The sky might be glowering, but the running promises to be brilliant this afternoon at Beacon Hill Park in the 2017 U Sports national cross-country championships.
Alex Genest of Sherbrooke Vert et Or, who went on to represent sa国际传媒 in steeplechase at the 2012 London Olympics and win silver in the 2015 Pan Am Games, was the men鈥檚 winner the last time the Canadian university cross-country championships were held at Beacon Hill, in 2007.
鈥淭here are talented runners and likely future internationals in the field,鈥� said Brent Fougner, head coach of the host University of Victoria Vikes.
Fougner knows what he is talking about, having coached Canadian teams and had many of his athletes compete in the Olympics, Commonwealth and Pan Am Games and world championships.
Canadian university cross-country champions who went onto become Olympians in track include Bruce Kidd, Jerome Drayton, Paul Williams, Peter Butler, Paul McCloy, John Halvorsen, Graeme Fell, Joel Bourgeois, Jeff Schiebler, Genest, Nancy Rooks and Lisa Harvey. Those are big footsteps to follow.
At Beacon Hill Park in 2007, the women鈥檚 champion was freshman Lindsay Carson of Guelph, who went on to represent sa国际传媒 at the world cross-country championships.
The women鈥檚 second-place finisher in 2007 was freshman and future London 2012 Olympic triathlete Paula Findlay. A decade later, Findlay returns to race today for the University of Alberta Golden Bears.
Findlay, 28, raced two years of cross-country for the Golden Bears in 2007 and 2008, before focusing on her triathlon career, in which she rose to be world No. 1 in 2011.
Findlay has three years of U Sports eligibility remaining, so decided to run varsity again this year for the Bears, while finishing off her final semester in science. Findlay was based in Victoria during her triathlon career and sent out Instagram posts of herself this weekend running the Elk and Beaver Lake trails, and along the oceanfront, over the captions: 鈥淥ld stomping grounds! Back in Victoria for USport National XC champs and it鈥檚 nicer than I ever remember鈥� and 鈥淎 healthy dose of Pacific Ocean.鈥�
Findlay will be hoping those old stomping grounds, and Pacific air are again kind to her as she contests the women鈥檚 8K race beginning at 1 p.m.
The men鈥檚 10K race follows at 2 p.m. as the 330 runners will snake their way up and down between Dallas Road and Beacon Hill, starting and ending on the all-weather soccer field.
The defending men鈥檚 team champion is Laval. The Rouge et Or can act as inspiration for UVic, as Laval won its first national championship last year while hosting on the Plains of Abraham near Quebec City. Guelph, meanwhile, is a dynasty in women鈥檚 with 12 consecutive championships.
In his 30 years at the Vikes helm, Fougner has guided UVic to five national men鈥檚 cross-country championships, the last in 2015, and four consecutive women鈥檚 crowns, from 1998 to 2001. 鈥淨ueen鈥檚 is also a solid team on the women鈥檚 side,鈥� said Fougner, while he pointed to Laval, Guelph and Calgary, the latter led by triathlete Russell Pennock, in the men鈥檚 race.
The host Vikes men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 teams both go into the nationals ranked No. 7 in the U Sports national top-10 polls.
鈥淲e are hoping to have the kind of day where everything falls into place,鈥� Fougner said.
Leading the respective UVic women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 teams are two runners who came into the Vikes program from vastly differing backgrounds. Third-year Vikes runner and Claremont-grad Alison Hooper, working on her master鈥檚 degree in public health, was a national-team triathlete.
Second-year computer-science major Jonny Toombs was a walk-on from Sooke with no high school running experience.
鈥淭hose [walk-ons] are the best kinds of recruits,鈥� Fougner quipped about Toombs鈥� uncanny rise, despite having little previous exposure to the sport.
The Vikes might have one edge today: There are sporting adages covering home ice, court, field and course advantages. But home-weather advantage?
There is a good chance of precipitation for the national championship races.
鈥淩ain? Bring it on,鈥� said Fougner.
If you can鈥檛 run in the rain on the West Coast, well, then you might as well pack away the Lycra because you can鈥檛 run here. These are typical weather conditions with which the host Vikes are well acquainted. They know how their home course plays in soggy circumstances.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been on this course once a week since September and have good knowledge of it. It鈥檚 tougher than it looks and has its challenges,鈥� said Fougner.
