The rumble of 27,372 feet shook Winnipeg streets early Sunday as a flock of runners took part in the 31st annual Manitoba Marathon, but it was the two belonging to Michael Booth that crossed the finish line first.

Winnipeg's Booth, 30, was the unofficial winner of the race, finishing just after 9:30 a.m. CT with a time of two hours, 32 minutes.

It was Booth's fourth Manitoba Marathon win.

Winnipeg men rounded out the top five finishers in the race, with Jean-Paul Degagne, 32, Adam Aleshka, 30, Clyde Vancaeyzeele, 53, and Dale Kirk, 40, placing second through fifth, respectively.

North Dakota's Cindy Sondag, 34, was the first woman across the line with a time of just over two hours, 59 minutes.

The 42-kilometre Father's Day tradition draws thousands of participants and volunteers each year.

But not everyone runs to win.

James Melendez says he and his two sisters and brother chose to run to get into better shape. They dedicated their participation to their father.

Melendez says the conditions couldn't have been better.

"Actually, it was really enjoyable," Melendez said. "It was perfect.

"The spectators are awesome and the people in the stands with water are great. It was awesome. It was a great experience."

Other runners said the first half of the course was shady and cool but plagued with bugs, while the second half proved a challenge because of the climbing temperature and hot sun.

It was a beautiful morning, with partly cloudy conditions, a light breeze and a temperature of 17 C at 7 a.m., when the race started at the University of Manitoba in south Winnipeg.

By Iain Colpitts, Mississauga.com

PERENNIAL SCOTIABANK Blue Nose Marathon contender David MacLennan got a tip at the start of Sunday’s seventh-annual race that there was a new kid in town ready to scrap for his title.

The threat was real.

Greg Wieczorek, who only moved to Halifax three weeks ago from London, Ont., clocked a 2:39:03 in hot, sunny conditions to beat Scotsburn’s MacLennan by over 10 minutes for his first marathon championship.

MacLennan, with a 2:49:27, entered as the defending champ and the winner of four of the first six Blue Nose runs. MacLennan’s race record of 2:35:35 remains undamaged.

Summerside’s Scott Clark ran a 2:52:03 for third with Halifax’s David Smith fourth (3:02:22) and Yarmouth’s Marco Albright fifth (3:02:56).

Wieczorek’s wife, Maura, placed fifth among the women in 3:33:59.

"It’s really special to win in my new hometown," the 28-year-old Wieczorek, a chartered accountant, said following his victory.

"Halifax has a terrific running community and both my wife and I are really excited to be part of it. It’s my first-ever marathon win so I’m really excited. I’m really happy with how things went out there today."

The Nova Scotia newcomer said he respects MacLennan’s legacy, which includes seven wins at the Johnny Miles Marathon in New Glasgow, but wanted to give him a run for his crown.

"It’s hard not to read the articles about David in the paper," he said. "Even my wife’s grandma told me he was going to win today. I knew the reputation he had going in, so I was hoping to just hang with him early on and then hopefully show my strength in the later stages of the race. He’s definitely a competitor."

Wieczorek met his wife, a Halifax native, at a running club in Ontario and the two were married in Halifax last September. She wanted to move home and he obliged.

There wasn’t much of a duel in the sun between the leaders with the 46-year-old MacLennan making an early downhill push to try to put some space between himself and the new kid, only in marathon running for three years.

But MacLennan figured the gap might not hold and he was right. Wieczorek, a veteran of seven marathons with a personal-best time of 2:34 for third place last November in Hamilton, had a 1:18:16 at the half with MacLennan at 1:19:32 and Clark in third at 1:21:58.

"It’s my second-best time, but on a course like this in this heat I’m really excited to be under 2:40," said Wieczorek, who had Halifax marathoner Rami Bardeesy pacing him on a bike. "The heat was tough."

Bardeesy, one of the top male marathon runners in Canada, told MacLennan at the start that Wieczorek could post a good number. MacLennan was quick to congratulate his foe at the finish line.

"I must say I’m really disappointed with my time," MacLennan said.

"I thought I was in better shape than last year. I knew when I went through at the half and say 1:19 I had no chance.

"They were saying he had two minutes on me, then three, then five. I knew he was pulling away. Then I was more concerned who was behind me."

Wieczorek ran the Boston Marathon in 2008 and 2009 and aspires to run it again, but also hopes to be back in the Blue Nose next year to defend his championship.

( mmosher@herald.ca)

Arguably the smallest runner in the Scotiabank Full Marathon came away with the biggest victory.

Montreal’s Kinue Taga, who stands four-foot-10 and tips the scales at 90 pounds, left the field in her dust to win the women’s event in a hot and blustery late Sunday morning.

She crossed the finish line in three hours 26 minutes 20 seconds, well off the record pace of 3:00:07.8 set by 2009 women’s champion Jen Nicholson.

Taga was stunned that her time was the fastest of the field.

"I actually feel amazing; I was very surprised to be first with that time," said the 38-year-old Taga.

"At the 5K point somebody screamed at me that I was first. I couldn’t believe it. But there was nobody with me."

Halifax runners dominated the top five. Halifax’s Penny Hart was runner-up, about two minutes behind Taga, at 3:28:22.1.

She was followed by Carla Braganza (3:30:00.5), Tammy Mercier (3:33:20.0) and Maura Wieczorek (3:33:59.6), wife of men’s marathon winner Greg Wieczorek. Each hails from the Nova Scotia capital.

The breezy conditions along the 42.2-kilometre trek through Halifax and Dartmouth made the race challenging, especially for someone of Taga’s stature.

Immediately reaching the finish, she needed medical attention.

Volunteers helped Taga to a wheelchair and she was then escorted to medical services inside the Halifax Metro Centre.

She was treated for exhaustion and muscle cramps.

Taga has competed in 16 marathons in her career. But Taga admitted that her first Blue Nose event was by far the toughest.

"It was really hot and windy out there. It was the toughest marathon I have ever done," an exhausted Taga said following a massage session and medical treatment along the Metro Centre’s concourse.

"The heat really got me and the wind. I’m so small to go against the wind. It was really a challenge because I usually go behind the guys (to block the wind). But there was nobody."

Taga said Giv’er Hill, the steep incline on Maple Street in Dartmouth, proved to be the most-torturous along the route.

"Maple Street was tough," Taga admitted. "My shoes aren’t made for that. They’re flat shoes for flat streets. That was kind of tough."

Hart, who finished fifth in last year’s Blue Nose marathon, may have improved her standing but she was a minute off her pace in 2009, when she crossed the line in 3:27.19.

"I was hoping to beat last year’s time and was a minute off that," said Hart, who has competed in 11 marathons and four Blue Nose events.

"It was a beautiful day but it was hot and we’re not used to that here. It should be rain and temperatures in the single digits," she added with a laugh.

( gmacdonald@herald.ca)

Brake, of Saint John, and Johnson, of Quispamsis, skipped last year's race, Brake because he didn't register in time and Johnston because she had run the Boston Marathon last year.

But the 28-year-old Brake won the men's race for the seventh time, in a time of 2:34.46, nine minutes and nine seconds faster than "friendly rival" Alex Coffin, last year's winner.

"He used to kick my ass, and now I'm kicking his ass," said Brake.

Coffin concurred.

"I think I'm in the rear-view mirror," said Coffin. "Chris and I have had some great races, but I think he's improved to the point where, if I'm ever able to beat him, it's through smoke and mirrors. He's got the ability now."

For Coffin, the race was a Mother's Day gift to his mom, Kathy, who begins radiation treatment for brain cancer this week.

"It was nice to do that," he said, his voice breaking. "It was really good to do that, and we'll see her later today."

Johnson left her husband and two children home while she tackled the Fredericton course and conquered it in a new personal best time of 3:15:50, tops among women and 24th overall among the 179 marathoners who tackled the 42.2 kilometre course.

"I beat my last time by two minutes almost, so I'm pretty excited about that," said Johnson who preferred wind, light showers and 13 degree temperatures to, say, breakfast in bed on Mother's Day.

"It's the perfect Mother's Day present," she said. "I think we should get to spend it the way we like, and this is perfect."

This was her third win, following victories in 2006 and 2007. It's turning into a Mother's Day tradition.

"I like it because it's close," she said. "It's only $60 (entry fee) and there's tons of people here. I think it's a really great event. I like the course.

"A lot of people say out and back and out and back is hard, but I find you know where you are and when you're there. There was a little tricycle along the way and it had flowers in it, and I was like 'OK, once I get to the tricycle, I'm almost that far."'

Setting a new personal best was a goal for Johnson, "but I didn't think I could," she said. "I usually have a bit of struggle between 15 and 16 miles, but I felt really great this time. I don't know what was different, but I felt really great. In my heart of hearts, I wanted to be around 3:15, but I didn't know whether I could do it or not, so I didn't ever tell anybody."

Brake's time was not a personal best, "but I felt like it was," he said.

"It was one of those days where I wasn't feeling quite as good as I wanted to feel, so I just focused on keeping an even effort. I felt not quite 100 per cent, so I just focused on running smart."

He and Coffin were even through the first half of the race, separated by a second on the split times.

"He kind of kept me awake," said Brake. "He forced me to go through the first half maybe a little faster than I wanted. I couldn't tell if I was going to have a good day or a bad day. I clued in when I was about three quarters of the way through that I was going to be fine."

The top Fredericton finisher in the marathon was Mike Davis, seventh overall in 2:57:25. The top Fredericton-area female was Lucia Tramonte, third among 17 females and 56th overall in 3:34:20.

In the half marathon, Shane Stewart of Oromocto was first across the line in 1:20:59, four seconds faster than John Patrick Herron of Bloomfield. Hazel Caldwell of Middle Stewiacke, N.S. was the top female half marathoner, sixth overall in 1:28:56.

Dean Strowbridge of Willow Grove won the 10km race in 35:53. Shannon McCarry of Rothesay was the top female in 41:51. Eunice Phillips, inducted onto the Fredericton Sports Wall of Fame the night before, was 31st overall in 47:46.

In the 5km, Matt McNeil of Saint John crossed the line first in 16:20. Morgan Hawkes of Fredericton was the top female, 10th overall, in 19:17.

Race director Paul Lavoie said the marathon went off without a hitch.

