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McLean Mill 10K: A guide to quickly running to chowder

With the half marathon behind us, it’s just a 10K and a 5K race left until the end of this year’s series. In Cobble Hill, you have already set a time to beat, and McLean Mill is a fantastic opportunity to see how much you’ve grown into your race routine.

When you look at the elevation profile of the McLean Mill course, it looks relatively flat. That is if you don’t look at the scale. So you’ve been warned: the course will be a bit hilly. However, to reward you for battling all the hills, there will be chowder. So when the gun goes off, your race to chowder begins. The first 200 metres or so, you make your way to the road and downhill you go. The first 4 to 5K are fast. It’s mostly downhill and you need to go give ‘er in this first half. Because think about it: the faster you go here, the sooner you’ll get your hands on chowder. Also, the second half is less forgiving and might make you slow down your pursuit of chowder.

Photo from the first 200m of the 2023 edition of the McLean Mill 10K. Photo credit: Joe Camilleri

After you’ve hit the halfway point though the course will go uphill. The last 2.5K you will be backtracking the first kilometres, so you will be going the same way up as you came down. So while the way out was downhill and fast, the way back will be uphill. Here’s the positive thing about the uphill on the way back: you’re closer to the chowder than you are to the start. So even if the hills feel relentless: don’t give up! Remind yourself that there’s chowder waiting for you at the finish to give yourself that extra bit of motivation to push a little harder.

By the time you hit the point on the road you came on at the start, don’t be fooled. You’re not there yet! You still have half a kilometre to go. Keep going on the road, listen to the kind volunteers that will make you take a 180 turn, run back on the road and then a left turn towards the mill. You go up a little bump and then you can sprint down to the finish. At that point, you can basically smell the chowder.

Port Alberni, bring it on!

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Olympians Wodak and Pidhoresky to race Comox Valley RV Half Marathon on Sunday, March 24

Olympians Wodak, Pidhoresky to race Comox Valley RV Half Marathon in run-up toward Olympic standard in Hamburg
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Sean Mitchell: Sooke 10K race re-cap, chocolate, mascots and personal bests

Well, it wasn’t Easter and there was no chocolate bunny, but there was great weather, a #BigTurk bunny, a no prob-llama, pancakes and a whole lot of fun at Sunday’s Westcoast Running Sooke 10k. It was race #5 in the 2024 Vancouver Island Race Series. 

Going in, I honestly wasn’t sure how to approach the effort. Those of you who have run the course will know it’s a rolling out and back with a good long incline at 7k leading into a nice fast finish (if you play it right). I figured I’d set out at a steady 4:15/km, see if I could maintain a steady pace up the “incline” (note: not a hill), then rip down the backside and onto the finish. Well, as I am often fond of doing, 4:15 turned into 4:05, but it felt pretty good. Ceevac’s own Micheal Gerhardt and I attacked that hill, and when I got to the top I (honestly) felt great — so off we went.

We kicked it up a notch over the final 2k and was shocked to cross the line in 40:33, a 30-second improvement over Cobble Hill a few weeks ago. That time was good enough for 72nd overall and 6th in the always competitive M50-54 age category.

Sean Mitchell rolling out a new personal best in Sooke. Photo credit: Joseph Camilleri.

Before all that, my youngest tackled the kid’s run, enjoying himself while keeping the Harriers tent warm. Tough job, I know. But I was proud of him for giving it a good effort, even though the candy was calling… 🤤

And, after all the running was over, we were treated to a primo feast of pancakes and sausages with whipped cream and strawberries courtesy of the Sooke Lions, plus a whole bunch more goodies (and maybe a Fat Tug for dad). Also, I appreciated seeing the gluten and vegan options so enthusiastically received. 

It is always a pleasure to see so many people out racing, having fun and enjoying themselves. Kudos to rockstar race directors Katie Quast and Jason Ball for putting on such a great event. See you in Courtenay on Sunday, March 24 for the CVRR Comox Valley RV Half Marathon!

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Ambassador Sander: How to run the Comox Valley RV Half Marathon

We’ve had five races to warm up, and now the big guns are coming out: the Comox Valley RV Half Marathon, organized by the Comox Valley Road Runners. It’s only one of two opportunities to run a distance over 10 km in the series and be ranked in the overall Series results.

It’s not only a good race to secure your spot in the overall rankings: it is also a good course to perform well. The race offers an out-and-back course, and while it has a fair bit of uphill, it also has its share of downhill.

Elevation graph of Comox Valley RV Half Marathon course.

Mentally, I like to divide the course up into four parts. Each part has a different profile, so it’s useful for building my race strategy. Breaking the race up into pieces is also quite nice to make it mentally more manageable to get ready for a long, hard-effort run.

The first part is approximately 5 km long. If you have a goal time in mind, figure out what splits you need if you were to run a flat race. This part of the course is relatively flat – give or take a bump or two – so in this part, you can simply hit these splits. There’s genuinely nothing remarkable about this section, so use it to find your groove and settle in.

