A new route did little to slow down the field at the Sandcastle City Classic 10K Sunday.
This year’s run – the route for which was altered this year due to construction along Marine Drive – was won by Nairobi, Kenya runner Solomon Rotich, who set a blistering pace and finished in 31 minutes, 44 seconds. Rotich’s time was two minutes and 40 seconds faster than that of the second-place finisher, Vancouver’s Evan Elder.
The final spot on Sunday’s podium went to White Rock runner Chris Barth, who placed third with a time of 34:54. Barth did not run last year’s Sandcastle City Classic, but is no stranger to the event, having finished fourth in 2012.
The annual race – which is hosted by the Semiahmoo Sunrunners and is part of the Timex BC Road Running Series – began Sunday morning in a residential area of Crescent Park, and runners wound their way south to finish at Centennial Park in White Rock. In previous years, the race finished along the Marine Drive waterfront.
Prior to the race, organizer Tina Hansen-Baker suggested Rotich would be the man to beat, considering the speedy Kenyan was coming off a win in the previous Timex series race, the Shaughnessy 8K run in late May. He also won a recent 10-km race in Calgary and was sixth in April’s Vancouver Sun Run.
He is the second Kenyan runner to win the race in as many years; Kenya’s Paul Kimugul – winner of this year’s Sun Run – won last year’s Sandcastle Classic in a time of 30:44.
Other local runners to fare well on the new course were Surrey’s Jordan Gin, who was fourth overall and first in the under-20 division with a time of 36:09.
Surrey’s Jaime Reston, who clocked a time of 37:43; and Drew Nicholson, who ran the route in 37:52, also finished in the top-10, while Bass Spender was 11th, in 38:17.
The first woman to cross the finish line was Vancouver’s Jen Moroz, who was sixth overall with a time of 37:18. Fellow Vancouver runner Georgia Russell was second, in 39:35, while Surrey’s Alexandra Stastuk was third, in 40:18.
Other Surrey and White Rock runners included Joshua Weiss (38:50), Davey Gin (40:42), Curtis and Matthew Christopherson (both 42:36) and Tracey Corbett (43:34).
For full results, visit www.startlinetiming.com and click the ‘Sandcastle Classic’ link.