"I've heard nothing but compliments. It was the biggest and best yet," he said. Overall, 1,100 runners and walkers took part in the event.

Marc Weber, The Province

Ian Smith, Photo

The way Jason Loutitt sees it, he’s a lot closer to Slovakia after running in Sunday’s BMO Vancouver Marathon.

On a morning filled with the obvious -- the Kenyans crushed the field; the rain slowed times -- Loutitt’s second-place finish in the men’s marathon ranked as a surprise. Toronto’s Charles Bedley had been touted as the Canadian favourite, but it was Loutitt, a 36-year-old from Squamish, taking home $1,250 for second and a $750 bonus as top Canadian.

He hopes to qualify for the world mountain running championships this September in Slovakia. It’s a pay-your-own-way deal.

"I really didn’t know how I could afford to go to worlds so placing better today will help me," Loutitt said after crossing in two hours, 25 minutes 47 seconds, nine minutes back of three-time winner Thomas Omwenga, a Kenyan based out of Florida. "It’s nice to represent well locally."

On the women’s side, Kenyan Emmah Muthoni, a 29-year-old also based out of Florida, won in 2:37.17. Sharleen Jackson of Prince George was the top Canadian, finishing second in 2:50.13.

Kip Kangogo, a Lethbridge-based Kenyan hoping to represent Canada at the 2012 Olympics, claimed the men’s half-marathon in 1:06.33, ahead of Langley’s Steve Osaduik (1:07.13). Krista Duchene of Brantford, Ont., easily won the women’s 21.1-km race in 1:16.40.

No course records fell. Garry Henry of Australia holds the men’s marathon mark of 2:13.14, set in 1980, and Argentina’s Claudia Camargo set the women’s standard of 2:35.50 in 2007.

More than 14,000 took part in the 39th running of the event, which includes a marathon, half-marathon, 8-km and Kids Marafun. For full results, visit www.bmovanmarathon.ca.

mweber@theprovince.com

Notes: Canadians Diane Roy was 2nd overall woman in the wheelchair, Denise Robson was #1 Master for women and Rami Bardeesy was the top Canadian!!

Associated Press

Let him be known from Hopkinton to the Back Bay as “Robert the Younger” — the second Kenyan named Robert K. Cheruiyot to win the Boston Marathon and the first person ever to run the legendary course in under two hours six minutes.

Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot won the 114th Boston race Monday, finishing in two hours five minutes 52 seconds to shatter by 82 seconds the course record set by four-time winner Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, who’s not related.

Ethiopia’s Teyba Erkesso took the women’s title in 2:26:11, sprinting to the tape to win by three seconds in the event’s third-closest women’s finish. Russia’s Tatyana Pushkareva smiled and waved at the TV cameras as she closed what had been a 90-second gap, but she could not quite catch Erkesso on Boylston Street.

Cheruiyot, 21, surpassed the course record of 2:07:14 set by his namesake in 2006, when he was 27. A farmer back home, the younger Cheruiyot earned a bonus of $25,000 on top of the $150,000 — and a golden olive wreath from the city of Marathon, Greece — that goes the men’s and women’s winners.

“I am going to buy some cows,” Cheruiyot said.

The Cheruiyots are not the first namesakes to win in Boston.

When John J. Kelley won in 1957, he was destined to be confused with 1935 and ‘45 champion John A. Kelley — “Johnny the Elder” — a beloved patriarch of the Boston Marathon who continued to run the entire race until 1992, when he was 84. When he could no longer complete the distance, he would serenade the competitors at the starting line with “Young at Heart” before riding to Boston in a convertible as the grand marshal.

A statue of him in his younger and older days greets the runners at the base of Heartbreak Hill in Newton.

Robert Kipkoech Cheruyiot won his first Boston in 2003 and won three more times from 2006-08 to cement his place among the Boston Marathon greats. On Monday, acting on the advice his elder gave him in a meeting two months ago, “Robert the Younger” produced a blistering pace to join them.

“Most of the people already confuse me with Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot,” said the 2010 champion, who finished fifth in Boston last year after winning in Frankfurt in his marathon debut. “With me and Robert, we talk the same language, but in different stripes. I think people can see me and they can see him and compare.”

Cheruiyot finished 91 seconds ahead of Ethiopian Tekeste Kebede to give Kenya its 18th men’s victory in 20 years. Defending champion Deriba Merga was third and Ryan Hall and fellow American Meb Keflezighi, the winner in New York last fall, rounded out the top five; no American has won the men’s race since Greg Meyer in 1983.

“We are training hard, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to hit a home run every time,” said Keflezighi, who was trying to be the first American to win in New York and Boston back-to-back. “We take big pride in being among the favourites. We put it on the line. We don’t go for second. I think the crowd appreciated it, because they were shouting ‘U-S-A! U-S-A!“’

A temperature of 10 C and a 21 km/h headwind greeted more than 26,000 runners at the start in Hopkinton, including an unprecedented 71 competitors who came from Greece — there were three last year — to help celebrate the 2,500th anniversary the Battle of Marathon. It was there, in 490 B.C., that a messenger named Pheidippides was dispatched the roughly 42 kilometres to Athens to deliver news of a victory over Persia — and then dropped dead.

This year’s edition of the world’s oldest annual marathon was decided, like so many before it at Heartbreak Hill.

Merga surged ahead at the firehouse that marks the start of the Newton hills, drawing Cheruiyot along with him while the rest of a lead pack — including Abderrahim Gourmi, who had the fastest personal best in the field, and Keflezighi — fell off the pace.

Merga and Cheruiyot ran shoulder-to-shoulder through parts of Newton and into Brookline, before the Kenyan inched ahead at Coolidge Corner with about four kilometres left and pulled away.

Hall, who led most of the way last year, led early again before falling to 17th in Natick and then retaking the lead in Wellesley. He lost ground at the halfway point but sprinted through the final kilometre and unsuccessfully chased Merga down Boylston Street.

Erkesso opened a lead of more than 90 seconds and held on, grabbing her side as she ran along Beacon Street in the last 6.5 kilometres. Defending champion Salina Kosgei was third.

The men’s wheelchair race was also close, with South African Ernst Van Dyk finishing four seconds ahead of Krige Schabort for his ninth win — an all-divisions record in Boston. Van Dyk has won three in a row, and he also won six consecutive years from 2000-06; Jean Driscoll won eight Boston women’s wheelchair races.

Wakako Tsuchida of Japan won her fourth straight women’s wheelchair title.

The Toronto Star

David Rider

Toronto’s problem of two big marathons paralyzing downtown streets every fall was solved by a city manager running back and forth between race organizers.

Earlier this month, the city’s works committee gave the GoodLife Fitness Toronto Marathon and the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon until next Monday to stagger their dates or potentially lose both races.

The city announced Friday that GoodLife will move to May starting in 2011 and the Scotiabank will remain a September race. Organizers credit the shuttle diplomacy of Michael Williams, the city’s general manager of economic development and culture.

“I told him we should send him to the Middle East,” joked GoodLife’s Jay Glassman.

Glassman said his past reluctance to move the race, after having it in October for 16 years, was based largely on fears that charities benefitting from his race would lose out if runners started hitting up people to sponsor them twice a year.

“I expect that our charities might take a bit of a hit in 2011, but after that they’ll recover,” Glassman said. Last year, 14,000 GoodLife runners raised $2.4 million for Princess Margaret Hospital and other causes.

“I know that we can make it work at the beginning of May. There is a huge running fraternity in Toronto. .. and lots of support.”

In return for the gesture, the City of Toronto will put its marketing muscle behind the half-marathon of GoodLife, which is billed as a fun event, and the full marathon of the Scotiabank, a competitive race that draws international running stars and raises an equal amount for charity.

Williams said he and his team talked separately in person to Glassman and Alan Brookes, the Scotiabank race’s organizer, and then via phone and email. Williams said he didn’t bring the two organizers face-to-face because it had been done before without success.

The stakes were high. Works committee chair Glenn De Baeremaeker warned the two races that, with residents fed up at traffic headaches from two races three weeks apart, they had to find a compromise or see Toronto cancel both and put out a tender for one big marathon.

The threat worked, Glassman said. “This is a better scenario for us.”

Brookes said he is delighted and grateful and expects the move to make each marathon bigger, more successful and a stronger magnet for runners and tourists.

“I think that everyone appreciates the initiative that Mr. Glassman has taken. There is a strong groundswell of sentiment everywhere that people want to assist him to have enormous success in the spring,” Brookes said.

Alone in September, the waterfront marathon now has an ambitious five-year plan to increase its competitors to 10,000, from fewer than 3,700 last year, and move to the top tier of marathons with Chicago, New York and Boston.

The two-marathon controversy has put running on everybody’s mind, he added.

“Something that started as just an issue of blocking traffic, well, we’ve now got a lively, positive, spirited debate,” Brookes said. “We can turn this into something really positive for the city, the running communities and charities and, in separate seasons, really build our events.”

On a chilly day with wind gusts that were recorded at 41 mph in Albany, over 250 dedicated runners turned out for the 37th Annual HMRRC Winter Marathon and the 24th Annual HMRRC Winter Marathon Relay.

The marathon and relay, which took place on the UAlbany and Harriman State Office campuses, was won by Sabastien Roulier of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada in 2:40:31. Samantha Garnet, a 22-year-old from Monroe, NY, was the first woman in 3:14:49. 

Top 10 Men:

1 Sabastien Roulier, Sherbrooke QC 2:40:31
2 Thomas O'Grady, Latham NY 2:44:58
3 Joseph Hayter, Schenectady NY 2:50:14
4 Rowland Brucken, Northfield VT 3:00:53
5 Eric Maki, Cortland NY 3:02:11
6 Bill Knott, Brookline MA 3:02:24
7 Dominic Mills, Troy NY 3:03:30
8 Gary Krugger, Edinboro PA 3:03:30
9 Robert J Reese, New York NY 3:07:14
10 Ryan Hudyncia, Fort Plain NY 3:19:07

Noor Javed

Toronto Star

They have always been competitors, but never has the race between the two Toronto marathons been so fierce. In the past, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon and the GoodLife Fitness Toronto Marathon—held only three weeks apart every fall—were merely vying for runners to join their race.

