© Copyright – 2026 – Athletics Illustrated
Canadian triathlete Liam Donnelly didn’t just win the Bazan Bay 5K on Sunday, April 12. Like Artemis II, he dropped the thrusters and burned off a good portion of fuel in the first km.
In setting a new course record of 14:05, Donnelly dragged the race a step closer to the long-teased 13-minute barrier and carved out a personal best in the process.
Katelyn Ayers matched the statement.
Fresh off a 1:14:01 win at the Comox Valley RV Half Marathon, she returned to the start line and dropped a 16:03 to take her second Vancouver Island Race Series victory of the season.
Men’s race
Donnelly launched hard and left the field following. He ran the first km in 2:43 (13:58 pace).
“I haven’t run a single 2:43 in training this year,” he shared.
Thrusters fully engaged, he tore off the line and immediately stretched the field. The damage was instant. By the finish, more than a few admitted they’d gone out too hot.
Donnelly included.
He swung around the 180-degree halfway turn, like a moon shot and headed for home with a head full of steam. No problem, Houston.
“I didn’t have much left. I was going so hard my leg sort of locked up with 100 metres to go.”
No one watching would have guessed.
Behind him, training partner Martin Sobey doubled down on the script—second place in 14:17, a personal best, and a repeat of their 1–2 finish from the 2025 TC10K. UVic Vike Jaxon Kuchar, running with Victoria Endurance Track Club, was next in 14:22.
The time matters, like space matter and the three ran like champs.
Donnelly didn’t just win—he moved past a generation of names that have defined this race. Steve Osaduik (14:46), three-time Royal Victoria Marathon champion. Jim Finlayson (14:58), coach of Cam Levins. David Milne (14:43), who once held the record before an Olympic dream unravelled in a steeplechase water pit, where he faceplanted and sank his goals.
Scott Simpson—Canadian 10,000m champion and owner of race sponsor, Saanich Physio+, ran 14:36. So did Olympic gold medallist Simon Whitfield. As recently as 2023, Yemane Mulugeta matched that mark.
And then there was Geoff Martinson.
In 2012, the former UVic Vike ran 14:12—alone, unchallenged, and still untouchable for 14 years. Asked if he could have gone sub-14 with competition, he didn’t hesitate:
“Yes.”
For more than a decade, that “yes” just hung there.
Until now.
“That was tough,” Donnelly said, laughing. “I went out a little too fast and led from the beginning. On the way back (it’s an out-and-back), you push, but you don’t see the finish until the last bend, and the clock just keeps ticking.
“I took a shot at 13. I’m happy with it. Today was a great day to run stupid.”
Women’s race
Ayers was in control.
After her half-marathon win just weeks ago, she stepped down in distance and delivered—16:03, and a second straight Island Series win.
It wasn’t far from history. Just one second off Natasha Wodak’s 2025 mark. But Malindi Elmore’s record still stands at 15:48. The only two to go sub-16 on the course are Elmore and Ayers.
Ally Ginther came through for second in 16:15, also a personal best. Beatrice Filion, still U20, took third in 16:16 and the junior win for the Montreal native.
Ayers’ time puts her right in the lineage—15 seconds off Malindi Elmore’s 15:48 from 2012. She’s been here before, too, winning in 2024 in 15:54.
Now based in Victoria, the 31-year-old from Orillia, Ontario, owns a track best of 15:37.51 and is clearly still moving forward.
“I’m really happy with yesterday’s result!” shared Ayers. “I was going into the race thinking that I’d be happy with 16:15-16:20 with where I’m at right now, coming off a pretty long half build. So to be closer to 16 minutes, I’m absolutely stoked! There was a strong group of women out front driving the pace. I just tried to hang on and put the hammer down the last kilometre. The race unfolded so fast, it was a bit of a blur. Really fun day, and we had perfect conditions in Sidney.”
“The course is awesome,” said Ginther. “Flat, fast—I’m stoked. I ran 16:31 last week at the St. Patrick’s Day 5K, so it was nice to get one rolling like this.”
Filion felt it too.
“It was really great. Fast course, great vibe—everyone on the line was ready to go,” she said. “We went out quickly, around 3:07 for the first kilometre. A bit hot for me, but we settled and then pushed again after 3K. That was the plan.”
Next up, Mexico, where she’ll represent Canada in triathlon.
Shoestrings…
18-year-old Rhys Olsen-Keating took the junior race in a time of 15:29. But he wasn’t alone. Three other U20 juniors were clocking under the 16-minute benchmark. Raimo Sollitt ran 15:42, Nico Stockwell 15:46 and Ausin Beese blew in at 15:55.
Nineteen-year-old Alexie Bowser has run five Island Race Series events this season and has hit the podium all five times with three wins. Each race she has run at a higher performance level than the previous. She finished third in her age group (20-24, turning 20 in 2026), with a big personal best of 17:29.
Nine athletes ran sub-15 minutes, 30 sub-16, 59 sub-17. Seven women ran sub-17, and 58 ran sub-20.
