BY SCOTT MCDERMOTT
Light rain for the first few hours made for a nice cool temperature to run in, but a tough day for volunteers and spectators during Woody’s Marathon Sunday! As the day wore on, and rain increased, I really have to say how much I appreciate those volunteers, race organizers and family who stand around to cheer!
If you ever wonder if all the work the Town of Sylvan Lake does on trails and places to run has a positive effect, you need only see that our town and area had nearly 70 athletes running in one of the three distances at the event.
Seeing people work to, and complete a run like this is a wonderful thing for a coach or family. The dedication and commitment required to do such a thing is incredible, especially in our part of the world.
This winter has been particularly tough on runners, with an abnormally high number of days colder than -30° C and a longer than usual winter. Treadmills are okay, but long miles are more fun outside. Thankfully most drivers on Sylvan and area highways are quite generous to those of us hearty souls out on the shoulder getting in the miles in January, February and all through until May.
While the trails are coming along nicely, it is still true that in order to get in some long miles where the path is clear, the highway is the only choice.
This year at Woody's saw personal bests, gritty performances by people working through injuries and huge victories for people who have lost weight and gotten in great shape! There are also those who, in spite of everything, could not run and instead, volunteered or cheered. Hats off to you too!
Sylvan Lake and Area finishers included:
Marathon (finishing position out of 135 competitors) - Julian Price (7), Denis Leclerc (22), Joel Sinkwich (66), Lori Monaghan (84), John Andrews (103), and Patryk Siergiej (109).
Half marathon (finishing position out of 737 competitors) - Ryan Bell (47), Jeff Walker (78), Alexandra Lambert (79), Kristin Halsey (87), Steven Matejka (94), Chuck Downie (137), Crystal Workun (140), Kurt Saunders (166), Travis Clark (174), John Christie (189), Jill Junk (194), Seth Reid (247), Scott McDermott (248), Lyn Beckwith (261), Derek Fahrenschon (271), Cathy Janzen (272), Alanna Eastwood (305), Pat McNulty (314), Gary Moe (341), Russell Crook (373), Wesley Neal (412), Rita Johnson (419), Krista Kosonen (435), Pamela Engel (509), Lydia Walker (510), Elaine Halina (516), Kelsey Paul (544), Tiffanie Crombie (574), Daphne Klopstra (575), Natalie Reid (587), Jessica Helle (591), Steve Miller (675) and Richael Cormican (685).
10 km (finishing position out of 433 competitors) - Kent Dyck (8), Kevin Soley (9), Paige Fredrickson (58), Lauren Price (76), Kirk Mattson (84), Wendy Prediger (86), Heather Mattson (104), Denver Mattson (106), Scott Graham (141), Kimberly Burdick (149), Amy Heidt (158), Kayla Blinkhorn (164), Barb Wilson (175), Crystal Graham (193), Melissa Hambly (227), Cody Toews (229), Kira Sinnamon (243), Jayden Mitchell (246), Reeve Martin (251), Edwin Tymensen (259), Pam Mitchell (311), Janelle Mitchell (312), Deanna Mattson (319), Leanne Coulter (350) Tanya Gable (355), Bev Peck (356), Sara Bender (383), Nicole Green (402), Jorg Preuss (408) and Lorna Preuss (409).
For complete results go to: www.reddeermarathon.org/race-info/race-results/