In coming months, they could also be competing to see their marathon become Toronto’s only major running event.

Next week Toronto’s works committee will consider a report that calls for only one marathon a year, starting in 2011. Officials say it will significantly decrease complaints over road closures, delays and transit disruptions—and allow the city to build tourism and economic potential around one large marathon event.

The decision of which stays will depend who sells their vision for the future the best.

Alan Brookes, race director for the waterfront marathon, says he foresees it becoming an international event at the scale of marathons in Boston, New York and Chicago.

“We have the quality now, but without the city 100 per cent on the team, we will never have the quantity,” said Brookes. He believes the Scotiabank Marathon should be developed to bring in at least 10,000-15,000 marathoners. Currently, it has about 2,800.

Over the past decade the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon has become recognized internationally, thanks in part to the participation of several elite record-breakers in recent years.

“One problem is that we have one event a few weeks later, so we never have the numbers. And if we want to have an event like the Boston, we need to have one signature event that the city rallies around, and everyone gets on board. That’s the problem now.”

Jay Glassman, who has been race director of the GoodLife Fitness Toronto Marathon since 1995, says his race caters to the average runner—and he wants to keep it that way.

“We recognize that 99 per cent of the field is runners like you and me, who want to compete and merely cross the finish line,” he said. “That’s what is important to us.”

Glassman says the Toronto marathon run goes through the city, from North York, Forest Hill and Rosedale to the lakeshore, and connects the neighborhoods.

“Our race shows the best of the city. We want people to see how beautiful our city is, and come back to see it. You don’t get that on just the lakeshore,” he said.

While the two visions for Toronto’s sole marathon are vastly different, the burden on the city is virtually the same. Both cost the city about $10,000 in staff time to determine what roads or lanes must be closed, and to put city staff on hand to supervise the event, said Peter Noehammer, of the transportation services department. And according to traffic services, both marathons cause significant traffic headaches.

Runners who have done both say deciding which of the two should become the Toronto marathon won’t be easy.

“I like both routes; they have their own charm,” said James Honeyman, who ran the Toronto Marathon twice and the Waterfront Marathon in 2007. “But I also like the idea of having one big marathon, where there are a lot of people and a lot of hype.”

Which would he choose?

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t like to be the person making the decision. It’s tough.”

SCOTIABANK TORONTO WATERFRONT MARATHON

Scheduled for Sept. 26, 2010

Average temperature: 9 to 18 C

Total Participants, 2009: 19,000

Marathon runners: 2,846 finishers

Winning time male 2009: 2:08:32

Winning time female 2009: 2:28:30.4

Prize: Last year's male winner took home $70,000 (U.S.) in prize money, time bonuses and appearances.

Route: The run shuts Lake Shore Blvd. throughout the day, starting on east side of Lake Shore from 5 a.m. All roads are opened by 5 p.m.

Topography: Mostly flat

Intersections affected: About 25

Amount raised for charity in 2009: $2.4 million for 99 charities

Estimated economic impact for the city: $20 million

GOODLIFE FITNESS TORONTO MARATHON

Scheduled for Oct. 17, 2010

Average temperature: 7 to 14 C

Total Participants, 2009: 14,000

Marathon runners: 2,000 finishers

Winning time male 2009: 2:26:08.6

Winning time female 2009: 2:57:53

Prize: Money and prizes worth $3,000

Route: Begins in North York at 7:30 a.m. and shuts southbound Yonge St. and Rosedale Valley until 11:30 a.m. University Ave, where race ends, closed until 4 p.m.

Topography: Hilly, with varying elevations

Intersections affected: About 25

Amount raised for charity: $2.4 million to Princess Margaret Hospital and dozens of others

Estimated economic impact for the city: More than $20 million

(Victoria, BC – January 18, 2010). The 31^st Annual Royal Victoria Marathon (RVM) has been chosen by BC Athletics to host the 2010 and 2011 Provincial Marathon Championships for junior, senior and master runners, for both men and women. The 2010 Marathon will be held on Sunday, October 10, 2010.

“The Royal Victoria Marathon has repeatedly shown itself to be one of the best marathons in , both in terms of the quality of the event and the standard of performances,” said Maurice Wilson, Technical Manager of BC Athletics’ Road and Cross Country Running Division. “It is a fitting showcase to host a provincial championship, and BC Athletics is pleased to award both the 2010 and 2011 BC Marathon Championships to Victoria, to be held in conjunction with the event.”

The Royal Victoria Marathon has consistently attracted an elite field of runners including former winners Cheryl Murphy and Olympian Jon Brown, reigning and three-time Marathon winner Steve Osaduik, five-time winner Kelvin Broad, six-time winner Cindy Rhodes and Olympians Bruce Deacon and Peter Butler.

“This is the second consecutive year that the Royal Victoria Marathon will be hosting the BC Marathon Championships,” said Bob Reid, Elite Athlete Director and President of the Victoria Marathon Society. “Last year we attracted some top level local runners such as Langley’s Steve Osaduik, second in 2:22:24, Graeme Wilson, of Vancouver, fifth in 2:27:58 and Victoria’s Hugh Trenchard, top master in 2:38:55. The 2009 event included several international high performance runners from the United States, Japan, Europe, Mexico, United Kingdom and featured seven Kenyans, with Hillary Cheruiyot winning in 2:19:26, Lameth Masoti placing third in 2:24:43 and Philip Samoei taking fourth in 2:25:32.  All three Kenyans have promised to return in 2010 to shatter the 2:16:49 course record, set in 2006 by Osaduik.” 

The 31^st Annual Royal Victoria Marathon takes place Sunday, October 10, 2010. The Marathon is ranked number one in for most Boston Marathon qualifiers and number two in of top Boston Marathon qualifying races. In addition to the Marathon there is a Half Marathon, 8K Road Race and Thrifty Foods Kids Run. For more details, visit www.royalvictoriamarathon.com.

- 30 -

For more information contact:

Louise Hodgson-Jones                                                           Bob Reid

Media Liaison                                                                        President                                

Royal Victoria Marathon                                                         Victoria Marathon Society                                                                                                                                                                                                     

250-812-2518                                                                         250-384-1520                    

The 37-year-old Merilainen, a native of Finland who lives and trains near Toronto, started to think she had a shot at winning about halfway through the race. She ended up with a personal best time.

“This was my biggest win so far,” she said.

Alex’s notes: The top man was 13th place finisher Mathieu Dube. Louis-Philippe Garnier and Boris Lanctot placed very well in the 40-49 age category. Louise Voghel won the 50-59 age category!

Halifax Herald

Monty Mosher

Alex’s note: Denise finished in 2:43:30!!

Denise Robson will return this weekend to the California race course where she made Canadian marathon history this time last year.

But if she makes something special happen this year, it will be on a partially torn hamstring.

Robson, 41, will join upwards of a dozen Nova Scotia runners for the California International Marathon on Sunday. The race course, which is known for producing fast times, runs from Folsom to the steps of the state capitol building in Sacramento.

The mother of three from Dartmouth ran a 2:41:12 last year, ranking her 56th overall, fourth among the women and first among women 40-44.

Her time was the best ever for a Canadian woman over the age of 40 and remains the record.

She thinks a 2:40 may still be possible after a pain-free one-hour run earlier this week.

"I think my time goal unfortunately has to change, unless a miracle happens out there," she said this week. "But I’m going to do the best I can do. I’m really fit, but I don’t know what the hamstring is going to do when I really push it."

She planned another assault on the course this year and her fitness was never in doubt coming off a third-place finish in a major 10-K in Toronto in October, where she crashed through the 35-minute barrier at 34:58 for the first time. But Robson’s success in Toronto earned an unexpected trip with Team Canada to an international marathon relay event in Japan, where she ran a 5-K leg on a track. A road racer to the core, she hadn’t been on a track for more than two decades.

It was there, pushing stride for stride late in the race against a Russian competitor, she tore her right hamstring.

"With two laps to go I decided I had to make my move; she’s 20-something and I’m 41," she said. "I didn’t think I could out-sprint her for the last 200 metres, but maybe I would have some luck with endurance. So I started my kick with two laps to go and I didn’t even make it 30 metres before I blew my hamstring."

She still managed to finish the race in fourth place out of nine women in a personal-best time of 16:55.

She worked out in a swimming pool last week to ease the strain on her body before getting out for her first run since Japan. She was a little sluggish on the road, but otherwise OK.

While the injury came at an inopportune time, she said she was happy to get to an international event.

"I wouldn’t change a thing," she said. "I still would keep that opportunity. I went to Japan as part of a national team at age 41. So I have no regrets."

One notable absentee this year will be Halifax’s Rami Bardeesy, who placed 17th overall last year in California and second among 35-39 in a time of 2:28:04.

He was called to England for job reasons earlier in the fall and he’s been unable to secure time off from his employer to go to the U.S.

( mmosher@herald.ca)

However, the 43-year-old mail carrier from Moncton overcame them all yesterday and ran his best time ever in the 10th annual Legs for Literacy marathon run.

LeBlanc covered the 42.2 kilometre course, which began and ended at the Université de Moncton, but in between took him through the wind-swept and rain-drenched streets and trails of Metro Moncton, in just 3:01.19.

LeBlanc, who is married and a father of two, has run nine marathons, but his missed last year’s Legs event with serious foot and Achilles heel injuries. He returned to the course this year to face howling winds and pelting rain.

"For the first 14 kilometres or so, it felt like the rain was coming down sideways," said LeBlanc, who finished fourth overall and was the top Metro Moncton runner among 165 full marathoners.

"It felt like it was going to blow us over when we went over the (Gunningsville) bridge," he said. "We just kept at it and conditions slowly got better. Eventually, we got some sun and it felt good.

"It meant a lot to me to get back this year after going through the injuries. I think I trained smarter this year and that’s what got me through."

The Legs event attracted 1,530 runners, of which 1,325 finished and took part in full and half-marathons as well as five and 10-kilometre events. More than $40,000 was raised for literacy programs.

Chris Brake of Saint John won the full marathon with a time of 2:41.59.

Rounding out the top 10 were: Alex Coffin of Saint John, Shawn Deleu of Halifax, LeBlanc, Bruce Rosvall of Rothesay, Leah Jabbour of Halifax (the top female finisher with a time of 3:04.20), Stephane Boudreau of Dieppe, John Lyons of Doaktown and Gavin Timberlake of Dartmouth, N.S.

