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DAFFODIL
DASH 5KM
- March 26
by
Myron Neville
The
pouring rain might have persuaded some runners not to turn
out but it didn’t dampen the spirits of those brave souls
who took to the roads of Abbotsford for the start of this
city’s annual Fraser Valley Road Running Series being
hosted by the Deerfoot Athletic Club.
This year’s Daffodil
Dash 5K, featuring a new route, was fun for everyone
involved from volunteers to participants who gave their best
on the rain-soaked streets.
Invited
VIP guest starter Maureen St. Croix got the 9:00 am event
under way as the assembled runners took off to the sound of
her starter’s gun. St. Croix, who was a qualifier for the
1976 Canadian Olympic Team in Montreal, has been busy
setting world track records since turning 50. She has set
world bests for women in her age group over the
distances of 800m, 1500 and the mile outdoors. Recently having
entered the 50 - 54 age group, St. Croix traveled to New York
this past winter where she set a pending world indoor best
for the mile. In this race the Vancouver resident caught
the leading runner by a step at the finish line for the win
and the record.
Photo by Bill Warren/Ithaca Journal
Maureen
St. Croix on left of photo - setting pending world indoor
record for mile in 5:10:87! ! Sarah Kramer to right
The
overall men’s and women’s winners for the 2005 Daffodil
Dash were Ken Williams and Darcy Arsene. The pair of local
Fraser Valley runners finished with times of 16:40 for
Williams and 20:09 for Arsene. Considering the weather
conditions both of them ran gutsy performances leading from
start to finish.
This
year’s under sixteen category had a strong turnout for the
5k with Kirsten Nickel pulling the girls home in 24:01. The
Ross sisters out of Chilliwack rounded out the field for
second and third. Abbotsford’s Austin Horner went out hard
and kept on going to take the boy’s field in 19:04 –
finishing sixth overall. Among the young local runners Ben
Ross, Tyler Douglas, Kenny White, and Nathan Dann, crossed
the line in that order for the top positions.
In
the open men’s race local college student and National
Collegiate Cross-Country finalist Eric McCormick gave
Williams all he could handle throughout the 5km constantly
trying for the lead with Williams pushing him back each time
and keeping enough of a cushion to stave off McCormick’s
late downhill surge as the Vancouver Island resident
finished with a personal best time of 16:45.
Following
Darcy Arsene’s lead for the women, Margot Danroth splashed
through the puddles and rain to a 22:00 time followed by Lyn
Udy’s equally wet 23:03. Chasing Udy all the way around
the course while trying to find shelter from the storm was
the women’s leading masters runner of the day, Irm Nickel,
clocking a soggy 23:06. Behind Nickel and chasing her home
were Patricia Schmunk, Jane Welsh, and Mary Ross to round
out the top masters women in the field.
In
the women’s fifty + age group, Joyce Lastavec (29:27),
Marianne Walters (29:36), and Lyn Veenhof (29:42) traded
shots with each other before becoming unglued toward the end
of the race to finish in that order.
The
best of the rain-soaked masters men was local runner -
national track champion and national cross-country medallist
- Paul Reimer, who cruised to a 17:08 third place finish
overall. Other masters’ runners giving a good account of
themselves were Chilliwack’s Cam Ross (18:36), Steven
Robinson (19:53), Scott Stewart (20:38), and Abbotsford’s
about-to-be-married-that-day John Griffith (21:15).
The
honors for being the oldest entrant of the day fell to Ray
Rousseau in the 70 + division who pumped his way around the
course in 29:19.
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