Eight Comox Valley athletes qualified to represent Canada at the Age Group World Championships (40-and-older) held within the London Marathon. More than 40,000 runners took part in the Oct. 2 event that started in Greenwich Park, wound back-and-forth along the River Thames, and finished at St James’ Park.
The top local finisher was Comox Valley Road Runners president Rob Kelly, who ran another sub-three-hour marathon with a time of 2:58. Close behind was Danny Keyes, who executed a great race in 3:01 to earn 13th place in his category.
Andrea Wilson was the top local woman. She ran 3:12. Wayne Crowe earned an eighth-place finish with a time of 3:16. Kristie Kelly and Colleen Schmidt ran 3:23 and 3:33 respectively. Roz Smith ran with precision, finishing in 3:50 to claim third in her category. Janet Green also ran well to finish in 5:04.
“It was an amazing experience,” Crowe said. “It’s really the reward for many miles of hard training.”
One of the highlights for the group was a surprise appearance at the awards ceremony by two-time Olympic gold medalist and marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, who presented Smith with her world championship bronze medal.
“We all enjoyed the experience of running this world-class event, and are already looking forward to the next challenge,” added Crowe.
Plenty of fun, local running events are coming up. The CVRR Memorial run Nov. 27 is a fun run where participants guess their time and try to run as close as possible to that time over a set distance. It is followed by the AGM which will include fabulous guest speakers that you won’t want to miss. The Dec. 4 Jingle Bell run is a family event at Seal Bay with lots of carols and cheer. Proceeds are donated to the CV Food Bank.
For more information on these and other events, go to cvrr.ca