LeBlanc credited sports trainer Graham Black and co-runners Nathalie Arsenault, Darryl Williams and Lisa LeBlanc with helping him prepare for yesterday’s run.

"Graham helped me get over the injuries and, as far as the running goes, my friends and I trained smarter than ever before," LeBlanc said.

"We did a two-week taper before this," he said. "We cut back our running to 70 per cent. If we were running 100 kilometres a week, we did just 70, and we did other training that had us well-prepared for this run.

"I’ve been looking forward to this, but I didn’t think I was going to have my best time ever. It was a fun event with great crowd support. I think we’re going to see this event keep growing because we’re in the hub of the Maritimes and it’s easy for a lot of runners to get here."

Rami Bardeesy of Halifax captured the half-marathon in a time of 1:13.13.

Rounding out the top 10 were: Shawn Miller of Fredericton, Chris Gains of Fredericton, Allan MacKenzie of Sydney River, N.S., Bernie Doucet of Fredericton, Vincent Legere of Dieppe, Cameron MacKinnon of Dieppe, Nicholas Larade of Fredericton and Marcel Roy of Dieppe and John Acheson of Fredericton.

Micheline McWhirter was the top female finisher.

Jérémie Pellerin of Cocagne won the 10-kilometre event in a time of 34:59. Rounding out the top 10 were: Hayley Haining of Kilbirnie, Tony Robinson-Smith of Fredericton, Remi Parent of Nigadoo, Mike MacKinnon of Upper Tantallon, N.S., Kaitlyn Watters of Westville, N.S., Hazel Caldwell of Middle Stewiacke, N.S., Eric Hopper of Fredericton, Chad Randell of Halifax and Caroline McInnes of Halifax.

Complete marathon and half-marathon results will appear in Tuesday’s Times & Transcript.

John Craig
Support the 2015 Pan Am Games bid

It was a P.E.I. record-breaking double-dip as Island runners won the male and female events at the 2009 BMO Nesbitt Burns P.E.I. Marathon on Sunday.
Bear River native Stanley Chaisson finished in 2:32:58 for the men’s title, beating the 2004 course record of 2:39:12 by over six minutes.
Then, Cornwall’s Jen Nicholson crossed the Charlottetown finish line in 2:53:22 — a personal best and crushing her winning mark last year (2:56:33).
Chaisson is a two-time half-marathon winner and finished second (2:44:11) at last year’s full marathon.
“Pretty excited. I expected to do well,” said Chaisson after the race, “but I was surprised.”
Steven Baglole of Charlottetown came in second in 2:44:59 while Halifax, N.S., resident Brian Zurek wasn’t far behind, ending up third in 2:45:45.  
The 27-year-old Chaisson, who lives in Stratford, is an education student at UPEI.
He said good weather and a bit of mental juggling propped him up along the route from Brackley Beach to downtown Charlottetown.
“I didn’t even think of (winning). In a marathon it’s so easy to slip up. At 35 kilometres last year I struggled. (This year) I kept pounding until I got there,” he said. “The first 12 kilometres or so was a headwind, but as we looped at 15 kilometres in the trail it was perfect. You couldn’t ask for better conditions.”
In the men’s half-marathon, Ian Holdway of Beechville, N.S. (1:18:25), Warren Altman of Oromocto, N.B., (1:21:19) and Robert Carreau of Truro, N.S., (1:22:01) finished first, second and third, respectively.
The top Islander was Charlottetown’s Mark McCosham (1:24:55).
For Nicholson, a second-place women’s finisher in 2007 (3:13:19), defending her title was a must.
That made Sunday’s win sweeter, she said.
“I’m thrilled. It was definitely the hardest,” said Nicholson,  40, met at the finish by husband Brent and children Don, 10, Matt, seven, and Lily, three, “because I pushed it. The ultimate goal (was a personal best).”
She, too, had support. And not just from stable weather.
Her brother, James Dill from Brantford, Ont., ran in the half-marathon and egged on Nicholson in her final few kilometres.
“(Those) were the hardest. I needed him,” she said. Dill placed sixth in 1:25:32.
Lavinia Carreau of Truro, N.S, finished second (3:21:22) among the females to Nicholson, who placed seventh overall. Third place went to Julia Thomas of Cheticamp, N.S., in 3:29:04.
The Island marathon is a qualifier for the Boston Marathon next April. Chaisson and Nicholson led a group of 23 Islanders to qualify.
In the women’s half-marathon, Kristy Newson of Stratford finished in 1:29:38, followed by Adriana Veer of Marshfield in 1:31:00 and Mallory Troup of Halifax, N.S., in 1:31:57.
So next comes the fun part: celebrating the victory.
Nicholson had a room booked Sunday in a local pub with family and friends in mind — a party is always good motivation, she said.
“I kept thinking of that.” 
And Chaisson said he will begin with the basics.
“Probably start with a hot bath and maybe a cold beer afterwards,” he said.
(creid@theguardian.pe.ca)

*****

Top finishers on the day at the 2009 P.E.I. Marathon:
Full Marathon
Men - Stanley Chaisson, Stratford, 2:32:58 (course record); Steven Baglole, Charlottetown, 2:44:59; Brian Zurek, Halifax, N.S., 2:45:45.  
Women - Jen Nicholson, Cornwall, 2:53:22; Lavinia Carreau, Truro, N.S., 3:21:22; Julia Thomas, Cheticamp, N.S., 3:29:04.
Half-Marathon
Men - Ian Holdway, Beechville, N.S., 1:18:25; Warren Altman, Oromocto, N.B., 1:21:19; Robert Carreau, Truro, N.S., 1:22:01.
Women - Kristy Newson, Stratford, 1:29:38; Adriana Veer, Marshfield, 1:31:00; Mallory Troup, Halifax, N.S., 1:31:57.
10k Run - Kris Taylor, Hunter River, 35:55; Marios Lores, Charlottetown, 39:11; Joshua Brisson, Russell, Ont, 39:36.
10k Walk - Nora Wotton, Charlottetown, 1:13:12; Terry F. O’Neill, Saint John, N.B., 1:16:29; Marion Sutherland, Scotsburn, N.S., 1:16:59. 

Brake bested the previous record of 2:37:43, which he set in 2005, by more than five minutes and crossed the finish line 15 minutes and 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Alex Coffin.

"When I saw my time, it was the greatest feeling that I've ever had in my life," the 27-year old Saint John runner said.

Brake added the victory was even sweeter given a rather dramatic first half where Coffin came out flying with a roughly one and a half minute lead.

"He made it a nightmare for me. I was freaking out that he had a big lead on me because my pace was perfect," he said.

But Brake maintained his effort and by the 21-kilometre mark overcame the course leader.

"I think the torch has been passed," Coffin said shortly after crossing the line as a crowd flocked to congratulate him.

"I knew the first 10-km was very fast so I went out fast and was hoping to get (Brake) off his game," said the 40-year-old, who owns two marathon titles this season.

"But to his credit, Chris just hung right on to me. When he was right with me at the half that was pretty demoralizing."

Both runners crossed the half-way point in about 1:14, a remarkable effort on par with breaking the course record.

"He just kept the same pace and there was no way I could keep that pace up," said Coffin, who's official time was 2:47:48. "He busted me up pretty good, again."

Earlier this season, Brake completed Marathon by the Sea more than 16 minutes ahead of Coffin.

"We've had some great races and I used to have the advantage, but now I'd say Chris definitely has the advantage."

There remains just one major marathon this season - next weekend's provincial championship in Moncton - which neither runner was putting much stock in Sunday.

Brake said he plans on competing but isn't necessarily gunning for the title while Coffin said he may end up jogging the event, depending on his recovery from this weekend.

It would be both competitors' third marathon within a month.

"If Chris can pull a three-peat and win the provincial championship, that's huge. That's history," Coffin said. "I'm definitely cheering for him."

There were 95 participants overall in the KV Challenge Marathon, which included full, half and team relay events.

Maggie Johnson of Quispamsis captured the full-marathon women's title in a time of 3:17:47.

It was her fourth career title and a personal best time as the 33-year-old was greeted at the finish line with cheers and applause.

"I just wanted to get 3:20, so 3:17 is fabulous. I'm so excited," Johnson said.

The effort qualified her for the New York Marathon, which she now plans to attend next fall.

Johnson said it was the perfect day for the event, with overcast skies and a cool breeze rendering the hilly third-quarter section of the course easier to manage.

The nearest female competitor, Kimberley Bailey of Cornwall, P.E.I., finished more than an hour behind Johnson.

Despite claiming her first KV Challenge title, Johnson said she doesn't dwell on the competition.

"It's all about my own personal goals and if I come in first then that's a bonus. I wasn't really focused (on the other competitors)."

Ivon LeBlanc of Saint John captured the half-marathon title in 1:29:48. The female champion was Saint John's Becky Melvin, who completed the course in 1:43:15.

Team DNA, consisting of Willow Grove's Dean Strowbridge and Arlene Harrigan of Grand Bay-Westfield, was the two-person marathon relay event champion. The pair finished in 2:53:22.

Greg Parker, Steve Dohaney, Graham Taylor and Gary Ogden of Runnin' Out won the marathon relay four-person event in a time of 2:55:11.

Dallas Running Fitness Examiner

It is not unusual to read stories about a sudden death at a marathon, but the running community was taken aback when news broke that three runners collapsed and died at Sunday's Detroit Marathon. Rick Brown, 65; Daniel Langdon, 36; and Jonathan Fenlon, 26, were all running the half marathon event in Detroit. All of the men collapsed in the final miles of the 13.1-mile race, while Fenlon collapsed shortly after crossing the finish line. 

Initial autopsy results show that the men were in good physical condition, and their families said they had trained to run the Detroit half marathon. However, these tragic deaths are sparking discussions among runners about what may be the appropriate level of training for marathons and even half marathons. 

Sudden cardiac death is a concern for marathon runners. According to the American Heart Association, sudden cardiac death can be prompted by extreme athletic events. "Adrenaline released during intense physical or athletic activity often acts as a trigger for sudden death when abnormalities are present," says the AHA. Sudden cardiac death in young runners is often due to an underlying, undiagnosed heart abnormality, while older runners may have some level of heart disease and artery blockages. 

