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The Canada Running Series moved
West to Victoria, BC, for what is arguably the
country's most scenic 10K. There was a record-breaking
crowd of 9,947
participants in this 14th edition of the Times
Colonist 10K. Conditions were ideal for the runners:
overcast and 8 celcius at the 8am start behind
the picturesque Parliament buildings.
Samuel Karanja of Kenya led from start to finish
for a comfortable victory(30:01). Wily, hometown
veteran Bruce Deacon then hauled in a fading Joseph
Nsengiyumva of Ottawa for second--Nsengiyumva
still with a little too much of the Around the
Bay fatigue in his legs, following his impressive
victory a month ago in Hamilton. Local Olympic
triathlon hero, Simon Whitfield, was close behind
Canada Running Series champion,
Lucy Smith, also had an easy time of things in
gaining the women's win in over 34 minutes, to
begin her title defense in her hometown--with
an easy stroll around Beacon Hill Park, well clear
of
Vancouver master's runner, Nancy Tinari.
Eventually the sun shone through,
an Elvis-look-alike band played on, and we were
able to sit back and enjoy the blossoms, a magnificent
spring on the very edge of Canada, with the snow-capped
olympic Mountains as a backdrop.
And still the walkers and jiggedy-joggers
kept coming!
The running boom rolls on, and
heads to Toronto next week, for the Sporting Life--"Canada's
fastest 10K".
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