Several of UBC's NAIA Championships-bound marathoners ran the Vancouver Sun Run 10 km on Sunday, working on their 'speed' for the marathon.

COMPLETE RESULTS

The top UBC male runner was Tim Smith, who ran 32:36 to place 23rd overall. Smith, the school record holder in the marathon, qualified for the NAIA marathon in February, running 1:11:44 at the 'First Half' Half Marathon.

"It was a bit slower than I anticipated, considering that I was very fatigued from studying for exams up to that point," he said after the race. "I see the Sun Run now as a hard training effort in preparation for NAIAs ... From this point on, my training will revolve more around the marathon, now that my 'speedwork' is complete; I'm confident I'll feel very refreshed and prepared for it."

Also putting in strong performances for UBC were Jonathan Heinz (27th overall; 33:00), and Bilal Shamsi (38th overall; 33:34).

In the women's field, Sarah Reimer was the fastest T-Bird, placing 15th in a time of 36:59.

"I was pretty happy with my race," Reimer said afterwards. "My big goals were to break 37 minutes and place in the top 20, so I was really excited about making both of those. There were also a lot of people supporting the UBC athletes in the race and that was really great as well."

"Mostly what our long group has been working on for the past month is developing leg speed - in part for the marathon, but also for cross country next fall."

That long group includes Lissa Zimmer, who placed 33rd (38:56) on Sunday, and like Reimer has the 'A' standard in the marathon from running the 'First Half' Half Marathon. Zimmer qualified for NAIAs with a half-marathon time of 1:26:43, and Reimer, 1:25:15.

Also competing for the Thunderbirds on Sunday was Naomi Fuglem; she placed 92nd in 42:56.