As the Detroit marathon deaths illustrate, these heart problems or abnormalities can often be silent until it's too late. Given the rising popularity of marathons and half marathons, some experts speculate that more and more untrained runners are completing these events -- leading to more stories of sudden cardiac death at marathons. Just like other areas of the body, the heart must be trained to withstand the rigors of racing long distances through a training program of increasing mileage. Last year, Men's Health reported on a study showing that runners who averaged 45 miles per week before a marathon suffered less heart damage during the race than those who ran only 35 miles per week in training.

Other running experts recommend anywhere from 50 to 70 miles per week during marathon training. This type of mileage prepares your bones, muscles and your heart to run a 26.2 mile race. From all accounts, the men who died at the Detroit Marathon had trained appropriately for the race, which illustrates the importance of visiting your doctor before embarking on any endurance event.

Runners should also keep in mind that sudden cardiac death at marathons is very rare -- the risk is 1 in 50,000 runners, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

(Victoria, BC – Sunday October 11, 2009) Brilliant sunny skies greeted 12,492 participants in today’s 30^th Annual Royal Victoria Marathon – a record for the event in its anniversary year. With the Half Marathon and the 8K Road Race sold out prior to race day, registration numbers for all the races showed a dramatic increase over previous years. The Marathon had 3,887 registrants, the Half Marathon 5,571, the 8K Road Race 2,609, and the Thrifty Foods Kids Marathon – Kids Run 1,025. A new course record was set in the Women’s Half Marathon by Marilyn Arsenault.

The event featured a strong elite field in all the races, and also saw three-time Marathon winner Steve Osaduik taking second place. Langley-based Osaduik – the course record holder – had strong competition from three Kenyans, Hillary Cheruiyot, Lameth Mosoti and Philip Samoei, and trailed in the first half of the marathon. However, he ran a negative split in the second half but wasn’t able to catch the eventual winner Cheruiyot, who won in 2:19:26. Osaduik’s time was 2:22:42, and Mosoti was third in 2:24:43. Cheruiyot – who trains in Calgary – was delighted with his result. He told the large finish-line crowd that he liked the course and thought the conditions were ideal. “I will be back next year to break the course record,” he said.

The much anticipated women’s marathon race was won by the 2008 winner Victoria’s Cheryl Murphy in 2:44:01. She put in a strong performance but couldn’t catch the 20-year course record of 2:42:32. Katherine Moore of Vancouver came second, bettering her third place finish last year, in 2:47:29. Three-time marathon winner Suzanne Evans from New Westminster came third in 2:48:20. The women’s field was one of the fastest ever with the top nine women all finishing in under three hours. Murphy also captured the Masters title, while Danny Gonzalez from Lake Oswego, Oregon, won the men’s Masters title in 2:33:45.

The Half Marathon saw Lucy Smith’s 2007 women’s course record broken by Victoria’s Marilyn Arsenault in a time of 1:15:39. The 41-year-old opera singer, who also won the Masters title, dominated the race coming in six minutes ahead of last year’s winner Lindsay McLaren from Calgary. McLaren finished in 2:21:59, and Vancouver’s Stephanie Hamilton came third in 2:22:06. For being the top Canadian and breaking the course record Arsenault was awarded a $1,000 bonus in addition to her first place award of $1,000.

Director. Second was Jim Finlayson in 1:07:57, and third was Kristopher Swanson in 1:09:11. Master men’s winner was Norm Tinkham in 1:11:53.  

In the 8K Road Race, Matt Clout from Victoria came first in 24:52. Coached by Jon Brown, this was an excellent result for Clout who came third in the Chemainus Twilight Shuffle this year. University of Victoria varsity athlete Logan Burke came second in 25:28, and Michael MacDiarmada from Dublin came third in 25:58. The top Masters winner was Kevin McGinnis from Ravensdale, WA who finished in 27:04. Rachel Ruus from Richmond won the women’s race in 28:32, Amy Schneeberg from Vancouver was second in 28:55 and Meghan McCollum, also from Vancouver was third in 29:24. The women’s Masters was won by Nancy Tinari from Coquitlam, BC in 31:23.

The event saw the highest number of finishers in the Half Marathon and the 8K Road Race – 4,602 and 2,150 respectively. The Marathon saw 2,568 finishers – a 25% increase over last year – and with the Thrifty Foods Kids Marathon - Kids Run the total number of finishers was 10,352 – another record for the event.

The 31^st Annual Royal Victoria Marathon will take place on October 10^th, 2010.

For full results from the 30^th Royal Victoria Marathon go to: http://www.raceheadquarters.com

-Portland Press Herald

PORTLAND — When fatigue is whispering in your ear to slow down, you need something to keep churning the legs, to keep pumping the arms, to keep distance between you and your pursuers.

Jeremy Adler, 28, a recent law school graduate from New York City who won the Peak Performance Maine Marathon Sunday morning, survived the final difficult miles by concentrating on an inspirational law professor battling ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Kristin Barry, 35, who set a women's course record in the Half Marathon, thought about hurrying home to Scarborough to check on the progress of friend and training partner Sheri Piers at the Twin Cities Marathon in Minnesota as Piers attempted to qualify (successfully, as it turned out) for the 2012 Olympic marathon trials.

Heather Goodfellow, 36, visiting from Nova Scotia to celebrate her brother's 40th birthday, broke three hours to win the women's marathon. What drove her? A friend told her "no lollygagging" so they would have time for shopping at the outlet stores in Kittery.

And then there was Louie Luchini, 28, a graduate of Ellsworth High and Stanford University who is gearing up for his first attempt at the 26.2-mile marathon distance. After spending most of Saturday in cold and rainy weather at the Maine XC Festival of Champions in Belfast, Luchini was simply thrilled to be running in ideal conditions Sunday morning: cool and overcast, gentle breeze and except for the damp road surface and wet leaves, no hint of the previous night's heavy downpour.

Luchini responded by breaking the half-marathon course record in a time of 1 hour, 6 minutes, 56 seconds, fast enough to earn him a $500 bonus on top of his first-place prize of $200. That gave him a bigger paycheck than either of the marathon winners, each of whom earned $500.

"I expected the weather to be a lot worse," Luchini said, "so I was going to use it as a training run. But once I got here, I discovered the weather was perfect for running."

Needing to break 1:07 for the bonus money, Luchini made it by four seconds, which is about the time he gained on the freshly paved portion of Route 88 in Falmouth after turning around and seeing hundreds of outgoing runners spurring him on.

"That was really cool," he said. "It was fun to pass them and have them all cheering. That's when I did one of my fastest miles, a 4:53."

Luchini, an assistant cross country coach at his old high school while home in Ellsworth, ran at a 5:07-per-mile pace. He's considering a December race in California for his marathon debut.

"We'll see," he said. "This was pretty hard (Sunday). I don't know if I could double that."

Sunday's record field, which included 869 runners and 89 walkers finishing the marathon, 67 teams completing the relay, 1,858 half marathoners and a 47-member military tribute march, also saw another record fall.

The men's relay mark dropped by nearly eight minutes thanks to the 2:20:57 effort put forth by Josh Zolla of Freeport and his Nor'easter Run teammates Stephen Monsulick of Kents Hill, Robert Gomez of Portland and Brendan O'Keefe of Sumner.

Barry's winning time of 1:17:53 fell short of the sub-1:17 mark required for bonus money, but it did replace the 1:18:44 run by Joan Benoit Samuelson in 2003.

"I'm pretty happy," said Barry, whose original plan of running with Piers in Minnesota was derailed by an injury in late March. "I felt the most like myself in any race since being injured, so that felt pretty good."

Both marathon winners won by comfortable margins. Adler's time of 2:38:57 was nearly 1 1/2 minutes faster than that of runner-up David MacLennan of Nova Scotia. Robert Ashby of Brunswick was third in 2:40:54, and 2003 champion Casey Carroll of Dover, N.H., was fourth in 2:42:56.

More than seven minutes passed after Goodfellow broke the tape in 2:59:16 before another woman finished. Tracy Thelen of Colorado Springs,...

Colo., was second in 3:06:18, followed by Karleen Fallon of Brighton, Mass., in 3:07.

Adler's wife and twin brother both ran the half marathon, with Warren Adler finishing seventh behind Luchini. Both sets of parents, along with a sister-in-law and a golden retriever named Winnie, made the trip.

"Where better to run than in Maine?" said Jeremy Adler, a summer camper and counselor for five years in Readfield. "We just love it up here."

Adler, 28, had 12 weeks between taking the bar exam and beginning his career, so he decided to train for a marathon. His five previous marathons included a 31st-place finish in the 2006 Boston and a ninth in the 2001 Ocean State, both under 2:30. His 10-week period of training caught up with him in Sunday's closing miles, which is when his thoughts turned to Steven Gey, a professor at Florida State University diagnosed with ALS late in 2006.

"I didn't know if I could hold on," Adler said. "But as my legs were hurting in those late miles, I knew he wouldn't give up, so I didn't give up."

Goodfellow, recovering from a cold, said she also found the end of the race difficult. That's when she concentrated on the words of her friend Angie McNeil.

"She told me the faster you run, the more time we have to shop," said Goodfellow, who also happens to be a lawyer, for Canada's Department of Justice. "That was in my head the whole race."

