Nancy Coles, Diane Kaltenegger and Nancy Friesen sure know how to lead by example.
The trio, who regularly lead running groups through the streets of South Delta, blazed a trail at the recent BMO Vancouver Marathon.
Coles ran a best ever time in the half marathon portion of the race.
The 55-year-old personal trainer with Muscle Memory won her age group of 332 runners by a whopping 11 minutes with a clocking of 1: 35.11 Her previous best time came when she was 28-years-old.
Coles had taken some time off after suffering stress fracture and much of her training was done off the roads. She competed at the Palm Springs Half Marathon in February which set the stage for her outstanding run in Vancouver.
"It was a fast course and I just felt very good," said Coles. "I had spent six months off doing a lot of hiking and biking and came back stronger than ever. There was also weight resistance training as well which is very important."
Friesen, who has also been battling injuries, finished second in her age group of 176 entries with a time of 1: 44.58. Just three weeks earlier, the 61-year-old was third in her class of 743 runners at the annual Vancouver Sun Run 10km event with a time of 48: 14.
Meanwhile, Kaltenegger ran the complete 42km distance in Vancouver. The 50-year-old was not only best in her age group with a 3: 23.22 clocking, but placed 35th overall among the 2,147 women competing. The Vancouver Marathon was part of her busy schedule as Kaltenegger prepares to compete in Ironman Canada for the second straight year.
She was ninth in her age group in the 2012 event and later competed at the Honolulu Marathon for the fourth consecutive year where she recorded her best time yet (3: 29.32).
