Harriers Pioneer 8K draws impressive field

Late Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m., some of Canada’s top runners raced in the 35^th Harriers Pioneer 8K in Saanichton, B.C. Last year’s winner, Geoff Martinson, defended his title.

Martinson was successful in achieving a pre-race goal of running sub- 24:00, with a 23:41 – eight seconds quicker than last year’s time.

Second to cross the line was Rob Watson in 24:02. The BCEP runner took the field out in a blistering 2:48 first kilometre before ceding the lead to Martinson. “Today was an opportunity to make myself suffer,” Watson said after the race.

Two-time Olympic marathoner and top master Bruce Deacon also took part in yesterday’s event finishing ninth in 25:56.

Last year’s top female was Natasha Wodak, who broke the event’s 20-year-old record running 25:38 in 2013. Running a high mileage week going into this year’s race, Wodak placed second, eight seconds behind winner Erin Burrett, who crossed the line in 27:13.

“I honestly thought Natasha was going to take the race,” Burrett told Athletics Illustrated after her win. “I figured I was fighting with Sabrina [Wilkie] for second. “I went out with Natasha and I felt good, so I kept going… I figured if I blew up, then I blew up.” Burrett also mentioned that she attributes her current shape to running high mileage weeks, including a 164K week going into the race. ”

“I had to go do a workout after the race,” she admitted in a video interview.

Wodak is staying positive for this season and Tweeted Sunday afternoon about the morning’s race.

Tough go today but hey it’s January- lots of time to get fit!

— Natasha Wodak (@tasha_wodak) January 12, 2014

The Harriers Pioneer 8k has been hosted by The Prairie Inn Harriers running club since 1978. Race director Kathleen Birney says she’s proud that the club is able to host a race that is well attended by runners of all abilities to kick off the season.

“It’s such a great event,” she told Victoria News. “On Sunday, runners like me can race alongside a B.C. champion — at least for a while.”

There were 625 runners who finished yesterday with an average overall time of 40:35.