All eyes were on Sudanese refugee Daniel Mulushet Zewdu who had a good chance of breaking the course record at the Cobble Hill 10K on Jan. 21, but in the end it was Triathlon Canada’s Solen Wood who took the glory.
Solen was racing in the men’s 20-24 division. The Albertan’s time of 30:47 was enough to not only best second-place Zewdu, who was running in the men’s 25-29 group, by 36 seconds, but it also crushed the course record of 31:11 previously set by Nanaimo’s Steve Osaduik in 2008.
Zewdu’s time was 31:23.
Triathlon Canada’s Colette Reimer, of Victoria, won the women’s event with a time of 37:17. She was competing in the women’s 20-24 age group and placed 26th of all competitors.
Hosted by Cowichan’s Ceevacs Roadrunners, the Cobble Hill 10K is the second of the eight Vancouver Island Race Series running events.
The series started on Sunday, Jan. 8 with the Harriers Pioneer 8K in Saanichton and following the event in Cobble Hill, continues with other races in Sidney, Sooke, Colwood, Nanaimo, Port Alberni, and Courtenay.
The top Ceevacs Road Runner was Richard Light, whose 40:44 time qualified him for sixth of 27 in the men’s 50-54 age grouping.
Not far behind was Amy Brooks who was second in the women’s 40-44 category with a time of 41:05. Brooks was one of four Ceevacs racers who placed in the top two of their age groups, the others being Colleen Vanderheide (57:49, F70-74), Kelly Schellenberg (50-48 F65-69) and Teresa Lewis-Schneider (45:49, F55-59).
Gary Vermette (50:03, M75-79) and Tanya Leech (47:34, F50-54) raced to third in their respective groups.
The next race is set for Feb. 12: the Cedar 12k.
Visit islandseries.org for more information.
In other Ceevacs news, club member Janet Ruest ran the Desert Classic Half Marathon in Surprise, Arizona on Jan. 28 in a time of 2:01:50. The result not only placed her second in the women’s 60-65 age group but also qualified her for the New York City Marathon.