,

Brandon Vail and Zoe Hamel win 2025 Comox Valley RV Half Marathon

Brandon Vail and Zoe Hamel of Greater Victoria won the *39th annual Comox Valley RV Half Marathon on Sunday. Vail finished in a personal best time of one hour, eight minutes and 32 seconds. Hamel clocked in at 1:18:47 and 20th overall.

Men’s race

Vail with Speedfarm Running Club, ran a near two-minute personal best and more than three minutes faster than he raced the Comox Valley RV Half Marathon in 2024.

“Yes, I am happy with running over three minutes faster than last year. The conditions were good except the final 3km had a tough headwind,” shared Vail.

Brandon Vail for the win. Photo credit: Derek Boessenkool

The 25-year-old ran 1:10:12 at the Royal Victoria Half Marathon in October and 1:11:38 at the 2024 Comox race.

Finishing in second place was Andrew Russell with the Prairie Inn Harrier’s Running Club. He also finished first in the masters 40-plus category clocking in at 1:10:43.

Taking third was Nanaimo’s Nicolas Jirot in 1:11:32. He was the second 40-plus master. Jirot has run as fast as 1:10:09 at the 2023 Vancouver Half Marathon.

Vail will compete in the Bazan Bay 5km on Sunday, April 13. He will look to run faster than the 14:44 that he did last year on the flat and fast course. In August he will compete in the Canadian Half Marathon Championships in Edmonton, where he grew up.

Women’s race

Zoe Hamel had one of her better Island Series races in Comox finishing in the time of 1:18:47 for the win. The performance gives Hamel her highest age-graded performance to date at 84%.

“It was good, but that final stretch was windy,” shared Hamel, a sentiment every runner shared upon finishing including Kate Ayers who took second in the time of 1:20:39.  Ayers is back racing. Next up for her will be the TC10K in Victoria as well as an internship on a farm around her agriculture studies this summer, “I will need a distraction.”

Hamel, a competitive tennis player from France is a teacher at Pearson College. She is with Esprit Run Club and is coached by Jim Finlayson, who also raced winning the 50-plus category.

Zoe Hamel for the win. Photo credit: Derek Boessenkool

Taking third was Speedfarm’s Patricia Roney with her 1:21:15 performance. She was also the first in the 40-plus category. Her best on the course is 1:20:05 from 2024. Her finish time on Sunday and last year are a long cry from her days as a beginning runner 19 years ago, where she finished the Comox race in the time of 1:53:06.

Race director Rob Kelly took in the event coming in at 1:28:57 and finishing first in the 60-plus age group.

The race had the most finishers in the event’s history at 701, with 1101 registered. The race was capped for 2025. This year is the first time in the 45-year history of the series and 39 years of the race to sell out in advance. From 1986 to 1994 it was run as a 20km distance event.

The inaugural race (20km) was won by 1980 Olympian Mike Creery in the time of 1:07:07. Sally Balchin won the women’s race in 1:18:49.

Kelvin Broad — five-time winner of the Royal Victoria Marathon won the first edition of the half-marathon (21.1km) in the time of 1:08:33. Stephanie Wood won in 1:21:11 that year.

Next up in the series is the McLean Mill 10K in Port Alberni on Sunday, April 6 and the Bazan Bay 5K happening Sunday, April 13.

2025 full results
,

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
, , ,

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!

, , ,

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!

,

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.

Read full story
, ,

Hatley Castle 8K a success, record potential at Comox Valley RV Half Marathon

Hatley Castle 8K

The Hatley Castle 8K, the fourth race of the 2023 Vancouver Island Race Series, had a big turnout. Organized by Frontrunners Athletic Club (FAC), they saw the most finishers in seven years and the eighth most in the event’s 24-year history at 445.

@pellegustavs

The winners were Brennen Smith (Speedfarm) in 25:55 and Emily Bugoy (Mettle Heart Endurance) in 30:40. The top masters were Nick Walker (40-44, FAC) and Catrin Jones (40-44, Prairie Inn Harriers). They finished in the times of 27:43 and 30:51, respectively.

Smith, one of Canada’s top triathletes said, “The race was good training for triathlon season coming up. I am happy with how the race went and am looking forward to next Sunday’s half-marathon.”

He won by nearly a minute with teammate Martin Odendaal finishing second in 26:49. Owen Torres took third just six seconds back. For the women, it was Bugoy, Jones, followed by Mikaela Barnes in 32:10.

Comox Valley RV Half Marathon

Sunday, March 19 will see the 37th running of the Comox Valley RV Half Marathon and perhaps the all-time largest field assembled for this flagship Island Series event.

The top-seeds are Jackson Bocksnick of Victoria (Frontrunners Athletic Club). He is a former UVic Vike athlete who suffered from injuries for a few years. He is back and is training for the Boston Marathon. Bocksnick finished third during the Cobble Hill 10K clocking a time of 31:48 and will be seeking a sub-70-minute finish on Sunday and 2:20 or so in Boston.

“I will be happy with marathon pace while feeling comfortable,” share Bocksnick.

Fellow former Vike Matt Noseworthy and Smith will be toeing the line, making for a competitive lead pack in the sub-70-minute range.

Currently, the top three female athletes are Meg Lewis-Schneider (Esprit RC), Jones and Yume Kobayashi of Edmonton, who is a former national-level triathlete. Lewis-Schneider won the 2022 Cobble Hill 10K.

The Comox Valley RV Half Marathon is the fifth of eight events in the 2023 series. It is followed by the McLean Mill 10K, Westcoast Sooke 10K and the Synergy Health Centre Bazan Bay 5K All series information is available at www.islandseries.org.

RESULTS