A 14-year-old Kelowna resident placed among the top 10 finishers of the 2015 Kelowna Wine Country Half Marathon on Sunday.
Jacob Harris came in first in the youth category, and 10th overall. The young man, who moved with his family to Kelowna from London, Ont. two years ago also ran this course in 2014.
Awesome work by this 14-yr-old speedster who not only won 19 and under but also volunteered all weekend! Way to go! pic.twitter.com/OhcAkhCClo
— Wine Country Half (@winecountryhalf) September 6, 2015
“I race a lot,” Harris said. “This might be my fifth half-marathon. And last year I ran this in 1:24-something.”
1:24-anything is an excellent time. Harris clocked in at 1:19:54 on Sunday, and, to put it in perspective, the top time overall was 1:10:04.
That time was clocked by Steve Dekoker, a 34-year-old runner from Seattle, Wash..
The top local finisher was Brad Bickley of Kelowna, with a time of 1:11:57, while Erin Burrett of Nanaimo was first among the female runners with a clocking of 1:15:43.
Jason Deleurme of Kelowna crossed in 11th place overall in a time of 1:23:52, good for second among 26 men in the 35-39-year-old category. First place in the men's 60-64 age division went to Kelowna's Rolly Muller. He covered the course in 1:31:15. Second place went to Larry Doan of Vancouver in 1:38:49.
Burrett also set a course record for women, bettering last year's record holder by 12 seconds.
The Kelowna Wine Country Half Marathon is produced by Destination Races, an American company that three years ago selected the Okanagan as its first race location outside of the borders of the United States.
The course is 21.1 kilometres long, and winds among the hills between the Vibrant Vine Tasting Room in East Kelowna and Waterfront Park. A wine and music festival for race participants began at Waterfront Park at 9:30 a.m., with the race itself starting at 7 a.m.
“Great course, great views, downhill’s pretty challenging but I’m a downhill runner,” summarized Dekoker. “It’s beautiful country.”
Race day results can be found here.
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