It was a day of firsts for David Gobbi.
The former Prince Georgian took part in his inaugural Labour Day Classic and wound up crossing the finish line first in the 17-mile distance.
"I knew there was a possibility that I would win," said the 39-year-old who lives in Calgary. "You always want to race and you always hope that you'll be first; I'm glad it happened. This is the first race that I have won."
It was a cool, cloudy Sunday morning as close to 200 participants for the 38th annual Classic lined up at the Prince George Civic Centre to start the race at 9. Gobbi crossed the finish line 1:50:20 (hour, minute, second) later.
"I knew I had a good pace from the very beginning," said Gobbi. "I was tied for the lead for about the first five miles of the race and then I cut out ahead.
"At the very end, for the last about three miles of the race, I had another guy hot on my trail, so I kind of had to lay on the speed."
Ryan McMaster of Prince George placed second with a time of 1:50:37, while Bryce Gladdish was third (1:51:33).
After the race, Gobbi spent some time jogging back and forth in front of the Civic Centre as other runners and walkers mingled, munching on muffins and chatting with friends.
"I just need to stretch out my legs or else they're going to stiffen up on me," he said.
Gobbi started running three years ago to get into shape and discovered he had a knack for it, so he began taking it more seriously.
"As we all get older and start to put on a few pounds we wonder what we can do to make ourselves a little bit healthier," said Gobbi.
The Classic was Gobbi's third run of the summer, but his shortest distance, having completed the Calgary and Edmonton marathons.
"I did reasonably well in both of them; didn't come anywhere close to winning," he said.
Shar Jackson was the first woman to cross the finish line in the 17-mile run with a time of 1:52:42, with Lindsey Manning coming second (seventh overall) in 2:09:25.
The 8.5 mile run saw Brian Nemethy of Vanderhoof finish first in 51:05, while another Vanderhoof runner, Danielle Carter, come second in 52:20 and Prince George's Jacqui Benson placed third with a time of 58:36.
In the five-kilometre run, it was a pair of Vanderhoof runners coming second and fourth overall. Alexander Nemethy (19:40) was second for men, while Hilary Desmarais (20:27) placed first for women. Austin Bartell of Prince George was first with a time of 18:41, while Zachary Matyas (19:54) was third.
There was also a one-kilometre kids fun run and an 8.5 mile walk.
Best "buddies" Cris MacDonald, Penny Jacob and Margaret Jackson all finished the walk before noon.
"If you show up you're a winner," said Jackson, 60, about taking part in the Classic.
MacDonald, 69, finished well ahead of her pals, trying to keep pace with another speed walker, while Jacob, 61, finished just ahead of Jackson.
"It was great to go with a partner to encourage each other," said Jacob.
MacDonald and Jacob were walking fresh off medal-winning performances at the British Columbia 55-plus senior games in Trail last month. MacDonald earned three gold medals in triple jump, the 200-metre dash and the relay, while Jacob won two relay golds.