The second part is where you will have to grit your teeth because it’ll be uphill until you’ve pretty much hit the halfway point. You have two choices: slow down or blow up. I recommend the first option: slow down a bit. Don’t forget it’s an out-and-back course so you’ll get the downhill portion later where you can make up time. Don’t slow down too much either, it’s fine to be a tad uncomfortable, but don’t overdo it.

Part three starts at the turnaround. Now it’s time to turn it up a notch. Go just a bit faster until you get over a bump at KM 12. Once you see the 12KM sign, it’s time to add a little spice to your race. The downhill stretch lasts for about 6KMs, so the course will help you just roll down. If you add a little bit of power, you’ll make up lots of time and you can definitely hit splits you wouldn’t normally expect to see in a half marathon.

Once your watch beeps for KM18, you should quickly check in with yourself. Since it is only three more km to go, there are a couple of different scenarios. Maybe you feel a little winded, in which case it’s too early to keep pushing really, really hard. It would be a shame to blow it in the last KM. While you can’t really win your PB in the final kilometre, you sure can lose it. So maybe settle back into a comfortably uncomfortable pace, and when you have about a mile to go, slowly start turning it up again if you can.             
Alternatively, you may still feel grand after all that downhill. If you have more left in the tank for the last three KM, just keep on going. You’ve hit a stellar average for 18 km already, why wouldn’t you be able to do it for just a bit longer? This is where your body will tell you what you can and cannot do. It’s up to you whether you think it’s worth listening. There’s no single right answer it might be too risky, or it might be a risk that will pay off. You’ll only know during the race.

Start of 2023 Comox Valley RV Half Marathon. Photo credit: Joseph Camilleri.

No matter how things unravel, it will be a spectacular race. If you’ve never run a negative split, this is the course to change that.  It’s going to be a great adventure, so get ready!

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Olympians Natasha Wodak and Dayna Pidhoresky to race Comox Valley RV Half Marathon, Ros Smith seeks world age-group record

Canada’s Natasha Wodak and Dayna Pidhoresky, both from Vancouver, will race the Comox Valley RV Half Marathon on Sunday, March 24. Additionally, local runner, Roslyn Smith will seek the women’s 75-79 age-group world record.

The Comox Valley RV Half Marathon is on projection to have its all-time record number of finishers broken by a large margin. The current record was 601 finishers from the 2010 edition of the race. Organizers Rob Kelly and Wayne Crowe expect 750 to 800 runners and a few walkers.

The 38th annual event will likely see the women’s course record eclipsed by both athletes.

Also, Comox Valley Road Runners athlete Roslyn Smith seeks to add to her list of national and world records with a world best time of sub-1:46:08. The national record is 1:47:08.

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Karen McCullough: “The post-race food was ‘next level'”

McCullough’s Westcoast Sooke 10k re-cap

I had intended to run the Hatley Castle 8K but we were travelling home that morning after a weeklong family Reading Week vacation back east and I got sick on the flight home. I brought along my race bib for nothing. This illness sidelined me for a week and a half and, in the lead-up to the Sooke River 10k, I had only managed a terrible 23k long run last week and no other running all week. So what was the Westcoast Sooke River 10K going to look like for me?

I knew it was a rolling out-and-back course — I quite like the out-and-back courses — but having run so little the previous two weeks, my “B” goal was to try to run under my age. I just turned 56 on Friday, so this was a realistic goal for me. My “A” goal was to beat my Cobble Hill 10K time. My race strategy was going to be to try running while feeling a little uncomfortable, find a runner to keep pace with and then try to pass them in the second half.

So what happened? You may ask.

Approaching the 3k mark, the first of the leaders were already on their way back, but I also made a note that we were going down a hill, meaning we’d be going uphill on the way back. This could be a challenge.

By the 5k turnaround, I still had my pacer in sight ahead of me and another, faster friend who was also ahead of me. I managed to power up the hills and pass my first pacer and, to my surprise, I had reeled in and passed my faster friend too. She’s been faster than me at every Island Race Series race so far, so I knew this meant she was not having a good race.

With two kilometres to go, I managed to push a little harder and sprinted for the finish. I could see the clock and pushed hard to beat the 56:00 gun time. It was not after I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch that I knew I was a few seconds over 55 minutes. I beat my Cobble Hill 10K time —“A” goal success!

One of my best friends, who lives in Langford and knew I’d be doing this race, had decided in the last couple of weeks to sign up for the Sooke 10K too and, though she had done a long trail run the day before, she wasn’t too far behind me. It was really special to be able to celebrate our races together.

The post-race food was next level. Two large, fluffy, fluffy pancakes served with strawberries, whipped cream and two sausages were such an unexpected treat! I knew there were pancakes and sausages, but the strawberries, whipped cream and the sheer size of the pancakes took me totally by surprise. What was even more delightfully surprising was the inclusion of vegan pizza slices and celiac-friendly options as well. The race organizers really went the extra mile to include everyone! Besides the amazing post-race treats and the age group prizes, the best part of the Vancouver Island Road Race Series for me has been the warm and friendly community of runners I’ve met. At each race, I’ve met new people and it’s so much fun to see them along the course and to be able to yell out their name and cheer them on. After each race, I found myself saying, “That was so much fun. I would totally do this race again!”. I love this race series! See you at the Comox Valley RV Half Marathon.