A Ladner resident will be looking to repeat his gold medal performance when the B.C. Senior Games get underway this week in Abbotsford.
Representing Zone 4, long-time runner Simon Ruddell is the defending champion in his 70-74 age group in the 10K Road Race, after capturing last year’s event in Victoria by holding off Williams Lake’s Leon Rankin.
“Leon won in both 2018 and 2019 — the year of my first entry, in Kelowna. We were in the 65-69 age group then and we ran neck-and-neck the whole way, but he bested me in the final 500 metres,” recalled Ruddell.
“There were no races in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID and then last year I prevailed with Leon in second place. His last words to me then were, ‘See you in Abbotsford.’ So I’m looking forward to seeing him again.”
The race is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 26 at 9 a.m. at Rotary Stadium.
Ruddell typically trains three times a week, including 10K runs on the weekends.
He also posts to his running blog Simon Runs - Simply which tracks his preparation for his races this season, of which the BC Seniors Games is the focus.
