The SRC team prepared for dreary skies, rain and wind as the calendar turned to the Mesa Marathon Weekend and First Half. Unlike the picturesque conditions we’ve lauded in the past at Mesa, this time we splashed through the streets. While not nearly as unexpected, our athletes racing on the other side of the border in Vancouver faced similar rainy conditions.
Despite the uncertainty that hovered as thick as the clouds, the SRC team's spirit remained undiminished and we saw many personal bests and excellent runs take place over the weekend.
In Mesa we had 24 athletes and coaches turn up to tackle the 10k, half and marathon distances, kicking off the fun with a Friday morning shake-out run followed by a team dinner.
Other highlights include SRC taking third place in the half marathon team division where our team not only had the only female runners in the top three but was a team entirely comprised of women!
In Vancouver we had 4 athletes travel from YYC to race Canada’s fastest half marathon, the First Half.
In conditions where many would falter, the SRC team soared. Here's how our athletes shone through the rain:
MESA Crew:
Lauren Barr - Half - 1:20:48 NEW PB Lauren is on a PB hot streak! Setting PB's in both the half and the marathon in 2023 she kicked off 2024 with yet another stellar performance. |
Ben Cooper-Janvier - Marathon - 2:49:07 NEW PB + BQ PB CITY! Ben ran a 12-minute PB and punched his ticket to Boston! |
Bhreaugh Castellani - Half - 1:36:13 NEW PB Bhreaugh has been a fixture at our practices and we appreciate her team spirit. It was a joy to see her run a speedy race and feel like the absolute rock star that she is! |
Calvin Chan - Marathon: 3:15:12 NEW PB Huge marathon PB alert! Calvin ran a courageous and incredibly smart race to take nearly 30 minutes off his previous marathon PB. |
Anne Chang - 1:37:04 Half NEW PB Always a pleasure to have Coach Anne join the fun! We were so happy to have her along for the trip. |
Melissa Choi - Half - 1:32:31 NEW PB Melissa ran one heck of a race and rounded out the SRC team that took 3rd place in the half marathon division. |
Heather Fahr - Half - 2:43:10 We were so happy to have Heather join us in Mesa! Heather used the half as a building block for her upcoming marathon in Eugene. |
Lily Harris - Half - 1:54:28 Lily's goal was to make it to the start line healthy after missing Mesa in 2022. It was a pleasure to have this positive force travel to Arizona and run with the team! |
Leanne Klassen - Half - 1:18:36 Our very own Coach Leanne showed up in Mesa to support the crew and use the half as a marathon pace workout as part of her build for Eugene. |
Michele Langer - 10K - 58:16 Michele just keeps chipping away at her 10k time! Her hard work and dedication allowed her to shave 2:40 off her 10k time from September. |
Tracy Potts - Half - 1:39:52 Tracy joined us from YEG! We had SO MUCH FUN getting to know Tracy better and can't wait to see what she does next. |
Lynsey Romano - Half - 1:24:18 Coach Lynsey showed up with the intent of running Mesa as a fitness check-in as she returned to training after a December marathon. A lot of fun was had especially in the last 100m as coach Jill and Lynsey had a little footrace to the finish. |
Kirsten Suchan - Marathon - 2:51:11 NEW PB Kirsten smashed her PB taking an incredible 7minutes off of her marathon time! |
Joelle Tomlinson - Half - 1:35:07 Despite a challenging training block Joelle showed up and ran an awesome race! |
Jill Galarneau - Half - 1:24:16 NEW PB Coach Jill crushed it and got herself a shiny new personal best in AZ! |
Petra Graen - 10K - 40:26 A great effort by Petra where she captured first place in the 50-54 AG! |
Kamila Swiatek - Marathon - 3:23:48 - NEW PB + BQ 6 minute PB at Mesa! Last May Kamila qualified for Boston but with the 7-min buffer she didn’t quite get in. This time around she worked hard for another BQ and a bigger buffer to punch her ticket to Boston. |
Stephanie Dunn - Half - 1:48:19 Steph and Coach Jill had the goal of making it to the start line healthy as Steph has been rehabbing an injury. Steph successfully ran a pain-free half marathon and ran an extremely smart race. This was a building block for her upcoming half in May! |
Christina Bigrigg - Marathon - 4:40:02 FIRST Marathon! Huge congratulations on your first marathon Christina! |
Paul Romano - Half - 1:51:47 This was a 'first race back' for Paul after a long hiatus from running. His coach (and wife) Lynsey is incredibly proud of Paul's consistency and patience. Next up for Paul is 42.2 at the Calgary Marathon this May. |
Kat Day - Half - 2:07:41 NEW PB After several small injuries, Kat returned to racing and captured a new half-marathon PB! Kat's dedication to her rehab program was nothing short of admirable. Next up: 42.2 at the Calgary Marathon! |
Rebecca Lockhart - 10k - 57:32 Rebecca joined us from Utah. Always fun to get to meet our international runners! |
Louisa Young - 1:41:08 An incredible return to racing as a new mom of two! |
Jason Yue - Half - 1:46:20 NEW PB Jason joined us as part of the Mesa Group. It was great to get to know Jason better and see him set a new PB in AZ. |
FIRST HALF Crew:
Jeff Shikaze - 1:21:18 Always a rockstar in our books! Jeff, you ran a great race despite some tough weather. |
Breanne Everette - 1:26:42 Rockstar! Breanne hopped into First Half as a fitness check-in. We can't wait to see what she does next. |
Stephan Girard - 1:29:29 NEW PB This guy is on FIRE! Stephan continues his PB hot streak shaving a few more seconds off of his half marathon despite challenging conditions. |
Kim Girard - 1:36:50 Kim ran the most courageous race and had so many personal wins on this rainy day. Kim used First Half as a training run as she prepares to run Boston this spring! |