10K today in Victoria!
• Running Bebe - Race Summary: TC10K – This is not my Official Race Report, but until I get to that, here is the breakdown of my race:

Results from this morning’s Times Colonist 10k in Victoria are now availble on the Race Headquarter’s website here. Congratulations to everyone who participated. We will be posting write-ups and reviews from the event as they become availble…..stay tuned.

Within the past few days several runners from BC has written about their experiences running in last Monday’s Boston Marathon. Although the race takes place across the continent, we feel they deserve the kudos for training and competing in such a great event. Below are their write-ups from the event….

• A Runner’s Tale - 3:15:28… the time it took to capture the elusive unicorn – My morning started at 4:17 a.m. with a complimentary breakfast of oatmeal, a banana and rather watery coffee. My level of excitement reminded me of the feeling I had on Christmas morning when I was 6, 31 years later that feeling still takes me away to a happy place…
• Studio YVR – PR in Beantown. Woo Hoo! and How Not To Recover From A Marathon - Get up the day after the marathon at 3 am. Grab the 4 am shuttle to Logan Airport. Jump on the 6 am flight to Dulles…
• James Wanless - The Week Before Boston: Taper, Travel And Hotel Woes - The week prior to April 20th was a real doozy. Not only did I have to finish off a final paper for my present MA course, but in addition to getting ready to fly to Boston I also had to shore up several details for my current big work project…

Results from last weekend’s Diez Vista 50k are not yet available, but will be posted soon here. Photos however are available, and can be seen here. Following are three write-ups we’ve managed to find already from the event, with more to be added as they become available…

• Nicola Gildersleeve – 2 weeks to go…Bring on the Taper – Diez Vista 50km was on Saturday, with a great showing of familiar faces. Because I wasn’t racing, I wasn’t nervous at all, which is the complete opposite of my normal pre-race state…
• Pricey Runs – Diez Vista 50k – I had heard so many good things about this race that I was chomping at the bit, really excited to give this one a go.  With the Chuckanut under my belt, I wasn’t too green going in and knew of the sort of tolerance required to get through another one of these ultras…
• Gary Robbins – Diez Vista, Version 3.0 – Outside of my annual ‘Club Fat Ass New Year’s Day Hangover Run’, the Diez Vista now stands alone as the race I’ve participated in the most, this being my third edition. Version 1.0 in 2006 will forever be known as my worst ultra ever, and the closest I’ve ever come to DNFing…

Three more race reports from the Chuckanut 50k trail run were posted this morning on the blogoshpere…

• Darindurance – Chuckanut ‘09 edition - I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from this race other than sore legs for a few days afterwards and in regards to that, the race didn’t disappoint…
• Team Montrail Canada – Aaron Heidt Race Report (1st place overall) - Chuckanut was supposed to be a show down between me and Gary Robbins, which meant it was a race I had been looking forward to for months. Unfortunately, Gary was still recovering from Dirty Duo and his travels in Europe and decided racing would jeopardize his training for Western. However, there was no shortage of competition. On Friday night Gary counted 10 guys that would be fighting for the podium…
• Back to the edge – Chuckanut – redux post - Having re-read my Chuckanut post on the race and also having a few days from the race has provided me with some reflection time. I try to write race reports quickly after the race so that I can (hopefully) accurately describe the details.