Home > Runs & Races

Electric atmosphere at Rock ‘n’ Roll Vancouver Half-Marathon

The Rock 'n' Roll Vancouver Half-Marathon featured more than of 5,000 participants touring the downtown core before finishing in scenic Stanley Park. (Photo: Bruce Wodder/PhotoRun.net.)

Rock 'n' Roll Vancouver Half

Half-marathon participants rocked the second of two event distances as part of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Oasis Vancouver race weekend on Sunday.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Oasis Vancouver Half-Marathon, one of two series stops in Canada in 2016, featured more than 5,000 race finishers in one of the city’s larger events on the road running calendar.

Jane Murage, who two weekends ago won the Victoria Half-Marathon, continued her stellar year winning the half on Sunday in overcast, albeit dry, conditions. She led for much of the race and had a sizeable gap over the other women’s podium finishers and said post-race that the supportive crowds helped her keep pace. Her winning time was 1:18:06, 90 seconds ahead of second place finisher Kristen Rohde.

RELATED: Saturday’s Cunningham Seawall 10K race report.

Murage led from the 3K mark onwards, as she noted in a post-race interview, and was cheered on by the supportive crowds on route. The race begins in the downtown core, before heading east and looping back along False Creek and finishing in Stanley Park, consistently ranked one of the world’s best parks.

In the men’s race, Seattle’s Turner Wiley won his first major event following his graduation from Seattle Pacific University. Sunday’s 1:07:55 was a personal best as five men were together for the first 6-7K before Wiley opted for a decisive move in an effort to “give it a go.” Wiley won by almost two minutes over Roosevelt Cook.

RELATED: Race day navigation made simple thanks to Waze, Rock ‘n’ Roll partnership.

Some of the leading runners noted the challenging sections of Stanley Park during the otherwise very-fast course. The route offers runners and walkers the opportunity to see much of Vancouver’s top landmarks including Gastown, the Seawall, Lions Gate Bridge, False Creek and Granville Island.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon series is well-known for its on-course energy that includes bands playing along the course, cheerleaders as well as post-race festivities. The Montreal Rock ‘n’ Roll Oasis Marathon & Half-Marathon is the only other stop in Canada as the circuit has 30 events worldwide.

Results

Top-5 men

Turney Wiley – 1:07:55
Roosevelt Cook – 1:09:46
Yon Yilma – 1:09:58
Zachary Holloway – 1:10:50
Anthony Tomsich – 1:11:17

Top-5 women

Jane Murage – 1:18:06
Kristen Rohde – 1:19:45
Sarah West – 1:19:55
Sophia Ziyang Liu – 1:22:24
Lissa Zimmer – 1:22:33

Full results can be found here.

Saturday’s 46th annual Cunningham Seawall 10K had more than 3,000 runners, according to race results, a nice preview of the large crowd who took on the half-marathon on Sunday. Participants who challenged themselves by doing races both days earned an extra piece of race swag in the form of a guitar-themed Remix Challenge Medal.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BL6j0ehBNlh/

Five Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon series remain for 2016 before the 2017 campaign gets underway.

Check out the latest buyer's guide:

The best trainers in Canada under $150

We curated the best performance trainers under $150 to meet your 2024 running goals, while staying on budget