Hundreds lace up to celebrate culture, active living, urban rainforest
Credit to Author: Gord Kurenoff| Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 08:34:34 +0000
Diane Clement said she was almost speechless Sunday morning as drums, rappers and boisterous people drowned out her best efforts to offer a summation for the inaugural Rainforest Trail Run at Burnaby’s Swangard Stadium and Central Park.
“I just can’t believe how many people showed up. We really didn’t know what the turnout would look like, but I’m so happy they came out in big numbers to support this new event,” smiled Clement. “The great weather, the cause, the people — all just perfect.”
• FOR STARTLINE TIMING RESULTS, click HERE
• FOR MY SUNDAY RACE-DAY PHOTOS, click HERE
Her husband Doug, the pleasant president of the Achilles International Track Society that hatched this brilliant idea, was holding court with reporters and bloggers 50 metres away, circled by a number of local legends who are enshrined in the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame — hello Dr. Jack Taunton, Charmaine Crooks and facility director Jason Beck, who has written about all these great people over the years.
There were children and seniors, elite runners and slow walkers, people wearing orange and people wearing Indigenous costumes. If Disneyland is the Happiest Place on Earth, on Sunday Swangard Stadium was a close second.
Diane Clement, white jacket on the left, was all smiles Sunday morning as people filed into Swangard Stadium. Chelsea Tapanainen of Langley, right, looks on. (Gord Kurenoff photo)
There was Gary Kingston, the former Vancouver Sun sportswriter who covered a lot of these people in their athletic prime, crushing the 5K in 28 minutes and change; there was super senior Violet Holmes, who just celebrated her 61st wedding anniversary, with as many half and full marathons under her belt (and training for more); there was Michael Campbell-Burns of the Running Room, up at 4 a.m. with his bike to make sure the course was properly marked and playing greeter to the early arrivals.
There were politicians, mayors, First Nations and Musqueam Nation leaders, and my boss Vancouver Sun/Province managing editor Harold Munro, who works closely with many of these fine people, including the Clements to stage that little 10K every April you might have heard about — the 40,000-plus participant Vancouver Sun Run! Munro didn’t run Sunday — he assigned me to do it for him!
As mentioned in this space last week, Sunday was run day in these parts with popular races held in North Van, Richmond, Hope and Bellingham, all drawing the types of runners who would normally enter an event such as the Rainforest Trail Run.
Gary Kingston, left, and Harold Munro, the managing editor of The Vancouver Sun/Province, compare stories after The Eagle posted a 28:38 in the 5K — second overall in the men’s 60 and over division. (Gord Kurenoff photo)
Doug Clement, no stranger to starting small and watching ideas grow, was thrilled with the 405 entries (and 277 finishers) for the inaugural Rainforest run.
“You bet. This is a great start to this run and festival to honour the Indigenous cultures and celebrate active lifestyles, fitness and health in the urban rainforest of Central Park.”
He was also thrilled to see the majority of participants wear their orange race shirts to commemorate the generations of children who attended the Indian Residential Schools. Orange Shirt Day is recognized annually on Monday, Sept. 30, and Clement said the shirts presented another opportunity for “healing through truth and reconciliation.”
Doug Clement, right, catches up with friends at Swangard Stadium before the start of the inaugural Rainforest Trail Run 5K. (Gord Kurenoff photo)
Julien Cooper, a 37-year-old Vancouver runner, won the 5K race in a blazing 18:59 finishing 50 seconds ahead of North Vancouver runner-up Derek Olszowy. Florence Charbonneau of Vancouver was the top woman in 20:35, followed by Bailey Johnson of Summerland in 24:40.
Janene Erickson of the Nak’ Azdli Whut’en First Nations, was the first Indigenous female runner to finish, winning the 30-39 year age group in 26:15. Declan Warburton was the top Indigenous male in a time of 21:18.
Next year’s event is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 27. Clement said he’d eventually like to add a 10K to the mix but that discussion is for another day.
Following are some other trail nuggets from Burnaby:
Sisters Patricia Jansen, left, and Kim Cassar didn’t attract Hollywood’s attention on Sunday, but they had fun running through Burnaby Central Park. (Gord Kurenoff photo)
Sisters Patricia Jansen of Vancouver and Kim Cassar of Kamloops said they were excited to learn the 5K race course in Central Park included a movie set, joking that it provided the “best excuse ever” to slow down and pose a bit for talent scouts.
