The 34th annual Vancouver Sun Run was under great conditions for the event as 41,465 in all facets of the race from just ordinary runners to the Elite in the field, walkers, wheelchairs in the 10k and 5 race in this years event and a kids 2.5 mini marathon 28 countries were represented on this day under sunny skies.

The Runners, Walkers and Wheelchair racers all converged at the corner of the downtown core at Burrard and Georgia at 9:00am.

As the 2.5 k mini run was the first of the day @ Pacific Boulevard across from BC Place Stadium kicked things off in a perfect conditions for 8:00am.

While the reason for the run was being an annual event, it seemed that for most the main focus was at Georgia and Burrard where the 41,000 plus runners gathered for final registration that saw everyone (well most everyone) ready with  the traditional pre-race warm-up.

The 6,000 volunteers got everyone organized in the start of this years Sun Run prior to the official start of this years event.

They made sure that all of the participants by order were at the start line that saw the race start with the Competitive Wheelchair racers and Walkers starting first.

Everyone was in good spirits, mostly due to the weather conditions at race time that saw the event start with the signing of Canada’s National Anthem was sung prior to the event.

This was followed by the thousands of runners that were set to start at 8:40 which was closely followed by the Elite Women’s division.

Un next were the first wave of the Elite Men’s race next to get the rest of the competition on their way.

The next first wave of the remaining racers hit their marks in stages only due to the large amount of participants in the years race.

At times the racers were or seemed to be bunched in packs to start the 10K and 5K road race and it never took long until the early runners separated from the pack creating space between them as well as the other starters.

As the first finishers started to cross the finish line at 9:24 am followed by the thousands of runners and walkers in this years Sun Run and were interviewed behind the main stage at BC Place Stadium where all the runners converged at the conclusion of the race and made their way into BC Place Stadium to cool down.

Following the race all runners were supplied with fruits and vegetables plus other refreshments all graciously provided by numerous sponsors inside BC Place in a manner in which they could socialize with Family and Friends.

The Award ceremonies began at 11 AM with the winners receiving trophies and medals in all the categories in this years Sun Run presentations.

Winner in the Men’s category was Brendan Gregg of Davis California with a time of 29:14, while Vancouver’s Geoff Martinson placed second with a time of 29:35, closely followed by Calgary’s Mathew Travaglini who managed a time of 29:49.

This is Gregg’s fifth straight win  that saw him rewarded him a winners purse of $3,000.00, while Martinson received a purse of $1,500.00 for a second place finish.

Calgary’s Mathew Travaglini  had a respectable payday of $750.00, which makes the trip worthwhile, given the fact he got out of the snow for a weekend.

The Women’s winner was Monicah Ngige of Kenya who finished with a time of 32:23, closely followed by Emma Bates of the USA crossing the line with a time of 32:36.

Vancouver’s Rachel Cliff finished with a time of 32:41, while North Vancouver’s Natasha Wodak placed fourth.

This year saw an increase in the women’s field that jumped from 5 to 15 with the entire group finishing under 35 minutes.

Monicah Ngige collected a check for $3,000.00, while Bates took home $1,500.00 and Rachel Cliff accepted a check for $750.00.

The 10K Wheelchair race saw Tristan Smith come out on top rolling across the line with a winning time of 22:45, closely followed by Kelly Smith (a one hundredth of a second behind) also with a time of 22:45 while third place went to Sedrick Skabar at 31:14.

The top Canadian Women was Rachel Cliff also received a check for $2,500.00, while Vancouver’s Geoff Martinson received $2500.00 for being the top Canadians in the event.

For a complete list visit:  https://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.xhtml?raceid=95243

In the 10K Team Results – Friends and Family Categories are listed at the following link http://results.sportstats.ca/res2018/SunRunTeams.htm

Sunday saw a significant addition with the Youth Groups at various schools and money raised also went to the event.

The Sun Run presentations continued with a pair of big announcements in presenting checks in the amount of $70,000.00 to the Harry Jerome Track and Field Society.

The Vancouver Raise A Reader Foundation received a cheque in the amount of $15,000.00.

Next year marks the 35th anniversary for the run and no doubt plans are currently underway to make it bigger and better than the previous 34 successful years.

Congratulations to the organizing committee and a special “thanks” to all the volunteers helping out to once again make this very special for those attending.

Thanks to Bruce Nolte for covering the event