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Kelowna’s Brad Bickley unseated Aaron Heidt of Vernon as the Okanagan Half Marathon champion on Sunday.
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Bickley, a University of Calgary graduate and a former member of the Dinos track and field/cross country team, covered the 21.1 km course along Okanagan Lake and through the streets of Kelowna in one hour 12 minutes 24 seconds (1:12:24).
The 26-year-old led from start to finish (at Okanagan College), while Heidt, last year’s winner was the runner-up in 1:13:17. Cael Wainer placed third with a clocking of 1:25:06.
Gina Tranquada of Kelowna led the women, completing the 14th annual OC Half in 1:29:55, followed by Tracy Dayman (1:33:57) and Jodi Cochran (1:34:17).
Christy Lovig defended her women’s 10-kilometre title with the same record-time she set last year. The Kelowna lawyer was clocked in 36 minutes 48 seconds (36:48). Alison Gill of Kelowna placed second in 41:59 and Camille Galloway of Kelowna finished third in 42:33.
The UBC Okanagan cross country team swept the first three spots in the men’s 10K event. Sam Goodrich finished first in 35:49, while Heat teammate Michael Mitchell was second in 36:00 and Alex Hanson, third in 37:36.
The half marathon relay event was won by team “Your Pace or Mine?” The five runners covered the course in a time of (1:47:58). Team members included: Jennifer Hostland, Lizzy McKinlay, Laura Fylyshtan, Matt Gibson and Teddy Haley.
“There were an awful lot of happy faces on the course today,” said race director, Christine Ulmer. “The sun was shining and temperatures were absolutely perfect. On top of that, we had the largest number of volunteers ever for the race this year so it was very well run and things went off without a hitch. We didn’t break any records but judging by the number of people who thanked me at the finish line, it was a huge success.”
The Okanagan College Half Marathon, 10K and relay is an annual not-for-profit event that raises funds to support student bursaries.
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