It was a good weekend at Squamish Days for athletes from Washington State. Seattle's Joshua Ricardi added to the state's glories by winning the annual 10K run on Sunday (July 31).
Following in the footsteps of Washington loggers Brandon Hintz and Trebb Rainey, who won the intermediate and novice loggers of the day, respectively, at Saturday's Loggers Sports event, Ricardi blazed through the course in 32:41 to bring yet another title back to our neighbours to the south.
"I feel pretty good," Ricardi said. "I'm actually just camping up here for the weekend. I went rock climbing yesterday and decided to give this run a try. It worked out pretty well for me."
Ricardi said he was near the front of the pack from almost the beginning of the race, which started and finished at Howe Sound Secondary School.
"Honestly, I seemed to break away right from the start," he said. "I actually went a little too hard at the start and it almost cost me, but it was a fun race."
He ended up beating second-place finisher Ian Hallam of Victoria by 51 seconds for the win. Ynuk Bosse of Vancouver placed third.
On the women's side, it was a great showing for Marilyn Arsenault of Victoria. She was the fastest female and 10th fastest runner overall. She said it was her first race after a scary staph infection stalled her running dreams.
"I got really sick and nearly died," she said. "I nearly lost my leg and couldn't walk for two weeks, but I'm pretty happy with my race considering it was my first one back."
Arsenault said she slowly built back up her endurance after overcoming the sickness but that it was a "terrifying experience." She posted a time of 36:06 and said she seemed to be leading among the women for nearly the entire race. Jillian Gook and Carmen Ballard, both from Vancouver, finished second and third, respectively in the women's race.
This year's winners of the Slavo Lehockey Memorial Trophy, given to the local runners with the fastest times, were Jody Parry for the males and Margreet Dietz for the females. Parry finished 30th overall, with a time of 40:00, while Dietz finished the race in 40:14, good for seventh among all females. Dietz's win marks the third consecutive year she's taken home the award. The trophy was created to honour Lehocky, a local runner who was hit by a car and passed away while doing what he loved - running.
Other notable local times included Gord Addison (41st overall), John Redpath (45th overall) and Ross Young (46th overall). Heather Sidsworth also had a nice run, as she was the only female competing in the 60 to 64 division and finished the race in 1:01:43.
A total of 223 racers competed in the event, an increase over the 175 that competed at last year's race. The Squamish Days 10K is the second-to-last race in the Lower Mainland road race series. Racers will next travel to the Richmond Olympic Oval for the final race of the series on Aug. 14.
The event also featured the Flashback Mile, a race that allows young runners the chance to shine. Aaron McReanor of Brackendale posted the top time, completing the mile in 6:55 and finishing six second later was Tucker Reed of Squamish. Jonelle Williams of Prince George, who finished the mile in 7:21, posted the top female time. Mary-Beth Whitebothe of Brackendale had the second fastest female time at 9:21.
For more information and complete results from the race, visit www.raceheadquarters.com/results/2011/run/SquamishDays2011OA10K.html.
