Teammates Fielding (11) and Smith (76) win Cobble Hill 10K in a race for the ages
Comox Valley Road Runners (CVRR) club members, Keira-Marie Fielding, and Roslyn Smith raced in the BC 10K Championships and Cobble Hill 10K and won. They are aged 11 and 76, respectively.
Keira-Marie Fielding
Fielding won the U20 category at 42:16 (42:10 chip). She is now the provincial U20 champion.
She also won the U16 age group which is indicated as “01-15,” in the published results.
The BC Athletics awarded the Cobble Hill 10K the championships, which is race two of the Vancouver Island Race Series. The championship event is held for two years before moving to another road race event.
Finishing second was Amariah Zult with Club Rapide, who won the 16-19 category in the time of 43:24. Taking third was Elsa Romanik clocking 48:10.
Asked what Fielding’s expectations were going into the race, she said, “I was expecting a 4:15 per kilometre and I wanted my finish time to be a 42:30. Instead of running off pace, I ran off feel and that got me a 42:16.”
Of the three times that she has competed in the Vancouver Island Race Series, Fielding has improved her performance. At the 2023 Bazan Bay 5K she ran 22:38 or 4:32 per km. The following year — nine months ago — on April 14, she improved by two minutes and three seconds clocking a 20:35 time.
The 2025 Cobble Hill 10K run was another step forward performance-wise.
Fielding also plays competitive soccer. “Sometimes I’ll have to choose whether my priority at the time is soccer or running.”
And that is a good problem for her to have. Soccer players are typically good distance runners.
“Every year I run track and field with my school. Last year, I ran the 1500 metre against Grade 6’s and 7’s, boys, and girls, and won. This year I will be training with the Comox Valley Cougars for track and field. However, sprinting is not one of my strengths, but I will still try sprinting to train my fast twitch muscles,” shared Fielding.
“Every year I run cross country for my school. Last year and this year, I won all 5 races.”
Fielding enjoyed the Cobble Hill 10K course. She shared that she liked how “we ran through some forests to get some fresh air. I also liked how the hills weren’t too big. Just some small rolling hills throughout the course.”
Roslyn Smith
At the other end of the age spectrum, CVRR teammate, Roslyn Smith, (competing in the 75-79 age group) finished in the time of 54:13. While Fielding’s performance is age-graded to 81%, Smith’s is 86% — they are both fast.
Last year Smith, took the world’s best-known time in the 8K. According to the Canadian Masters Association (CMA), the previous Canadian best was 41:41 by Burnaby’s Karin Vickars. Vickars ran that performance during the 2013 Royal Victoria Marathon’s 8K event.
The previous world best according to the Association of Road Racing Statisticians, which has not been updated since 2017, was 40:23 by Louise Gilchrist of Manchester, United Kingdom from her performance on May 25, 2009.
While Fielding will likely continue to improve, Smith is ageing gracefully.
Pre-race Smith shared that she was just getting over being sick and recovering from an injury. Otherwise, she may have run into the 90th percentile. In 2024, she ran the Cobble Hill 10K in 49:04. The year prior, Smith was running in the 48s.
She will be back.
Fielding will be back as well.
She plans to race her third-consecutive Bazan Bay 5K on Sunday, April 13. She will likely be able to challenge well under 20 minutes. Fielding does not turn 12 until next autumn.
