(C) Copyright - 2008 - Christopher Kelsall 

Victoria, BC – Royal Victoria Marathon - Sunday, October 12, 2008 - The 29th Annual Royal Victoria Marathon (RVM) was run in perfect weather conditions while Victorians got to see Steve Osaduik of Langley, BC take his third consecutive title on this course. Osaduik is the course record holder with a 2:16:49 from 2006. He was racing Sunday after a lengthy break with injury and managed a 2:25:31 off of a 1:11:08 first half split. Steve continues to look for an IAAF World Championships in Athletics 'Berlin 2009' qualifying time.

Jason Terauchi-Loutitt from nearby Shawnigan Lake, BC battled for the first half of the race with Osaduik, splitting the first half with a 7 second lead however, Steve pulled away with Terauchi-Loutitt finishing in third with a time of 2:31:13, holding his newborn baby through the chute. Victoria’s Todd Howard finished second in 2:28:43.

Cheryl Murphy set out to break the 19 year old course record of 2:42:32 set by Val Chowaniec in 1989. She missed her goal by just half a minute, but did set the 35-39 age group record finishing in 2:43:01. She ran the third fastest women’s time in RVM’s 29 year history. Cheryl currently has qualified for the Berlin Worlds with a debut marathon of 2:40 set in March, 2008. Wendy Terris from Milwaukie, Oregon was second in 2:48:04 and Vancouver’s Katherine Moore third in 2:54:12.

Joan McGrath 2003 RVM winner of New Westminster, BC set the women’s 45-49 age group record in 2:56:33. Cindy Rhodes from Kelowna, BC set the women’s 50-54 age group record in 3:09:27. Cindy Rhodes has won the Royal Victoria Marathon on 6 occasions with 3 consecutive in the 1993, 1994 and 1995 races. Her course personal best is 2:48:45.

Ryan Day from Vancouver, BC won the half marathon with a finishing time of 1:08:50. Victoria’s Jim Finlayson, who two weeks prior ran the Toronto Waterfront Marathon 2:22:15 was second in 1:09:11 and Jason Warick from Saskatoon came third in 1:09:22. Finlayson twice has been Canada’s Marathon Champion, competed in the world cross country championships and officially holds the world record for the beer mile in 5:09. RVM Half Marathon course record is held by 3 time winner, Victoria’s Jon Brown in 1:02:32 set in 2002.

Calgary’s Lindsay McLaren won the women’s half marathon with a finishing time of 1:21:38. Also in the race were Laura De Munain from Vancouver who finished second in 1:24:03, Natalie Ball, also from Vancouver finished third in 1:24:20. Course record is held by Victoria’s Lucy Smith with her time of 1:16:11, which doubles as the master’s course record.

Victoria runners took eight of the top ten spots in the 8K race. Ryan McKenzie won in 23:56, Scott Simpson was second in 24:22 and third was Olympic triathlon silver medalist Simon Whitfield in 24:30. Course record is held by Victoria’s Gary Barber he finished the race in 1989 with a time of 23:23.

In the women’s race Richmond, BC’s Rachael Ruus won in 28:39, Nancy Tinari from Coquitlam, BC was second in 28:44, and Vancouver’s Rachel McBride was third in 28:56. Ulla Marquette of Victoria, BC holds the current course record of 26:24, which she set in 1991.

The Royal Victoria Marathon, Half Marathon, 8k Road Race and Kids 1.2k race set a new record for participation with 10, 325 registrations.

Full results are available at Race Headquarters

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Contact Chris: chriskelsall@flocasts.org