Cedar 12K Archives - Vancouver Island Race Series

Ambassador, Ambassador media, Cedar 12K, Sean Mitchell

Ambassador media: Cedar 12k recap – AKA what to do, and what not to do

So the third race of the 2024 Vancouver Island Series, the Cedar 12k, fell on the day after another event in my calendar, a retirement party for local sporting legend and SMUS teacher Ian Hyde Lay. Let’s just say that a good time was had by all. Those who visited the Bard and Banker that evening, and let’s also say that when my Sunday morning alarm went off, racing 12k was far, far from my mind.

But, mainly because I volunteered to drive the carpool (sucker!), off I went. I said to one of my club mates that I was going to take a wait-and-see approach. And after a cup or two of black coffee, a bite to eat and some last-minute hydration on the drive up, I was feeling good enough to toe the line. Not good enough to challenge my PB, mind you, but still OK. In the back of my mind, I thought “Well, let’s start at a minimal effort pace (5:00/km for me), and see how we do.” And then the horn went on the start line, and away we went…

Sean Mitchell finishing the Cedar 12K. Photo credit: Christopher Kelsall

And of course, all those good and sensible ideas got thrown out the window. Truth be told, I got into a comfortable rhythm and managed a respectable 4:30/km for the first 5k. After getting to the one standout ‘hill’ at that point (and waving at Brandon and Dusty already headed back…), I took a bit of stock of my condition and felt pretty good, truth be told.

I decided on the way back to see if I couldn’t get progressively faster on the return. And I ended up doing just that, negative splitting by almost two minutes (26:53/25:07) to finish right around 52:00, which would have been just 5 seconds off my PB. If it hadn’t been determined later that the course was approximately 90m short. Ah well. That time was still good enough for 10th place in the horrendously competitive M50-54 age group. So I was pretty pleased overall. And the warm hospitality and snacks from our friends at Bastion Run Club made it a great day.

Sean’s Strava race stats: https://www.strava.com/activities/10743274292

Cedar tips: What to do

Have fun
Run the rolling road to your advantage
Run the tangents – every little bit helps!
Hang around and socialize afterwards, and cheer on the award winners

What NOT to do

Neglect your hydration and race prep as I did
Get too excited with the first 1k downhill – hope you didn’t go out too fast!

This coming Sunday, Feb 25th is the unique Hatley 8k, put on by Frontrunners Athletic Club on the grounds of Royal Roads University in Colwood. I say unique because it’s part road, part trail with a sizeable hill in between. This is a race to focus on effort, not pace or time, but don’t let that scare you – it’s a great course and a lot of fun. Hope to see you there!

February 17, 2024

Nanaimo Cedar 12K, News

Triumphant return for the Cedar 12K
and winners Logan Roots and Meg Lewis-Schneider

The Cedar 12K road race made a triumphant return to the streets of Cedar, BC on Sunday. The Bastion Run Club-organized race had a two-year pandemic break and was back with its largest field in a decade with 432 finishers, the sixth most in the race’s 31-year history.

Meanwhile, winners Logan Roots and Meg Lewis-Schneider returned to the Vancouver Island Race Series in triumphant fashion winning in the times of 38:56 and 43:57, respectively.

Logan Roots with the win. Photo credit: Joseph Camilleri

Roots started with a few competitors but left them after 1K. He built a lead that he kept it from gun to tape. It was a course and distance personal best for the Courtenay-based member of Esprit RC.

“That [race] went better than expected. I didn’t really have a plan or a goal besides going out hard enough to regret how hard I went out and overall that went well,” shared the Canadian military member. “I still had the marathon in my legs today.”

Roots ran the Houston Marathon in January and will be racing the Sooke 10K in two weeks time.

Finishing in second place was Cole Czuchnicki in the time of 42:05. Taking third and first master was Keith Mills who clocked a new personal best of 42:27.

Lewis-Schneider finished first woman and ninth overall. In 2023, she was going to take a hiatus from racing, however, went to cheer on fellow Esprit RC members during the Harriers Pioneer 8K — the first race of the series (Sun., Jan 8). She subsequently signed up for the series, wishing she was in that race.

Lewis -Schneider won her previous Island Series race one year ago taking the Cobble Hill 10K in 35:37.

“I started training in mid-January, so today was really just a starting point. I am going to do the rest of the series, but I had no expectations, so, I am pleased with the result,” shared Lewis-Schneider.

Meg Lewis-Schneider with the win. Photo credit: Joseph Camilleri

Taking second place was Briana Brandon with her 46:32 finish time. Natasha Parsons took third in the time of 46:51. The first master was Lucy Smith (55-59) in the time of 48:09.

The next race in the Vancouver Island Race Series takes place Sunday, February 26 in Sooke at the Westcoast Running Sooke 10K.

Information about the race series is available at www.islandseries.org.

February 13, 2023

Ambassador media, Nanaimo Cedar 12K, News

Lucy Smith’s race week advice: The top five

One aspect of self awareness is the ability to be open minded. That is, to know when our perspective of a situation is based on our opinion or point of view, and to understand that there may be other ways to thinking about things. I was recently offering some advice to a friend who is pondering running the Finlayson Arm 50k. My perspective came from my opinions about training, preparation, and execution of such an event and was focussed on what practices and habits will be required for success. Another friend of his simply said “Drink a bunch of beers the night before and SEND IT!”

There have been times in my coaching life that I feel like the ‘Lucy’ from the Peanuts cartoon, dispensing advice for 5 cents. Obviously, my advice to runners always come from the perspective of what I have learned over many years. What follows then, are the most common themes of running advice I have dispensed over the years, distilled into five tips.

1. Develop positive habits

Have the courage to know when your habits are creating the same mistakes over and over and cultivate the courage to change these. Good habits work for you, and easily become the norm for your workouts.

Take care of basic details: prep logistics and being organized with gear and time.

Find and embrace opportunities to succeed. You get better at this the more you practice it.

Weather the ups and downs of training and racing. Be no nonsense about that one. Life goes up and down. It just does.

Do not entertain a change of heart when having a tough day or after a tough race. Allow time to emotionally recover from disappointment. Reflect and move on.

2. Reflect honestly

Review your races. Improve what you can and give yourself credit for what you did well.
Refine what didn’t go so well. Be honest with yourself, without judgement.

3. Take care of yourself and surround yourself with a healthy community of friends

Eat well, sleep well, and take care of your body and health. It is quite simple.

Surround yourself with likeminded positive people who lift you up. Put yourself in environments that support your dreams and passions. (Such as the Island Series and other events). In other words, spend your time well.

4. Listen to others

You never know what you may learn but be discerning as well. From what you learn, custom build the program and lifestyle that works for you.

Find a greater purpose

Give back when you can. Share the joy of your process and your achievement and celebrate others’ successes. Find opportunities to give back and accept opportunities to give back when they come. Thank the volunteers.

Run For Joy!