At 10:20 a.m. last Sunday morning things did not look good for the Comox Valley Road Runners attempt to capture second place in the finale of the Island Road Race Series.
Ten key members were resting up in Boston for Monday鈥檚 marathon, and the car pool had just started moving through the road closure on the Malahat courtesy of the diesel fuel truck accident on the Malahat on Saturday night.
The starting line in Sooke was still 45 minutes away, with a scheduled start time of 11 a.m. Fortunately, the organizers delayed the start of the race by 15 minutes, and allowed a second wave of latecomers from up Island to start 30 minutes later.
In the final analysis, a spirited group of 31 Road Runners outscored Bastion Running Club of Nanaimo by more than enough. Top 10 age group finishes, 23 of them, were once again the key, as CVRR overcame Bastion 426-264 to finish 80 points ahead of the Harbour City club in the final standings. This is the first time the club has claimed second place in the 29-year history of the Island Series.
Vince Brotherston (M45-49, 8th overall) and Angela Plamondon (F45-49, 86th overall) led the way for the Valley crew once again, both finishing second in their age group. Other top-three age group finishers were Mary Bridges (1st, F40-44), Roger Plamondon (2nd, M50-54), Marion Bryan (2nd, F35-39), Mary Ann Rolfe (2nd, F55-59) and Diane Palmason (2nd, F70-74).
A special mention must be made of 80-plus-year-old Ernie Black, who has not run a road race in at least 10 years. He came out to help fill in for missing Boston-bound runners and finished 2nd in the M80-99 group to the cheers of waiting team members, picking up 19 points for his sterling pavement pounding effort.
Six other runners answered the call to run their first race of the season: Linda Munro (14 points), Janice McCarthy (11), Dominick Nadeau (16), Don Blacklock (6), Tim Croft (9), and Ashley Close, running her first ever road race, with 17 points. The 92 points scored by the season鈥檚 first timers were enough to put CVRR over the top.
The wait for the awards ceremony was drawn out. Tension mounted after the individual awards, and preparations began for the Series awards. First were the team awards. There was silence as Bastion were announced as third place finishers, and one could feel the energy mounting as we waited.
With the announcement of 鈥淪econd place, Comox Valley Road Runners,鈥� a huge cheer broke out and the team rose as one to acknowledge a fine joint effort. "Well done, and a special thank you to all those who, over the last three months, made this possible," a CVRR spokesperson said.
The focus now shifts to the CVRR trail runners with the first race in the four-race summer Gutbuster Trail Running Series scheduled for Mt. Tzouhalem in Ladysmith on May 7. For more information on this and other CVRR news go to cvrr.ca.
鈥� Comox Valley Road Runners
