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Whistler runners turn out for Sun Run

Brenda Baker wins category by five minutes

Almost 60,000 runners turned out to the 24 th annual Vancouver Sun Run Sunday, April 20, braving temperatures that hovered around freezing at the start to run, walk or wheel the 10 km course through the streets of Vancouver.

Not only did the turnout shatter the previous record by about 4,000 runners it was also the coldest Sun Run yet. As well, there was a record turnout from Whistler this year with 75 runners finishing.

Of special note, Whistler’s Brenda Baker placed first in the women’s 55 to 59 age category with a time of 41:01, about five minutes faster than the next competitor.

Baker had hoped to break the 40 minute mark, something she’s accomplished in every 10 km race she’s been in since her very first 10K, but said she was feeling under the weather after road biking on Vancouver Island for five days last week. Like other Whistler runners, she was also feeling a bit rusty after a long winter.

“I haven’t done much running this winter up to now because the footing was so bad. Usually I would have had a few more runs under my belt by now, but I’ve only been doing a minimum of running and some intervals a few weeks ago,” she said.

Baker knew coming into the Sun Run that she had a chance of winning her category, based on her own times and the times of last year’s top finisher in her age group. However, she just moved up into the 55-59 category, and wasn’t sure who else might have made the jump.

“It was a surprise in some ways, because there are a lot of phenomenal masters runners out there and you never know who’s moving up, but in other ways I wasn’t surprised because I knew I had a good time compared to the average,” she said.

This was also Baker’s first Sun Run, and she was blown away by the experience.

“I was in the seeded group up front, and warming up I was running back and forth and could see the crowd,” she said. “Georgia (Street) looked like a giant pixel board, all you could see were these little dots of heads as far as the eye could see. The course itself was great — it wasn’t tough and it wasn’t easy. It starts off with a nice downhill, but you’ve got a few good uphills that don’t seem like uphills until you’re racing.”

Baker plans to run more races this year, including the Scotia Bank half marathon in June, to take advantage of the fact she’s moved up an age group. She planned to run the Vancouver half marathon in early May, but decided that she wouldn’t have enough time to train with winter hanging on in Whistler.

Daniel Havens also managed a top-10 finish in the men’s 50 to 54 age category with a time of 37:37.

Also worth noting, Nancy MacConnachie and Michelle Lewon were 16 th and 22 nd respectively in the women’s 40 to 44 age group with respective times of 43:44 and 44:42.

Heather Clifford was 29 th in women’s 45 to 49 in 49:46.

Emi Saito was 36 th in women’s 30 to 34 in 44:38.

Walter Wallgram was 45 th in the men’s 50 to 54 age group in 43:28.

Rounding out the athletes that finished top-50 in their categories was Daniel Irvine, placing 49 th in the men’s 25 to 29 race in 38:47.

There are too many results to list times for all participants but the following Whistler athletes also completed the Vancouver Sun Run this year:

Heather Abernathy (55 th ), Patti Armstrong (814 th ), Jodi Arron (375 th ), Laurenne Barnsley (2401 st ), Holly Bender (3309 th ), Lee Bennett (255 th ), Brent Bickerton (914 th ), Melanie Bigney (307 th ), Joshua Blodans (2738 th ), Grace Blok (60 th ), Charlotte Blomfield (152 nd ), Lisa-Marie Blouin (2244 th ), Louise Bowyer-Smyth (3626 th ), Scott Brammer (172 nd ), Valerie Breen (2397 th ), Hannah Brezer (3499 th ), Michelle Burns (513 th ), Donnie Carmichael (141 st ), Jean Champoux (180 th ), Kate Corbett (1855 th ), Lucy Cordey (2295 th ), Anna Crouch (640 th ), Pam Deane ( 2036 th ), Lynn Delaurier (1078 th ), Carolyn Donnelly (137 th ), Jennifer Elfenbein (57 th ), Nancy Ferland (1257 th ), Kelly Foran (358 th ), Tina Foster (1093 rd ), Mike Garcia (2362 nd ), Linda Godin (2651 st ), Mary Ann Graebling (4228 th ), Allison Harriman (697 th ), Diane Herbert (2216 th ), Ehren Hess (2916 th ), Alexander Hoelk (1411 th ), Catherine Ireland (2035 th ), Jill Jacques (58 th ), Moe Jochi (233 rd ), Christian Kessner (1766 th ), Natalie Lafreniere (4268 th ), Heather Lane (2997 th ), Nicholas Litt (3260 th ), Luane Lowdon (1169 th ), Rachael Lythe (492 nd ), Tina MacDonald (2962 nd ), Steve Mann (483 rd ), Lena Martin (897 th ), Francis Massicotte (2192 nd ), Christine McCann (2918 th ), Christopher McCarthy (2298 th ), Pilar McCarthy Hansen (2303 rd ), Barry McClure (1388 th ), Jessica McCracken (4977 th ), Chelsea McCurdy (2628 th ), Patrick McCurdy (353 rd ), Ashley McLean (1309 th ), Chelsie Mitchell (1536 th ), Pearl Nelson (3660 th ), Danny Ng (1341 st ), Diana Ngo (3625 th ), Rachel Oliver (3483 rd ), Allisha Oxley (691 st ), Marg Pallot (979 th ), Lauryn Partridge (3171 st ), Julie Poirier (71 st ), Richard Potter (2052 nd ), Chris Preston (1035 th ), William Roberts (641 st ), Elizabeth Rogerson (221 st ), Chrstine Roh (3629 th ), Angie Royle (2256 th ), Robin Russell (253 rd ), Andrew Saitoh (227 th ), Leah Salzborn (3959 th ), Sarah Saunders (440 th ), Jennifer Schnier (3628 th ), Andrew Skinner (312 th ), David Smith (1244 th ), Gabby Smith (918 th ), Peter Stanley (1331 st ), Kimberley Terceira (3424 th ), David Thornhill (634 th ), Janet Tijtsma (1793 rd ), Ryoji Toyoshima (2005 th ), Cheryl Tress (4257 th ), Monica Urbani (2764 th ), Kazumi Uto (2006 th ), Cecile Valleau (68 th ), Rich Valleau (126 th ), Victoria Verpoorte (3134 th ), Garth Wardle (567 th ), Christopher White (3381 st ), Bob Zerner (384 th ), Tracy Zhu (4843 rd ).

For Pemberton and Squamish athletes, visit www.active.com, and search for the Vancouver Sun Run.