Staff Writer Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or at:

gjordan@pressherald.com

The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Allan MacKenzie of Coxheath led a field of 33 runners to win the Cape Breton Fiddlers Run marathon in Sydney, Sunday in a time of two hours, 51 minutes and 34 seconds.
“The weather was perfect and I felt great right from the start,” said MacKenzie, who knocked about five minutes off his previous personal best marathon time in Sunday’s race.
“I was just hoping that I wasn’t going to lose my stamina, and I never did. I ran the same pace pretty well the whole race. The last three weeks before I hit my two-week taper, I upped the mileage to between 70 and 80 miles a week and I think that was definitely what did it for me.”
Eric Power of Sydney was hot on MacKenzie’s heels, placing second overall with a time of 2:53:46, while Terry Morris of North Sydney took the No. 3 spot in 3:02:49.
The top-three women to complete the 42 km marathon distance were Hazel Caldwell of Middle Stewiacke, N.S., in 3:08:48, Erin Pyke of Sydney in 3:31:50, and Tawnya MacNeil of Truro Heights in 3:33:41.
The 109 half-marathoners were also led by a local runner, Chris Milburn, in a blistering 1:21:35. Daniel Murray of Dingwall took the No. 2 spot in the 21 km half-marathon in 1:24:11 and Ryan Kemp of Beaverbank, N.S., placed third in 1:27:16.
The female runners participating in the ‘half’ were paced by Rasa Beaton-Augaitis of Toronto in 1:27:23, Lyse Leblanc of Terre Noire in 1:41:45, and Stacey Northgrave of Sydney in 1:43:07.
The 10 km race, the most popular Fiddlers Run event with 137 runners and 12 walkers, was won by Dean Abbass of East Bay in 39:09, followed closely by Jared McIsaac of Halifax in 39:46 and Glenn Basso of New Waterford in 39:59.
A pair of Sydney women were No. 1 and No. 2 among the females in the 10 km run, Julia Thomas in 42:15 and Shelley Porter in 42:38, while Laura Smith of Stratford, P.E.I., was the third-fastest woman in 43:13.
The 5 km race also attracted a healthy field, of 132 runners and six walkers, with the top-three spots going to Sandy Muir of Sydney in 20:05, Angus MacDonald of Trenton, N.S. in 20:19, and Devin Kirton of Sydney in 20:58.
Jean Gillis of Grand Mira led the female runners in the 5 km race with a time of 24:05, followed by Sydney residents Rachyl MacPhail and Kara Mackinnon, in times of 24:15 and 24:22 respectively.
And the quartet of Kilya Macneil, Garry Macdonald, Jonah Hudec and Mariah Hudec were first among five teams in the Fiddlers Run’s first half-marathon, in a time of 1:54:29.
The Cape Breton Regional Municipality’s active transportation committee received the Lydia Dickson Inspiration Award, named for the late founder of the Fiddlers Run and awarded annually to those who have shown leadership in promoting a healthy and active community.
For full Fiddlers Run results, visit www.atlanticchip.ca and follow the links to the Cape Breton Fiddlers Run.

The 54-year-old Bathurst native finished the 15th annual Marathon by the Sea in a time of three hours and 42 minutes. His time wasn't the best on the day as Chris Brake won the full marathon with a time of 2:40.

Boudreau's accomplishment was being the only person to ever complete the full marathon portion of all 15 events dating back to 1994.

After crossing the line, the Bathurst native placed his hands on his knees, took a few deeps breaths and when he stood upright, it looked as though he'd just been out for a casual jog, not a grueling three-hour and 40-plus minute race through city streets.

"I was trying for under four hours, so I was glad with that (time)," he said, less than a minute after crossing the finish on Water Street.

The 2009 edition could very well be his last. Boudreau said he's not sure he will be back for the full marathon next year, but is considering competing in the half-marathon.

"I've run 32 marathons and I still love it, but I don't have the same drive," he said. "After a while you have to do something different, you've to change and do something else."

His new passion is Ironman triathlon's combining marathon running with swimming and cycling.

"This year I did a half Ironman in Fredericton and a couple more around home, so I'm trying to concentrate more on those."

After 15 years of competing in the Marathon By the Sea, Boudreau said the ones that stick out most for him were the first two and last year's event.

Boudreau won the inaugural race in 1994 in a time of 2:46. He said the win is what drove him to come back year after year.

His second attempt at the Port City event is memorable as he finished second to Alex Coffin, but bettered his time by a minute despite a break in the action.

"I stopped for a bathroom break after 16 kilometres and I lost a good five minutes," he said. "16 runners passed me and I was in 18th place when I went back out."

Despite the intermission, Boudreau was in rare form on that day battling back to finish second, just seven minutes behind Coffin.

"As I was running a guy said, 'Didn't you go by me a while ago,' and I said 'Yes and I'm coming by again'."

As for the 2008 edition of the race, it holds a special place due to the pain he endured to finish.

Boudreau underwent a knee operation Aug. 3, 2008 and was on the course a little more than a month later in Saint John.

"I didn't have much time to train last year and when I finished the race I felt like I was dying," he said, pointing down at his right knee covered with a tensor brace. "It feels pretty good today."

While he's unsure of his future in the event, Boudreau said he's enjoyed every kilometre he's run as part of Marathon By the Sea.

"The organizers from the first to the 15th race have been great," the Bathurst native said. "I really enjoy myself here. There are so many nice people and I hope it keeps going for years and years."

By Tim Switzer, Leader-Post

The third time was a charm for Amanda Froehlich.

For that matter, so was the first, as was the second.

For the third year in a row Sunday, Froehlich won the women’s division of the Queen City Marathon while setting a course record — this one in a time of two hours 58 minutes nine seconds.

Froehlich set her first record in 2007 with 3:08:12 and followed that up in 2008 with a time of 3:02:51. Those three record years are the only three years Froehlich has run the full 42.2-kilometre race at the event.

"I have to admit I was pretty nervous coming in because of the last couple years," said Froehlich, who took part in the half marathon prior to 2007, winning it in 2006. "I broke the record each time and I didn’t know if I could do that again. But in the back in my mind, I was saying if I could beat three hours, that would be awesome. The nerves were there. I got kind of a half good night’s sleep."

This year, however, Froehlich had a little help. The entire race she had her cousin, Shawn Berg, in mind. Berg was killed two months ago in a vehicle collision.

"Before he (died), he had run his first half marathon and we were talking about next year in Saskatoon, running it together," said Froehlich, 23. "On my runs, I run past his house every morning so he was in the back of my mind. That drove me."

Froehlich’s success in the Queen City Marathon has actually come with very little training. While she runs every morning, Froehlich is not a big follower of the other habits many long-distance runners have.

"I say I’m a runner, but this is only my second year having a (stop)watch," said Froehlich, who is originally from Marquis and grew up running on the gravel roads around her family’s farm. "I just eat a few jellybeans (during the race). Some people say you can’t eat this or this before a race, but I don’t worry about any of that stuff."

Froehlich was followed across the finish line by Ailsa MacDonald of Cold Lake, Alta., (3:18:16) and Saskatoon’s Lori Soderberg (3:19:03).

The names of the 2009 men’s and women’s champions turned out to be exactly the same as those in 2007 as Brendan Lunty of Camrose, Alta., won the men’s division for the second time in three years. Lunty’s time of 2:36:36 bettered the course record of 2:42:12 set last year by Robert Ritchot of Brandon.

Ritchot actually bettered that mark this year too, but came in behind Lunty with a time of 2:38:37. Saskatoon’s James Funk was third at 2:42:38.

"Any weekend there’s any number of guys who can win," said Lunty, who also won the Queen City event in 2005. "It’s just whoever can push it and has a good day that day.

"There was a group of four of us (from Camrose including his wife, Lori) and we all figured we’d go pretty aggressively from the front. We were at about 1:19 for the first half and just went to see who could hold on in the last half."

Lunty was behind Ritchot until the 35km mark as well. After passing the Manitoban, it was smooth sailing for Lunty.

"As smooth as 42K gets anyway," Lunty said laughing.

Photograph by: Tyrel Featherstone, THE GAZETTE

Francis Kipketer Chesumei of Kenya was the first runner to cross the finish line yesterday, but it was the Montreal Marathon as an event that was the big winner.

A record 15,000 runners took part this year, in an event that lay dormant for 13 years before it was revived by Bernard Arsenault in 2003.

Needless to say, watching Montreal’s streets being invaded by so many runners was enough to keep a smile on Arsenault’s face all day long.

“We’re extremely satisfied,” he said. “We saw that the Montreal Marathon literally exploded this year.”

Chesumei broke the tape on the finish line inside the Olympic Stadium yesterday in a time of two hours, 16 minutes and 10 seconds in what was a relatively tight finish. He was followed by Ethiopian Lemma-Alemu Debelu, who crossed 22 seconds later, and third-place finisher Juan Carlos Cardona of Colombia finished in a time of 2:17:35.

On the women’s side Kenya’s Irène Cherop claimed first place with a time of 2:39:31, followed by a pair of Ethiopians, Meseret Kotu (2:42:12) and Serkalem Abrha (2:43:07).

The top Canadian was Montreal’s own Louis-Philippe Garnier, 44, who finished 10th overall with a time of 2:37:07.

Other strong performances from Quebecers yesterday included Montreal’s Angélica Martinez and St. Bruno’s Véronique Perrault, who finished second and third in the women’s half-marathon, and Longueuil’s Alexandre Dupont and Hatley’s Diane Roy, who won the men’s and women’s 10-kilometre wheelchair races.

Garnier, a four-time Canadian Masters champion and veteran of 47 marathons, was proud to be the first home-grown product to finish the race, but he couldn’t help but be a little disappointed with his time.

“I was hoping to be closer to 2:30, but the position is good,” he said. “A lot of the runners said the humidity (yesterday) was weighing them down and they had trouble improving their times as well.”

Garnier, a Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough resident whose wife, Nathalie Collin, was also running yesterday, said he hit a wall at the 30-kilometre mark of the 42.195-kilometre course that wound its way through the city.

But he received a good boost of support from the fans lining the streets during the final stretches of the race.

“I managed to grab little pockets of energy – it’s really psychological at that point and you have to motivate yourself with small targets,” he said. “But there were a lot of people toward the end, and that helped.”

It was a sentiment shared by many of the runners at the finish line, and Arsenault said it is further proof that running is once again integrating back into Quebec’s sporting culture.

And Arsenault hopes to continue building that foundation by producing future runners through the Montreal Marathon’s junior program.

A new provincial championship for runners 11 and under made its debut yesterday, and the top-three finishers in both the boys and girls categories will be trained by the elite Montreal Olympic track club for the coming year.

“That’s our elite of tomorrow and they need to be supported,” Arsenault said. “I think seven or eight years from now we’ll see the results of what we’ve started.”

Until then, he hopes the Montreal Marathon continues growing to even greater heights, and he boldly predicted that yesterday’s 15,000 registrations will be easily surpassed next year.

“We’re going to pass 20,000 next year,” he said. “I guarantee it.”

