In a full-out, no-holds-barred sprint to the wire, Roberts Creek’s Shaun Stephens-Whale finished in what looked like a dead heat with Vancouver’s Takanori ‘Tsunami’ Haraguchi, at the 2015 BMO Sunshine Coast April Fool’s Run on Sunday, April 12.
Both recorded 1:10:15.
The trio of Stephens-Whale, Haraguchi, and 2014 winner David Jackson of Abbotsford raced together in the front of the field for the first 16 km. Then, Jackson started to fall off the pace at the top of the infamous Marlene Road hill, and the two-way battle between the 24-and 25-year-olds was on.
Haraguchi had a slight lead coming into the finish chute in Mission Point Park, but Stephens-Whale kept pushing to the line, not giving up for a moment. Electronic timing confirmed what was visually evident to those with the right viewing angle, giving the victory to Stephens-Whale. This was also a two-minute personal best for Stephens-Whale, who set his previous best on this course in 2012 when he placed third. Of course, he was also the first local male, adding a pair of Saucony shoes to his $300 cash winnings.
Langley’s Lisa Brooking decided to enter only a few days earlier, but made the trip worth her while with another victory and the $300 cash prize.
Her dominance was never in question as she led the women’s field in seventh position overall. She was well pleased with her 1:18:42 clocking, her fastest time on this course by several minutes, and only a minute off her half marathon personal best. This was Brooking’s third victory at the Fool’s Run since 2012.
Vancouver’s Kristin Smart took silver for the second time in 1:26:09, followed by VFAC teammate Helen Ritchie, who was also the top female Master 40+, clocking 1:27:33. Second female master spot was claimed by Margreet Dietz of Squamish, with another VFAC member Mary Walsh rounding out the Masters top 3.
The men’s masters competition was topped by Squamish’s James Newby in 1:22:16, followed by Robert Durrant of Langley and Paul Lancaster of Vancouver.
Top local woman was Sechelt’s Tammy Dean, who was second last year in this category to record-holder Kim Doerksen. Dean set a new personal best of 1:39:16, less than a minute ahead of second fastest local woman Katherine McGillivray of Roberts Creek.
The relay division was very popular again this year, with 39 teams registered to split the distance into two or four parts. Top relay overall and in the four-person division was ‘Punjab Running Club’ from Surrey, in 1:26:34. Club-mates ‘Punjab Running Club 4’ were the second overall team and first in the two-person division, followed by a mixed team from Chatelech Secondary School, ‘Better Than Elliot and Liam’ (some friendly team rivalry here).
The Sunshine Care Network Kids Jester Dash presented by Pastimes went off at noon, with 50 mini-runners from ages one to 7 scampering around the park and through the official finish line, sporting T-shirts they coloured and decorated themselves in the activity tent.
Nearly $1,000 in cash plus two bins of food were collected for the Sunshine Coast Food Bank, thanks to generous donations by participants.
See more results at http://www.foolsrun.com.
