BY ERIC ELLIS
DRIFTWOOD contributor
Our apologies to our readers and to the nine competitors whose accomplishments went unacknowledged, who may have noticed that last week’s article only covered half the Salt Springers entered in the Thanksgiving weekend Goodlife Victoria road running events.
Shortly after two hours from the starting gun, Salt Spring Sneaker Keith Cloete crossed the event’s finish line in a time of 2:06:31, earning a 14th place in the men’s 70-74 group, four minutes better than his time in this race a year ago, a top two-thirds finish among all men and among all finishers.
Thirteen seconds later, Sneaker Conrad Bowden followed, his 2:06:44 being an 11-second improvement compared to last year.
Sneaker Catherine Bennett finished in 2:07:35, a three-minute improvement over her performance in last year’s race, sixth place among the 46 women in her age group. A Sneaker who will not be named followed less than a minute later.
The 13th Salt Springer to finish was Jennifer Kerrigan, whose time of 2:18:38 earned her a top two-thirds finish in her age group.
The 14th Salt Springer to finish was Sneaker Judith Beaglehole, completing her 14th Goodlife Victoria Half Marathon after a two-year break. Her time of 2:19:27 earned her a second place among the seven women in her 75-79 age group who finished.
The last half-marathon runner from Salt Spring to finish was Cathy Lenihan, persevering for three hours, 23 minutes and 23 seconds, a feat of endurance in which she prevailed over 15 other women in her age group.
Just after Lenihan’s finish, the first of three Salt Spring marathoners crossed the Goodlife finish line. Barely nine hours after his mother completed the Kona Ironman World Championships in Hawaii, her son Nevan Young crossed the finish line in his first marathon attempt in a time of 3:25:30 for fourth place of 26 in the men’s 20-24 age group, 135th of 610 men, and 163rd of 1,126 marathon finishers.
The second Salt Spring marathon finisher was Alexander Wilkinson. His 4:38:27 earned him a 77th place out of 92 in his men’s 30-34 age group, 458th place of 610 men and 737th of 1,126 total competitors.
The third Salt Spring finisher was Dominic Wild in his first marathon competition. His time of 4:54:09 earned him a 55th place of 61 in his men’s 45-49 age group, 502nd place of 610 men who finished, and 842nd of the 1,126 total finishers.
This past weekend, Salt Spring Sneakers coach Susan Gordon entered the 49th Annual James Cunningham Seawall 10km, held surprisingly enough around Stanley Park’s Seawall, with her brother, Ron Gordon, an honorary Sneaker from Port Moody. Susan finished the race in 44 minutes and 51 seconds for first place of 19 in her age group, seventh place among the 187 women who finished and 40th place among the 346 finishers. Her brother followed shortly in 47:20 for sixth place in his age group, 46th male and 58th overall.