Records were broken at the fourth annual Run the Rock marathon, half-marathon and eight-kilometre races on Texada Island August 24.
Brad Crowe, 32, of Comox, came in first in the men’s marathon, finishing in 2:56:02, 12 minutes faster than the previous record set by Keith Wakelin, of Merville, in 2012. Wakelin, 55, finished second with a time of 3:19:17. Mary Bridges, 43, of Courtenay, also set a new record in the women’s marathon, finishing in 3:39:02. Her time beat the previous record of 3:50:00, set by Roslyn Smith of Comox in 2012.
In the half-marathon, Lehm Maguire, 19, of Victoria, set a record of 1:19:17, beating the previous record set by Wayne Crowe of 1:23:04, also in 2012. In the eight-kilometre race, a new women’s record was set by Teresa Nightingale, 48, of Half Moon Bay, who finished at 32:51:00.
In the men’s marathon, another top finisher was Byron Fader, 43, of Powell River, in third. A total of 15 marathoners started and all finished, including some young runners who were doing their first marathons. And in the women’s marathon, second place was taken by veteran racer Janet Green, 60, of Courtenay, who has now completed 307 marathons. She was followed by Angela Puszka, 26, of Victoria, in third.
In the half-marathon, the female winner was Melissa Schurger, 30, of Vancouver, finishing in 1:40:21. Elena Cigola-Fulgosi, 47, of Campbell River was second in 1:45:21 and Margaret Rairie, 47, of Gillies Bay, Texada Island, was third. The top half-marathon walker was Denise Burden, 44, of Victoria.
In the eight-kilometre race, Raymond Sunnas, 35, of Ladysmith, was second in the men’s category, and Kindle Parsons, 43, of Courtenay finished second in the women’s. Participants Spencer and Allison Mylymok and their four children Mac, Lucy, Olivia and Jack, all of Texada Island, set a record for the most members of the same family to take part.
There were 84 runners, some from as far away as Germany, registered for Run the Rock, and everyone who started finished their race. The hilly course is considered by many runners as the toughest road marathon in Canada.
A total of 65 volunteers from Texada spent many hours volunteering to ensure that all runners enjoyed the experience. Race co-directors were Rob McWilliam and Ken Barton.