Olivier Bossé

Le Soleil

(Québec) «Je m'étais dit : Un jour, quand je serai prêt, je vais revenir et je vais le gagner.» Et c'est exactement ce que David Savard-Gagnon a fait, dimanche, 12 ans après sa participation au tout premier Marathon des Deux Rives.

Photograph by: Walter Tychnowicz, Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - Under perfect racing conditions, the Intact Insurance Edmonton Marathon housed a handful of new records on Sunday morning.

More than 4,000 runners participated in Saturday’s men’s and women’s 10-kilometre races and today’s half- and full-marathons.

Kenyan-born Calgarian runner Hilary Cheruiyot set a new record in the 42.2-kilometre men’s marathon, crossing the line in 2:23:37. Philip Kipchum Samoei, also of Calgary, finished second at 2:25:35. Winnipeg’s Mike Booth placed third at 2:29:56.

Edmonton’s Karine Betts surprised in the women’s full-marathon, leading the pack with a 3:09:05 finish. Tara Risling (3:13:17) of Calgary and Wendi Campbell of Vancouver (3:13:24) were just seconds apart to claim second and third place, respectively.

Mohamed Trafeh made the trip from Flagstaff, Ariz., worth his while by winning the men’s 21.2-kilometere half-marathon, finishing in 1:02:51. Waterloo’s Kibet Rutto (1:02:56), Lethbridge runners Kip Kangogo (1:04:52) and Willy Kimosop (1:05:26) followed. All four competitors broke the course record of 1:05:41, which was held previously by Kangogo.

New York City’s Alemtsehay Misganaw took the women’s half-marathon with a scorching 1:17:19 finish. Lisa Harvey of Calgary was second at 1:21:26 and Brandi Pozniak of Saskatoon placed third, running at 1:23:47.

“It’s been five years since we’ve taken (this event) over in its new format,” said event director Tom Keogh. “It’s grown considerably from 2,000 (participants) to almost 4,000 this year.”