Turned out that the filmmakers weren’t working Sunday morning, but their movie set still blocked part of the trail around the 3½ kilometre mark.
Cassar, in the 60-69 age division, finished the 5K in 29:42, while Jansen, in the 70-plus category, clocked in at 45:43.
Dennis Hill of Abbotsford and his wife Linda work their way through Burnaby Central Park during Sunday’s inaugural Rainforest Trail Run. (Gord Kurenoff photo)
Dennis Hill turned 74 on Sept. 15 and received new runners for a birthday gift.
Those new Hokas helped the Abbotsford speed walker record a personal best 44:41 on Sunday, as he won his 70-plus age category and trump his son-in-law in the family bragging department.
Dennis is this writer’s father-in-law, a couch potato four years ago who has since shed 60 pounds off his waistline and shaved big minutes off his 12K, 10K, 8K, 5K race times (in or out of costume!).
Two weeks ago I finished fourth overall in the 60-plus age group in the Lifestages Financial Planning Services Lower Mainland Road Race Series and was obviously thrilled. Dennis joked I should enjoy it because he was “going to do something special very soon.”
He was so happy with his awesome performance — and mother-in-law Linda’s sub-58 clocking — that he agreed to buy us lunch at the Humble Pie cafe!
Rose Isla, with son Jackson and husband Brian, enjoying orange slices after completing Sunday’s 5K. (Gord Kurenoff photo)
Rose Isla celebrated her 40th birthday by completing her 40th half marathon.
She admitted earlier in the week that since reaching that incredible milestone she has spent more time with young son Jackson and less time pounding the pavement.
But on Sunday Rose, Jackson and Brian all laced up and enjoyed a run/walk/crawl together and soaked up the Rainforest run experience after.
Jackson seemed to have his mom’s genes once he spotted the finish line as he began sprinting toward the race clock.
“He’s already faster than me,” laughed Rose. “He seemed to like this event a lot. Guess we’ll have to keep coming back!”
The kids’ races, held just before the 10 a.m. 5K, proved popular for spectators and with the young medal collectors. (Gord Kurenoff photo)
If there was one hiccup in this otherwise great debut, it was that the commemorative finisher’s medal designed by Don Yeomans wasn’t ready to be handed out.
Organizers cited an unexpected change in entry numbers for the delay and promised to have them delivered to participants in three to six weeks.
There were medals for the kids’ races earlier in the morning and they seemed to bring out the smiles.
Vancouver Sun Fun on the Run blogger Gord Kurenoff and Debra Kato compared race notes and outfit choices Sunday morning at Swangard Stadium.
She was hard to miss Sunday standing by the finish line.
The very orange Debra Kato, who ran the North Van Run 5K at 8:30 a.m. in a comfortable 37:20, then raced over to Swangard Stadium to cheer and take pictures of the Rainforest launch
“Wanted to show my support to the Clements,” said Kato, who is a regular race-day fixture and camera buff in the Lower Mainland.
She shot 500 pictures of the North Van Run, then many more at Swangard Stadium, and will rinse and repeat that process during a busy October race calendar.
For her Sunday photos click HERE.
FINISH LINES: I’ll be taking part in the inaugural 5K Butterfly Run on the South False Creek seawall Saturday morning (Oct. 5) and this sold-out event will be a welcome addition for a lot of women and families in B.C.’s Lower Mainland. “The Butterfly Run is a memorial run/walk so we can remember our babies who have died, and is also our way of raising awareness about infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth and infant loss,” says event chair Kimberly Lockhart, who was kind enough to include me in the debut. … Congrats to Richmond rocket man Evan Dunfee who finished third Saturday in the world championship 50K race walk in Doha, Qatar. The humidity there was nasty. … Congrats to Walter Downey of the Lions Gate Road Runners who finished the BMW Berlin Marathon on Sunday in 3:02:09. He’s run four marathons around the world this year and will do two more before we ring in 2020. … Patricia Stapleton of the Richmond-based Forever Young Club has qualified for the Boston Marathon, while her clubmate Susan Kimura completed the BMW Berlin Marathon on Sunday in 3:55:19.