There is no official club of the sa国际传媒 10K. But if there was, the Prairie Inn Harriers would have certainly staked a claim.
Harriers runner Natasha Wodak will be among the elites racing on the streets of Victoria on April 29 in the 29th sa国际传媒 10K. But she has a bit of business before that in representing sa国际传媒 earlier in April at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
Former Canadian international and Harriers runner Lucy Smith, meanwhile, is the training and coaching co-ordinator for the sa国际传媒 10K clinics at 14 community centres on the Lower Island and has devised the training schedule that will see thousands of weekend warriors through to the big day of the race.
Ulla Hansen, another former Canadian international and Harriers alumni, is the elite-runners co-ordinator for the TC 10K.
Smith and Hansen were enshrined last weekend with the charter class into the newly-established Prairie Inn Harriers Hall of Fame along with Olympic gold-medallist triathlete Simon Whitfield, multiple Ironman Hawaii world-champion Lori Bowden and masters world record holder Maurice Tarrant.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 quite a group and it was an honour to be among the first inductees,鈥� said Smith, six-time women鈥檚 champion of the TC 10K.
Smith is relishing her new role with the event as the training co-ordinator: 鈥淲hen they retire, a third of elite runners go into other, unrelated occupations, a third keep running forever through masters racing, and a third go back as coaches and mentors such as [Olympic-medallist] Lynn Kanuka, who coaches Natasha Wodak.鈥�
Smith is happy to be part of the latter group.
鈥淵ou go into coaching and training with no ego. I have 14 clinics and thousands of different kinds of runners,鈥� she said.
At the front of the pack will be the elites, led by the likes of Wodak, pro runners Jane Murage, Daniel Kipkoech and Paul Kimugul and Olympic race-walker Evan Dunfee.
鈥淲hat makes road racing so special is that everyone, from Olympians to first-timers, are on the same start line,鈥� said TC 10K elite-racer director Hansen.
鈥淚t creates a buzz in the general pack as you see them almost float by so fast. And it gives the elite racers a chance to share their running with people who they would not normally share it with during [track events or world championships]. They pull the up-and-comers along with their experience.鈥�
Joe Dixon, TC 10K race director and event manager, concurred: 鈥淵ou get to race alongside runners you will see on the national and international stages over the next four to eight years.鈥�
The TC 10K organizers held a news conference Wednesday to officially launch the countdown to the race.
Dixon said registrations are up 14 per cent from last year and training-clinic registrations are up 30 per cent. He said there were about 8,600 registrants last year and the goal this year is 9,000 to 9,500 with the aim of again reaching 10,000 for the 30th annual race next year.
鈥淲e are encouraged by the up-Island numbers this year, and also by those registering from the Lower Mainland and U.S., as well,鈥� said Dixon.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really settling out, as far as the numbers.鈥�
The road-racing industry is using better marketing to meet the challenge of the various off-road and obstacle events that have siphoned off participants the past decade.
Among the several new features of the race this year will be upgraded, full-tech T-shirts for all participants and medals for all finishers.
鈥淲e have a mix of people 鈥� those runners who do 10 to 20 races per year 鈥� and those who do maybe one or two,鈥� noted Dixon.
鈥淭he more serious racers in the first group have baseline expectations of the event. The others in the [more casual] group want to be impressed by feeling they are part of a big event.鈥�
