Posted: October 7, 2007

Athletics: Victoria athletes shine at the 28th Royal Victoria Marathon

Masters achieve top results (Victoria, BC – Sunday October 7). Today’s 28th Royal Victoria Marathon was a showcase for Victoria-based athletes as well as proving that the Masters field is one of the fastest in the country. Three Masters finished in the top five in the marathon, two course Masters’ records were broken and a Canadian Masters record was set for the Half Marathon. This exciting event also saw a personal best time in the women’s marathon race. In the men‘s marathon event Nanaimo’s Steve Osaduik couldn’t match his record-breaking 2006 time, but clearly showed he was the strongest in the men’s race. His time of 2:20:14 was just under nine minutes faster than second place finisher Graeme Wilson from Vancouver who came in at 2:29:40. In third place was Anthony Skuce, also from Vancouver, in 2:32:40. Skuce also won the Masters category and was followed by 40-year-old Colin Dignum from West Vancouver in 2:35:33 and 50-year-old Kevin Titus (Whistler, BC) in 2:37:59. In the women’s marathon Suzanne Evans made it three Royal Victoria Marathon wins in a row, with a personal best of 2:45:38. She and second-place finisher Wendy Terris from Milwaukie, Oregon, were jockeying for the top two spots throughout the race but the diminutive runner from New Westminster proved to be the stronger on the day. Terris’s time was 2:49:57. Third was Constance Hui from Vancouver in 3:02:34. In the Half Marathon Victoria’s Lucy Smith achieved her goal by breaking her own record set in 2003 by one second to set a new course and Canadian record in 1:16:11. Judith Leroy, also from Victoria, was second in 1:19:52 and third was Rachel Ruus, from Richmond in 1:23:12. Another local favourite, and past Marathon winner Bruce Deacon, who now lives in Coquitlam, set a new course Masters record of 1:08:02. However he was one minute and 43 seconds shy of the Canadian record. Second was fellow Coquitlam runner Mark Bomba in 1:10:20, and third was Steven Murenbeeld, (Victoria) in 1:10:55. It was a Victoria one-two in the 8K Road Race with Olympic triathlete Simon Whitfield, winning in 24:23. Eric Kiauka was second in 24:57 and Morgan Titus from Whistler third in 25:04. In the women’s field Marilyn Arsenault from Victoria won in 28:15. Lindsay McLaren from Calgary was second in 29:09 and Rita Ivanauskas (Vancouver) third in 29:48. For full results from the 28th Royal Victoria Marathon go to: RaceHeadquarters.com. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest