2016 ISLAND RACE SERIES MEDIA RELEASE Watson and Wodak Triumph in the First Race of the Island Series Five Age Group Records Set (Victoria, BC – January 11) Rob Watson and Natasha Wodak won the opening race of the 2016 Vancouver Island Race Series, the Harriers Pioneer 8K in Saanichton. The race – celebrating its 37th year – was also the first race in the new BC Super Series. The race had 526 finishers and was hosted by the Prairie Inn Harriers. The elite field in both the men’s and women’s race was one of the most competitive in recent years – in addition to Watson, Dylan Wykes, Chris Winter, Brandon Lord, Shoayb Bascal and Jeff Symonds were in the men’s open, and Rachel Cliff, Catrin Jones, Marilyn Arsenault and Lucy Smith were challenging Wodak in the women’s race. With just a few seconds between the top three finishers, Watson had enough kick at the end to finish in 23:47, ahead of Winter (23:55) and Lord (23:56). Lord also set a new age group record for M20-24. Kevin O’Connor was the top master finishing in 25:43. Watson was in the lead for all of the race but he had to dig deep on the undulating course knowing the competition was just behind him. He said afterwards: “I was feeling it over the final kilometre, but lucky enough I had put enough of a gap on them that they didn’t catch up to me.” This was Winter’s first Harriers 8K and he was delighted with his run earning himself a personal best. “This was exactly what I was hoping for,” said the 32-year-old from Vancouver. “It’s great to get back into racing. Initially I was planning for more of a tempo run, but when I saw the field I knew I had to put in a good hard effort.” Wodak, looking for her fifth Pioneer 8K victory, was ahead of the field for all of the race, finishing in 26:31, also setting a W35-39 age group record. Second was Rachel Cliff in 27:10 and third and top master was Lucy Smith finishing in 28:27. “I really like this course and my goal was to finish in 26:30 so I am very pleased,” Wodak said afterwards. She now goes to Japan to compete in a half marathon in February, followed by the World Half Marathon Championships in Wales in March. For 19-time National Canadian Champion, Smith, this was another great race. “I am running my favourite races this year so will be at Bazan Bay 5K and the TC10K,” she said. “The 37th annual Pioneer 8K Road Race provided some brilliant performances both in the women's and men's fields in what turned out to be the most competitive and entertaining race in the 37 years that I have been involved with the race,” said Bob Reid, High Performance Athlete Director. “I was particularly pleased to see Rob Watson lead from wire to wire but, more importantly, he ran a much smarter race compared to two years ago when he charged to the front and led for six kilometres before being overtaken by Geoff Martinson. Today, he looked more relaxed through his mid-race 4K split of 11:51 and was able to hold off a fast charging Chris Winter and Brandon Lord who finished eight and nine seconds back. It was a fitting victory for a fitting champion and Rob ran 15 seconds faster than last years’ time. A special shout out goes to the 50 Prairie Inn Harriers volunteers that helped today and to the 50 PIH runners that competed in the race. It was definitely a super event to initiate a Super Series in all aspects.” 2016 ISLAND RACE SERIES The other age group records were Liam Dwyer, Boys 1-15 in 29:24; Nancy Baxendale, W55-59 in 32:04, and Valerie Gonzalez, W70-74 in 42:30. The next race in the Island Series is Cobble Hill 10K on January 24, followed by Cedar 12K on February 7, Hatley Castle 8K on February 21, Synergy Health Management Bazan Bay 5K on March 6, Comox Valley RV Half Marathon on March 20, and Sooke River 10K on April 3. All races are sanctioned by BC Athletics. For full results go to: http://vira.bc.ca/ To register online for the series go to: http://vira.bc.ca/series/ - 30 - For more information contact: Louise Hodgson-Jones Media Liaison, VIRA 250-812-2518 [email protected] .