Brian and Geoff Martinson lined up next to each other for a race for the first time in more than a decade during Sunday's 40th annual Labour Day Classic in Prince George.
But, they weren't next to each other for long as Geoff sprinted away once the starter's pistol fired on his way to a first-place finish in the 8.5 mile run in a time of 43 minutes, 35 seconds (0:43:35).
"By the end of the first straight away he was gone," said Brian. "He's so fast. He's well over a minute a kilometre faster than me, probably closer to a minute and a half. He's worked hard for 15 to 20 years to get to where he is."
Brian finished the 8.5 distance about 18 minutes behind his son, arriving at the finish line in front of the Prince George Civic Centre after 58 minutes, 34 seconds, which was 11th out of 57 runners.
Geoff has competed for Canada at various national and international races as a middle distance runner and has taken part in the world championships and last year just missed out on qualifying for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
"It was a lot of fun," said the 27-year-old who calls Victoria home these days. "I usually don't get an opportunity to run this. It just worked out this year that I was up here at the time and I thought I'd support the local running community."
Martinson missed out on his goal to set the new course record in the 8.5 mile run, which is unofficially (records weren't always kept) held by Phil Ellis who ran the 1991 Labour Day Classic in 42 minutes, 23 seconds.
"My goal was to get the record, which is a very good time," said Geoff. "I appreciated that it was going to be hard. I knew what pace I had to get on to go after that record so right from the gun there was no time to mess around. You lock into that pace and you just grind it out."
Tom Masich controlled the starter's pistol during Sunday's race and had a front row position as Geoff sped out in front of his dad. It wasn't the first time Masich saw Geoff try to outrun his dad.
"When he was about one years old he'd be over at the old Lakewood track with his dad and he'd be trying to crawl out of his stroller," said Masich. "He wanted to run, run, run and he's been running ever since. He's been ahead of his dad all this time."
The Labour Day run was the first race Geoff ran since the spring when he started doing half marathons and a tune up for when he tackles his first full marathon in October at the Good Life Fitness Victoria Marathon. See Wednesday's Citizen for more on his new challenge.
Geoff said he plans to train this winter like he'll make another run at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, but he's not prepared to make any firm decision at this point.
For Brian, it was the first time he ran the Labour Day race in Prince George in about five years and, he said he was in better shape than he had anticipated for prior to the race.
"The last time I did this I was [done in about] 61 minutes," said the 55-year-old. "I thought I was fairly fit so I thought I'd aim at an hour again. At about halfway we were right on about an hour pace but the second half of the race we picked up the pace. It was really good. Really good."
Brian said he plans to do most of the cross-country runs in and around Prince George in the next month, and then head to the provincial cross-country championship to see if he can beat his times from last year.
Vanderhoof's Brian Nemethy finished second to Geoff in the 8.5 mile with a time of 50 minutes, 47 seconds, followed by Nick Bartell (51:39), Mike Smith (52:48), Austin Bartell (54:34), Ryan McMaster (55:05), Shar Balogh (56:46) and Jag Seehra (57:27).
Lots of support
It can get a little lonely out on the course for runners, but Laura Kelly had plenty of support as she completed her first Labour Day Classic 8.5 mile run.
Kelly had plenty of supportive friends cheering her on when she finished her race after one hour, 26 minutes and 56 seconds (1:26:56).
The 58-year-old triathlete usually sticks to five and 10 kilometre distances, but was inspired to work towards doing the Victoria half marathon in October after her husband Joe Kelly's death after he was struck by a falling tree branch during a race in Australia in March.
"It was good and it was tough," said Kelly, fighting back tears. "I've kind of started doing more running because I find that it helps me heal. Not only because of Joe but because our daughter passed away just over four years ago and she did some runs."
Sarah Kelly, a top volleyball player during her years at Duchess Park secondary school, was killed in an auto collision in April 2009 when she was 24.
Kelly said her husband participated in the 17-mile run during the Labour Day Classic, having last completed the race in 2008. They moved to Australia in 2010.
With her running friends cheering her on and visions of her husband and daughter in her mind, Kelly said she paid tribute to Joe when she finished Sunday's race.
"I was trying to make sure my thumbs were up because that was Joe's signature, whenever you see him running he's always got his thumbs up," said Kelly.
40th anniversary champs
Another runner using the Classic to prep for the Victoria marathon was John Hagen.
The 46-year-old finished first overall in the 40th edition of the 17-mile distance, crossing the finish line in 1:53:21.
"It was a good run for me and I kind of kept it under my limit, except for the last 100 metres," said Hagen. "My (left) calf tightened up really badly. I'm hoping it's nothing serious. I was able to hop across the line, luckily it was right at the end of the race."
Jacqui Benson was second overall in the 17-mile race, finishing behind Hagen with a time of 1:57:57. Racing each other is nothing new for Benson and Hagen. The two raced in cross-country ski events for years.
"She getting faster really rapidly, maybe next year she'll be first overall," said Hagen.
In addition to the 17-mile and 8.5 mile distance runners, there was also a five-kilometre run, an 8.5 mile walk and a kids one-kilometre fun run.
Masich said it was nice to see all the 142 runners, plus the six relay teams and all the kids under 16 participating.
"It's a smaller field in the 17-mile division, but there's a big field in the 8.5 division and there's lots of little kids running for cookies," said Masich. "It's been a good day under the sun and some really quality competition."
Zachary Matyas (18:14) won the five kilometre race, while the three relay teams from Nechako Valley secondary school in Vanderhoof placed one, two, three with times from 56:22 to 1:01:20.
At six and a half years old Grace Cross was one of the youngest runners to finish the five kilometre race, coming in at a respectable 27 minutes and eight seconds, beating dad Gord by one second.
"I would've finished first if my dad didn't hold me back," she said.
Gord said during the first half of the race he was trying to maintain a pace for them, but Grace just wanted to run.
The father-daughter duo regularly run together along the trails in Prince George and during the August long weekend Gord ran alongside Grace as she completed her first Kids Death Race in Grande Cache, Alta., before he ran the fifth leg of the To Hades With Haste relay team that finished 10th among 250 teams in the Canadian Death Race.
Masich said in another 10 years when the Labour Day Classic celebrates its 50th anniversary he hopes Grace and all the other kids are older they'll still be running and earning their cookie.
