PHOTOS: Local runner shatters Sidney’s Bazan Bay 5K record as series wraps
Published 6:38 pm Sunday, April 12, 2026
Under a covered sky, with temperatures just over 10 C, conditions were set for some of Western Canada’s fastest runners to chase top times.
As the countdown ticked, runners locked in, their eyes fixed on the road. As the clock hit 11 a.m., more than 650 runners launched at once for this year’s Bazan Bay 5K, held in Sidney on April 12, concluding the Vancouver Island Race Series.
Just over 14 minutes after the start, Victoria’s Liam Donnelly crossed the finish line in 14:04, setting a new course record and beating Geoff Martinson’s 2012 mark of 14:12.
Less than two minutes later, Victoria’s Katelyn Ayers was the first woman to finish, posting a time of 16:02 – 14 seconds shy of the record set by three-time Olympian Malindi Elmore.
Running at a breakneck pace of 3:11 per kilometre, Ayers, who is more accustomed to 10Ks and half-marathons, said she was surprised to finish as the top woman and establish her second personal-best 5K on the Peninsula course.
“Honestly, I’m pretty shocked,” she said smiling. “I definitely wasn’t expecting to run this fast, so I’m really stoked for where we are right now.”
Describing this shorter race as “quick but super intensive,” Ayers called this year’s conditions “perfect.”
“The first kilometre went pretty quick and then we settled in,” she said. “We had a really great group of four girls running, so that was a big motivator.”
Having raced for the past 11 years, Ayers now has her sights set on the upcoming TC10K at the end of April and plans to compete at the Canadian 10-km road race championships later this summer.
With racers ranging from teens to those in their 80s, race director Rob Hare said he was pleased to see strong turnout for the eighth and final race in the Vancouver Island Race Series, which features distances from 5K to 21K.
Rob Hare is the race director of the Bazan Bay 5K. (Olivier Laurin/Peninsula News Review)
As the shortest race in the series, Hare said the Bazan Bay course is all about speed.
“It’s a nice flat course out and back,” he said. “It’s one of the fastest courses for a 5K in North America so we expect very fast times, under 15 minutes.”
While it may be the shortest distance, Hare said the 5K presents a unique challenge, requiring a balance between endurance and sprinting.
“A 5K is way harder than people think because it’s not like a marathon where you kind of cruise,” he said. “You have to come out and run as hard as you can for the whole race.”
Still, Hare emphasized the race welcomes runners of all levels, ages and backgrounds.
“For some, the goal of the race is to be fast,” he said. “ For others, it might be the very first time they’ve actually entered a race and they just want to finish.”
For more information about the Vancouver Island Race Series, visit islandseries.org. For the results of the 2026 Bazan Bay 5K, visit islandseries.org/results/#/races/358.