Victoria might not be looking its best for the 30th anniversary of the sa国际传媒 10K. But the regional wastewater-facility construction along the Dallas Road portion of the route won鈥檛 affect the race, and the bike lane construction along Wharf Street will only slightly, said organizers on Friday.
鈥淭he CRD, City of Victoria and Windley Contracting have been very co-operative in making sure Dallas Road is ready to go Sunday,鈥� said Chris Siver, president of RunSport, which organizes several running events in the region, including the sa国际传媒 10K.
鈥淭hey have promised a higher-level cleanup along Dallas Road this weekend and all lanes should be open for use in the race on nice pavement. Nobody will be rolling their ankle on something that shouldn鈥檛 be there.鈥�
Wharf Street, however, will not be available this year for the normal turn up Johnson Street. But all that means, said Siver, is that the runners and walkers will keep going up Government Street and will turn up Yates Street instead of Johnson.
鈥淭his event is a community treasure and helps make Victoria one of the running, walking and overall athletic capitals of sa国际传媒,鈥� said Siver.
The annual race, meanwhile, is again nudging to its old plateau of five figures.
鈥淲e are creeping up to 10,000 registrants, which will be the highest total in three years,鈥� said race director Trish Fougner.
鈥淪unshine always helps and we are hoping for a surge in late registrations right up to the deadline [today to 6 p.m. at the race Expo at Uptown].鈥�
Among the throng will be Colin Fewer of Newfoundland, who has travelled from rock to rock to take part.
鈥淚鈥檝e come Island to Island,鈥� he said.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 worth it because this is one of the premier 10K races in sa国际传媒. I鈥檝e done the [Vancouver] Sun Run the past two years but wanted to do Victoria again, which I haven鈥檛 done in eight years.鈥�
During that last visit to the sa国际传媒 10K, Fewer clocked 30 minutes, 34 seconds, which was just off his personal best of 30:27. With those kinds of times, the 41-year-old PE teacher is definitely a threat to take the men鈥檚 masters title on Sunday.
Fewer races to win 鈥� in his prime he represented sa国际传媒 in the world cross-country championships 鈥� but it isn鈥檛 the be-all and end-all for him anymore.
鈥淩unning is a personal journey. It鈥檚 a big part of my life and creates balance in my life,鈥� he said.
鈥淏ut the greatest competition is within yourself.鈥�
Among the other elites is returning men鈥檚 champion Haron Sirma of Kenya with a personal best time of 28:30.
鈥淚鈥檓 happy to be back,鈥� said Sirma.
About Kenya鈥檚 greatness in running, Sirma added: 鈥淲e grow up running at high altitude and proudly looking up at our past Olympic and world champions.鈥�
Haron will be pushed by fellow-Kenyan Daniel Kipkoech, a two-time past winner of the sa国际传媒 10K and five-time winner of the Victoria GoodLife Fitness marathon.
Also challenging will be Matthew Travaglini of Calgary, who was fourth two weeks ago in the massive Sun Run.
The women鈥檚 side will be led by Olympian Malindi Elmore of Kelowna, previous-champion Dayna Pidhoresky of Vancouver and Sarah Inglis of Great Britain but based in Vancouver, who has run 32:30 this year.
鈥淚 think the women鈥檚 race record [the 32:56 set by Karolina Jarzynska of Poland in 2011] is in serious jeopardy,鈥� said former Canadian international Ulla Hansen, five-time winner of the sa国际传媒 10K, and now elite athlete manager for the race.
鈥淚t is going to cost us money but we will be happy to hand it out.鈥�
