It was an exceptionally wet and rainy day on Feb. 25 in Colloid for the Hatley Castle 8K, the fourth race in the Vancouver Island Race Series. More than 500 runners turned out despite the inclement weather and there were many runners from the Comox Valley in attendance.

Derek Brenchley was the first runner from the Comox Valley Road Runners (CVRR) to finish, earning him second place in the M65-69 age group with a time of 35:25.

Keith Wakelin also placed in the M65-69 age group with his time of 37:04, good for third in that division.

Ken Manning picked up points with his time of 43:43, placing him fourth in the M70-74 age group.

Cindy Blackmore was the first woman to finish for the CVRR, with a time of 53:22. Sheila van Gisbergen earned fourth place in the M70-74 age group with her time of 56:23.

Other finishers from the CVRR included Brenda Norn (55:09); Leslie Dargie (59:43); Leah Vecchione (61:14).

Run to Beer also had many participants in the race as well.

Kim Coscia continued to dominate the F25-29 division with a first-place finish for her time of 33:50.

Laine Bergen placed ninth in the F40-44 division, with her time of 43:14. Diana Graham placed 10th in the same division with a time of 43:16.

Kieran Waterous was the first finisher from Run to Beer with a time of 32:54.

Simon Jean earned ninth in the M45-49 division with his time of 36:57.

Other runners for Run to Beer included Adam Commandeur (33:49); Steven Fournier (39:02); Michael Nesbitt (39:54); Mark Crisp (45:54). Full results available online.

Be sure to not miss the upcoming race weekend in the Comox Valley! The weekend kicks off with the 5k Fun Run on Saturday, March 23. This is the graduation run for the CVRR 5k Running Clinic, but it is also open to the public. Non-clinic participants can register at Dove Creek Hall on race morning between 8:45 and 9:15 a.m. This is a fun run, so there are no official timing chips. This is followed by one of Vancouver Island鈥檚 premier running events, the Comox Valley RV Half Marathon, taking place on Sunday, March 24. There are lots of ways to get involved in this fantastic event, so be sure to register or volunteer and be a part of the amazing energy that surrounds this event. More information on both of these runs is available at c