Summerfast 2014 Race Report

The field

July 19, 2014 – Weeks of uninterrupted warmth and sunshine came to a screeching halt just in time for the 2014 edition of the Summerfast 10K. This may have come as a disappointment to the organizers, but Vancouverites are accustomed to racing in the rain, and were perhaps grateful for the cooler temperatures as they set off on a loop around the iconic Stanley Park seawall.

Kelly Wiebe made his return to racing following his “brush with death” this spring and claimed victory in the men’s open division for a second straight year with a time of 30:17.  Not too shabby for a rust buster, Kelly. Meanwhile, Rachel Cliff continued her great season by chopping more than a minute off the course record in taking the women’s title in 33:58.  It was the only course record to fall this year.

On the masters side, after spending the early morning hours hauling water around during course setup, Mark Bennett laced ‘em up and ran to victory in 33:32 – an astonishing time for a gentleman of his vintage. We’d like to see your birth certificate, sir. Catherine Watkins was also a repeat winner, taking the women’s masters title with a time of 35:59. Catherine’s Twitter handle is @runmommaster, but we think she should change it to @runmommonster, so remorseless is her domination of the local masters scene (just a joke…as everyone knows, Catherine is extraordinarily nice).

Summerfast was also host to this year’s BC 10K Championships, with Theo Hunt (31:28) and Rachel Cliff taking the wins. Finally, VFAC’s own Kim Doerksen used a strong race (35:17) to vault herself to the top of the rankings in the Timex BC Road Running Series just in time to claim the overall series win.  Congrats Kim!

The weather put a damper on the post-race festivities, but everyone remained in good spirits – perhaps a result of the renowned VFAC baking, hot coffee, and draw prizes galore (courtesy of our many generous sponsors). The race may be over, but don’t forget to check in on our Photos & Video page over the coming days.  Our media department (a.k.a. Rick) has been hard at work processing hundreds of images and comprehensive video from the event.  Participants are welcome to download their favorite pics for free. No irritating water mark, we promise!

Summerfast will host the BC Championships again in 2015, and we’re already thinking of ways to make the race even better. We hope everyone who was a part of Summerfast 2014 will join us again next year!

The Vancouver Falcons Athletic Club