© Copyright – 2023 – Athletics Illustrated
It could be argued that a little-known 5K road race near Victoria, BC, offers the fastest certified 5K road course in Canada, and perhaps North America. Yes, perhaps even faster than the Carlsbad 5000, which claims to provide the fastest 5K event in the world.
The Synergy Health Centre Bazan Bay 5K offers a perfect, near-imperceptible gain going out. There is one single turn—the 180-degree turnaround at halfway. The first 2.5K heading out is a straight shot south along the ocean, followed by a straight return along the same route to the finish line. Of course, the race is “on” from the gun, and then “on” all over again after the turnaround, as racers can feel the finish and the desire to kick very early.
The Carlsbad 5000, located on a seaside drive just 36 minutes north of San Diego, benefits from being a large race, with all-weekend road closures and full civic and corporate support. The event hosts state, national, and world age-group records due to broad community buy-in. Athletes travel from around the world to take part. Carlsbad is both an elite competition and a destination race weekend.
While the population of Carlsbad is 32,000, the city often refers to itself as a village. Local civic leaders fully embrace the annual weekend tradition, where many thousands gather to watch, cheer, or race. Carlsbad takes place during the first weekend of April each year and is a major event on the global road racing circuit. It is a bucket-list race, to be sure—and for good reason.
The men’s course record is 12:59.50, set by Kenyan Sammy Kipketer in 2000. Ethiopian Meseret Defar holds the women’s record at 14:46 from 2006. These are world-class athletes seeking a payday and to pad their résumés of accomplishments.
Bazan Bay is a short 20-minute drive north of Victoria on Vancouver Island, in Sidney “by the sea.” While the race is embraced by the town, support for road closures is limited to the approximately 30 minutes required to move participants through the finish chute. Where tens of thousands gather in Carlsbad, Bazan Bay sees hundreds on the course, with 500–800 participants racing. The race starts at the civilized hour of 11:00 AM, and by 1:00 PM, any signs of the event are typically gone.
In 2014, the race was won in 14:12 by local 1500m runner Geoff Martinson. Although this performance stands as the course record, Martinson, in breaking his own 2012 record of 14:20, ran alone for the entire race. There was no prize money to attract a competitive field. When asked if he could have gone sub-14 with competition, he said, “yes.”
Matthew Travaglini (14:35) winning the 2022 edition of the Bazan Bay 5K. Photo credit: Joseph Camilleri.
The women’s course record is 15:48, set in 2012 by two-time Canadian Olympian (2004, 2021) Malindi Elmore. With a deep field and prize money, she ran just eight seconds faster in Carlsbad in 2007. Elmore is noted for her consistency over a 20-year career spanning distances from the 1500m to the marathon. In fact, her 4:02.64 (1500m) and 2:24:50 (marathon) best performances earn identical World Athletics points scores of 1184. Her 5K best is rated at 1187. Elmore broke the Canadian marathon record with that 2:24:50 at the 2020 Houston Marathon—it was 16 years after achieving her 1500m best, an impressive range. The marathon record has since been surpassed by Natasha Wodak, who ran 2:23:12 in Berlin last year.
The question is: would the most competitive runners in the world break Carlsbad—or even world—records of 12:49 and 14:19 (mixed) / 14:29 (women-only), respectively, at Bazan Bay? The race organisers are not concerned with elite international performances. Bazan Bay is the finale of the Vancouver Island Race Series—a series under the provincial umbrella of the BC Super Series, a BC Athletics-sanctioned circuit. All courses are certified accurate for records and standards. But at the end of the day, the race is a club fundraiser.
That said, it would be interesting, with the advent of supershoes and an international field, to see just how fast the course really is. Carlsbad may claim the title of the “World’s Fastest 5K,” but it remains to be seen whether Bazan Bay is just as fast—or even faster. Elite athletes would need to compete for the sake of racing itself, rather than prize money, perhaps only to pad their road racing résumés.
The 2023 edition of the race takes place conveniently between the Vancouver Sun Run and the TC10K in Victoria, held on Sundays, April 16 and April 30, respectively. Bazan Bay is scheduled for Sunday, April 23.
ABOUT THE BAZAN BAY 5K
“Mx” refers to a mixed race (women competing alongside men). “Wo” refers to a women-only race.
The elevation profile graph of the Bazan Bay 5K is embellished. The course is flat, with a nearly imperceptible rise on the way out and a slight drop on the return to the finish.
