Just a nice day by the Lake

Runners take off for the start of the annual Vancouver Lake Half Marathon Sunday. Ian Nurse, who placed 25th in the 2007 New York City Marathon, was the winner in 1 hour, 12 minutes, 7 seconds. (Zachary Kaufman/The Columbian)

Joshua Monda, 26, of Vancouver, grabs a cup of water on the course. (Zachary Kaufman/The Columbian)

Kindra Bryson watches runners pass with her daughter, Hannah Salliotte, while holding up a sign for her husband Sean Bryson. (Zachary Kaufman/The Columbian)

Ian Nurse, a recent transplant to Portland from Boston, finishes first. (Zachary Kaufman/The Columbian)

Running a 13-mile race was not in Joanne Blackford’s plans.

Before Sunday, the Camas woman said she had never run farther than seven miles. In fact, until her daughter Kayla hurt her knee during a Saturday run and asked her mom to take her place in the Vancouver Lake Half Marathon, Blackford planned to spend her Sunday greeting folks at Harvest Community Church.

But there she was at midday, crossing the finish line at Vancouver Lake Park a couple of hours after the 13.1-mile race started and only a day after accepting the challenge.

“When my daughter asked, I really couldn’t think of a reason not to,” Blackford said. “I’m glad I did. I’m hooked now.”

Blackford’s experience reflected the essence of the Vancouver Lake Half Marathon, a race that in its 19th year serves as mid-winter measuring stick for serious runners and as a motivating target for runners and walkers whose main goal is keeping fit.

After overnight snow, the 338 who finished Sunday’s race were rewarded with better-than-expected conditions. The wind was calm, the roads and paths relatively clear, the precipitation minimal.

To Ian Nurse, it was spring-like.

Nurse, who won the race in 1 hour, 12 minutes and 7 seconds, recently moved to Portland from Boston and looked comfortable in tank top and running shorts as he breezed to the win.

“This is like spring weather in Boston, so not too bad,” Nurse said. “It was a little slushy in parts, but other than that, it was great.”

Nurse, the 25th finisher in the 2007 New York City Marathon, is a top-flight runner who was thankful for the chance to be a late entry into the Vancouver Lake Half Marathon. He said his big races in 2009 will be the Eugene Marathon in May and the Portland Marathon in October.

“I’m at the end of a pretty high mileage (training) cycle right now, so I was psyched to just get out here for a good effort,” Nurse, 31, said. “It was really fun. A great race, really well organized.”

Jesse McChesney of Vancouver finished second in 1:13:21, and the 21-year-old was one of four Vancouver men among the first 10 finishers.

Nikki Rafie, 46, was the women’s winner. A former Portland Marathon champion and Olympic Trials qualifier who now focuses on racing close to her Portland home, Rafie finished Sunday’s run in 1:27:32, the 27th runner across the finish line. Hockinson High School senior Shannon Porter, 17, was the second female to finish. Porter’s time was 1:30:11.

At age 10, Sidney Shotwell of Battle Ground is already a Vancouver Lake Half Marathon veteran. The fifth-grader at CAM school finished in 1:58:21 on Sunday, sprinting ahead of her mom, Janet, at the finish line and finishing more than four minutes quicker than she did at age 9 a year ago. The mother and daughter were part of an extended family of 10 who participated in the race.

“It was pretty hard. It was tiring. It was slick and you had to slow down” to keep from slipping in spots, Sidney Shotwell said.

The race was run on a new flat course that repeated several legs on roads and trails in and near Vancouver Lake Park. Slush made the going a bit tough on one early stretch, according to several runners. But the new out-and-back course was well received.

“You pass more people this way, so you have more support from the crowd,” said runner-up McChesney, who finished ahead of his targeted time.

“And, you know where your competition is,” noted Vancouver’s Eric Dolezal. Dolezal, who trains with McChesney, raced with a sore tendon in one foot and finished sixth in 1:15:46.

The majority of the 338 who completed 13.1 miles on Sunday were competing only with themselves.

It was an experience that Blackford — a lifelong runner who said she has shied away from races — cherished.

“I never thought I could do it. But this will help me (with confidence),” she said. “This is, I guess, what my body likes to do. And I enjoyed it. There was never a time when I was struggling. I just really enjoyed the run.”