The Saint John Half Marathon

August 23, 2009

Top 10 Overall

1, Denise Robson, Dartmouth, 1:20:17

2, Justin Young, Saint John, 1:24:00

3, Evan Arsenault, Saint John, 1:25:32

4, Bruce Rosvall, Rothesay, 1:27:01

5, Glenn Trites, Rothesay, 1:29:48

6, Don Murray. Saint John, 1:30:39

7, Geoff Matthews, Quispamsis, 1:31:22

8, Kelly Burke, Summerville, 1:32:22

9, Steve Lohnes, Hampton, 1:32:56

10, Tony Wright, Saint John, 1:33:21

Top 10 Women

1, Denise Robson, Dartmouth (Nova Scotia), 1:20:17

2, Suzanne Doucet, Quispamsis, 1:39:02

3, Alexis Juurlink, Oakfield (Nova Scotia), 1:40:49

4, Lisa Little, St Thomas (Ontario), 1:42:27

5, Michelle Roy, Frenchville (Maine), 1:46:05

6, Tracey Price-Emerson, Quispamsis, 1:47:14

7, Vicki Woods, Quispamsis, 1:48:57

8, Leah Smith, Long Reach, 1:49:32

9, Sharon Manson, Saint John, 1:51:02

10, Marta Kelly, Saint John, 1:56:08

1, Denise Robson, 41, F, Dartmouth (Nova Scotia), 1:20:17

2, Justin Young, 27, M, Saint John, 1:24:00

3, Evan Arsenault, 20, M, Saint John, 1:25:32

4, Bruce Rosvall, 46, M, Rothesay, 1:27:01

5, Glenn Trites, 43, M, Rothesay, 1:29:48

6, Don Murray, 54, M, Saint John, 1:30:39

7, Geoff Matthews, 41, M, Quispamsis, 1:31:22

8, Kelly Burke, 42, M, Summerville, 1:32:22

9, Steve Lohnes, 49, M, Hampton, 1:32:56

10, Tony Wright, 50, M, Saint John, 1:33:21

11, Tom McLellan, 31, M, Halifax, 1:33:35

12, Joe Burke, 67, M, Saint John, 1:36:21

13, Dean Mercer, 37, M, Rothesay, 1:37:43

14, Mike Juurlink, 31, M, Oakfield (Nova Scotia), 1:38:16

15, Shawn Beaton, 32, M, Oromocto, 1:38:41

16, Suzanne Doucet, 47, F, Quispamsis, 1:39:02

17, Jim Miller, 49, M, Saint John, 1:39:24

18, Bradley Wood, 45, M, Ludlow, 1:39:35

19, Jeremy Fry, 53, M, Bloomfield, 1:39:58

20, Jason Thorne, 35, M, Rothesay, 1:40:29

21, Alexis Juurlink, 30, F, Oakfield (Nova Scotia), 1:40:49

22, Darrell Wilkins, 52, M, Moncton, 1:41:05

23, Lisa Little, 40, M, St Thomas (Ontario), 1:42:27

24, Dave Horgan, 41, M, Saint John, 1:42:58

25, Vince Vautour, 52, M, Saint John, 1:43:19

26, Bill MacMackin, 45, M, Quispamsis, 1:43:35

27, Kevin Sears, 46, M, Quispamsis, 1:44:45

28, Jeremy Steeves, 32, M, Rothesay, 1:45:56

29, Blair Northcott, 40, M, Quispamsis, 1:46:03

30, Michelle Roy, 34, F, Frenchville (Maine), 1:46:05

31, Tracey Price-Emerson, 34, F, Quispamsis, 1:47:14

32, Sean Kelley, 37, M, Rothesay, 1:47:33

33, Mark Magleave, 52, Grand Bay Westfield, 1:47:35

34, John Woods, 45, M, Quispamsis, 1:47:36

35, Chris Creamer, 52, M, Saint John, 1:47:56

36, Peter Coakley, 53, M, Minto, 1:48:05

37, Bruce Webb, 42, New Maryland, 1:48:27

38, Boon Kek, 31, M, Saint John, 1:48:43 

39, Vicki Woods, 43, F, Quispamsis, 1:48:57

40, Leah Smith, 28, F, Long Reach, 1:49:32

41, Shane Tremblay, 34, M, Quispamsis, 1:49:42

42, David Barter, 35, M, Nauwigewauk, 1:49:54

43, Al Reardon, 61, M, Saint John, 1:50:31

44, Sharon Manson, 36, M, Saint John, 1:51:02

45, Tony Wright, 50, M, Saint John, 1:52:12

46, Stephane Dupont, 30, M, Saint John, 1:52:57

47, Lloyd English, 56, M, Hampton, 1:53:10

48, John Kelley, 62, M, Quispamsis, 1:53:26

49, Brent Bethune, 45, M, Hampton, 1:53:43

50, Leslie Connolly, 51, M, Fredericton, 1:53:55

51, Andrew Vail, 15, M, Saint John, 1:53:58

52, Gary Keating, 48, M, Saint John, 1:54:06

53, Brock Reid, 49, M, Hampton, 1:54:36

54, Patrick Grannan, 45, M, Saint John, 1:55:16

55, Frank Kelly, 70, M, Saint John, 1:55:50

56, Peter Peters, 53, M, Saint John, 1:56:07

57, Marta Kelly, 41, F, Saint John, 1:56:08

58, Connie Coffin, 41, F, Saint John, 1:56:09

59, Scott Crossan, 45, M, Riverview, 1:56:32

60, Robert Harrison, 51, M, New Maryland, 1:57:16

61, Aisha Khedheri, 44, F, Saint John, 1:57:30

62, Michael Lynch, 43, M, Saint John, 1:58:05

63, Mark Magennis, 33, M, Saint John, 1:58:42

64, Tony Hayes, 43, M, Hampton, 1:58:51

65, Ivon Leblanc, 53, M, Saint John, 1:59:26

66, Tim Lowery, 50, M, Quispamsis, 1:59:46

67, Nathan Davis, 35, M, Rothesay, 1:59:54

68, Carolyn St Pierre, 40, F, Fredericton, 2:00:43

69, Steve Jadoo, 54, M, Quispamsis, 2:00:56

70, Theresa Koppert, 48, F, Saint John, 2:01:20

71, Kari Pettinger, 24, F, Saint John, 2:01:21

72, Gina Hyslop, 36, F, Kingston, 2:01:34

73, Don Jones, 49, M, Saint John, 2:01:36

74, Al Clarke, 50, M, Saint John, 2:02:16

75, Mark Leblanc, 55, M, Moncton, 2:02:22

76, Carson Marcoux, 17, M, Balmoral, 2:02:34

77, Jonathan Roy, 34, M, Frenchville (Maine), 2:02:42

78, Al Pineau, 41, M, Utopia, 2:02:54

79, Eric Peterson, 29, M, Saint John, 2:03:24

80, Rosemary Boyle, 51, F, Quispamsis, 2:03:32

81, Sharon Turnell, 43, F, Quispamsis, 2:03:34

82, Sara Young, 27, F, Saint John, 2:04:01

83, John Braam, 51, M, Saint John, 2:04:30

84, Patrick McDade, 27, M, Saint John, 2:05:16

85, Angela MacNeil, 26, F, Saint John, 2:05:17

86, Tanya Lawlor, 42, F, Saint John, 2:05:18

87, Carol Egan, 43, F, Quispamsis, 2:06:39

88, Jasmine Verge, 29, F, Fredericton, 2:07:22

89, Gail Duncan, 49, F, Yoho, 2:07:35

90, Lorrie Johnston, 41, F, Saint John, 2:11:21

90, Hope Lavin-MacDougall, 43, F, Quispamsis, 2:11:21

92, Roy Geldart, 51, M, Salisbury, 2:12:19

93, Curtis O’Blenis, 24, M, Salisbury, 2:12:19

94, David Baxter, 49, M, Quispamsis, 2:12:55

94, John Dornan, 50, M, Saint John, 2:12:55

96, Brad Mitchell, 50, M, Rothesay, 2:13:51

97, Charles Teed, 32, M, Saint John, 2:14:20

97, Amy Grant, 25, F, Riverview (Newfoundland), 2:14:20

99, Claudio Krickler, 61, M, Rothesay, 2:14:44

100, Meredith Whitney, 28, F, Halifax (Nova Scotia), 2:17:53

101, Robert Pitre, 44, M, Moncton, 2:18:35

102, Beth Sears, 48, F, Quispamsis, 2:18:45

103, Janet Thompson, 34, F, St George, 2:19:28

104, Chris Grannan, 32, M, Saint John, 2:20:46

104, Josh Middleton, 29, M, Saint John, 2:20:46

106, Pete Belliveau, 39, M, Charters Settlement, 2:23:14

107, Warren Giesbrecht, 33, M, St George, 2:23:23

108, Sonia Pineau, 39, F, Lake Utopia, 2:28:03

109, Brent Sherwood, 46, M, Quispamsis, 2:28:04

110, Megan Totten, 24, F, Saint John, 2:28:50

111, Lisa Bowron, 27, F, Saint John, 2:29:28

112, Amy Buckley-Ellis, 27, F, Saint John, 2:31:53

113, Kourtney Ward, 25, F, Willow Grove, 2:37:58

114, Denis Leblanc, 35, M, Paesekaeg, 2:43:03

115, Kari Irvine, 53, F, Nerepis, 2:43:41

116, Kate MacNeill, 24, F, Saint John, 2:45:24

117, Krista Hartery, 40, F, Grand Bay Westfield, 2:45:36

118, Adrienne Cameron, 61, F, Saint John, 2:45:41

119, Joanne Turbide, 42, F, Rothesay, 2:47:23

119, Susan Campbell, 58, F, Quispamsis, 2:47:23

121, Karen Gallant, 43, F, Saint John, 2:49:35

122, Sophie Cameron, 29, F, Saint John, 2:50:52

123, Dianna Payne, 38, F, Saint John, 2:55:08

124, Starr Hersey, 43, F, Saint John, 2:59:52

124, Cynthia Sheehan, 40, F, Saint John, 2:59:52

MEDIA RELEASE

Royal Victoria Marathon Registration Numbers up by 65%

All Races Are Capped for 2009

(Victoria, BC – July 16, 2009) Just one day after the early bird deadline for the Royal Victoria Marathon registration numbers are up by 65% compared to this time last year. Over 5,900 registrations have been received for all four events – the Marathon, Half Marathon, 8K Road Race and the THRIFTY FOODS Kids Marathon – Kids Run – which takes place on Sunday October 11. For the first time in the history of the RVM all the races will be capped.

This phenomenal increase in numbers is attributed to several factors, according to Cathy Noel, General Manager of the RVM. “The early bird pricing always sees a spike in registrations, but this year with the uncertain economy participants are taking advantage of the cheaper entry fee. The fact that it is our 30^th Anniversary and we are capping registration numbers is an added incentive, particularly for those who participate every year.”

Currently there are 1,858 registered for the Marathon with a cap of 4,000; 3,246 for the Half Marathon with a cap of 5,000; 745 for the 8K Road Race with a cap of 2,500, and over 100 for the THRIFTY FOODS Kids Marathon – Kids Run with a cap of 1,000. It is expected that the Half Marathon and 8K Road Race will reach their caps by the next registration deadline of September 15.

“Races are selling out earlier this year than ever before,” says Noel. “People don’t want to miss out and are choosing their destination races way in advance around their travel plans. We have over 1,600 more registrations from British Columbians which is an indication that people are staying closer to home and choosing Victoria as the one to run. We also have over 300 more from Alberta and our numbers from the Pacific Northwest are up.”

The marathon is a certified Boston Marathon qualifier and was earlier this year chosen by BC Athletics to host the 2009 Provincial Marathon Championships for junior, senior and master runners, for both men and women. There is $26,000 available in prize money with $3,000 each going to the top male and female and a $5,000 bonus for a new men’s or women’s course record. In 2006, Steve Osaduik broke a 25-year record by winning the Marathon in 2:16:49.

To register for the Royal Victoria Marathon, Half Marathon, 8K Road Race or THRIFTY FOODS Kids Marathon – Kids Run, visit www.royalvictoriamarathon.com.

Winnipeg Free Press

By: Ashley Prest and Daniel Falloon

He knew he wasn't going to win, and he was in physical pain from pushing himself too hard late in the race, but Winnipeg's Michael Booth would accept nothing less than crossing the finish line at the 2009 Manitoba Marathon.The 29-year-old Booth collapsed just after finishing, placing third in the 26.2-mile marathon with a time of 2:35.26.

"I was really struggling out there and it was a matter of just trying to get to the finish line. Most of my long runs aren't done at the pace I was doing the last three, four miles so it was just a matter of pride," said Booth, who was only down for a few minutes. Medical attendants rushed over to him but after a few sips of water, he was up and came straight over to speak with media.

"I'm happy I toughed it out today. I really wanted to, in front of the home crowd, finish it up and not quit out there."

Hillary Cheruiyot of Kenya won the men's division with a time of 2:27.29, the fastest time in nine years. Philip Samoei, formerly of Kenya and now living in Calgary, was second in 2:27.43. Booth is the only Manitoba man to win three titles (2005, 2006 and 2007) and was hoping to win a fourth. Cheruiyot and Samoei ran together and ran fast in blistering heat that reached a high of 30 C.

"In a marathon at my level, you sometimes have to make that hard decision to pull off the course to save yourself. It might have been wise today to pull off but I wasn't going to quit in front of the home town," said Booth.

He believed for about 16 miles he could catch the leaders but then felt his pace fall off with about four miles to go.

"At that point I realized I had absolutely no chance at catching the guys in front of me. That's what it really comes down to, for me. I want to come out here and try and win the race. So coming third is great but it is a little bit disappointing to finish third."

Booth had raced in the Canadian Marathon Championships in Ottawa on May 24. He ran into difficulty and withdrew at about the 21-mile mark with the hopes of being recovered enough for the Manitoba Marathon.

"It's tough to regroup and try to do a marathon three weeks later," he said. "Today, I didn't feel I was at my best."

Cheruiyot said he came to Canada to compete in marathons and enjoyed his experience.

"I'm very happy...I have a problem with my knee so I was thinking I would just have a fun run," said Cheruiyot, who wore a band on his right knee. "It turned out pretty well. It's so fun (when you win)!"

In the women's marathon, Cindy Sondag of Grand Forks, N.D., hung on to win her first competitive marathon.

"The first half, I probably took it a little hard considering the conditions," said Sondag, who finished in 3:12.09. "I think I faded quite a bit in the second half, so I was pretty happy just to hang on."

The 33-year-old medical student has one year of classes left and two children at home. She figured that she may as well run some marathons while she still has some time.

"Life's going to get a whole lot busier," said Sondag. "So I figured I'd better get the training in before I don't really have the time."

Clayton Gerein of Pilot Mound, Sask., who thrilled Manitoba observers last year when his time in the marathon's wheelchair event qualified him for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, wasn't happy with his time this year of 2:09.35 but wasn't blaming the heat.

"It was pretty warm but my start was so slow, I just felt sluggish off the start. The last half was good, but then I'm out there all by myself," said Gerein, 45,

Gerein said the 2008 Paralympics was his seventh and final Games but is still competing internationally. "For our funding we have to get a certain time standard (2:00.32) and I still don't have it (this year)."

Gina Tessmann, a 23-year-old University of Manitoba Bisons athlete, ended her competitive track season by winning the women's half-marathon with a time of 1:26.27.

"It's pretty exciting, it's my first time (winning the half-marathon)," said Tessmann, a U of M student.

Fellow Bison Desire Budigoma, 20, won the men's half-marathon for the second straight year in 1:14.19. Budigoma said he didn't like his chances to defend his title.

"I wasn't expecting to win because I was injured," said Budigoma, adding his left leg didn't bother him on Sunday. "It was good all along."

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca daniel.falloon@freepress.mb.ca

June 16, 2009 Press Release

Alex Coffin’s Fitness Shop is pleased to announce that the inaugural Saint John Half Marathon has secured two major sponsors and two invited athletes for the August 23^rd event.

 Irving Oil Ltd. has come on board with a $20 gas card to be given out to each half marathon participant. ASICS Canada has come on board with a $20 gift certificate to be used on any ASICS product.  Further announcements will be made as additional sponsors are added to regain the Saint John title for the “Best Bang for your Buck!!” running event in . This new event will be promoted as an ideal event to prepare for the Marathon by the Sea or the KV Challenge Marathon in the fall. As well, a 4K and mini track meet will be offered to encourage fitness and fun in sport.

Two prominent athletes have already been confirmed to participate in the event. Nova Scotia Athlete Eric Gillis who represented in the 10,000 meters at the Beijing Olympics will be competing in his first ever half marathon in New Brunswick. Eric’s hometown is Antigonish and he has also represented at the World Cross Country Championships. As well, another Nova Scotia runner Denise Robson will be our featured runner on the women’s side.  Denise finished as the 5^th overall Masters Division woman at the 2009 Boston Marathon and finished 11^th overall for women at the 2008 Boston Marathon.  She is also holds the Canadian Masters Women’s Record for the Marathon

Information on the August 23^rd event are as follows:

-There will also be a 4k Brent Kelly Memorial Walk/Run which will be run at the same time as the half marathon with each child receiving a special event finisher’s ribbon

-A fun track meet featuring shot put, standing high jump and standing long jump will take place after the 4K

-All events start and finish at Fisher Lakes, Rockwood Park

-All participants will receive an autographed event cap

-All half marathon participants will receive a complimentary high visibility vest

-A Saint John Track Club Sponsored Pre-Race Dinner will take place the night before at the Rockwood Golf Course

-Registration is $30 for the half marathon and $15 for the 4K/Fun Meet. The half marathon fee moves to $40 after August 1.

-Hotel rates are available uptown at the Saint John Hilton $129.99 and in the east end shopping district at the Hampton Inn Saint John $109.99

-Registration is available on-line at www.atlanticchip.ca and in person at Alex Coffin’s Fitness Shop

CALGARY - The altitude hit Predrag Mladenovic quicker than he thought.

Only two kilometres into Sunday’s 45th annual HSBC Calgary Marathon, the Serbian-born professional runner felt the elevation change from Toronto, his home for the past seven years.

It was the 37-year-old’s first time racing in Calgary, 1,048 metres above sea level, and he knew the rest of the race was going to hurt.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Mladenovic, who, regardless, was the first to finish the 42.2-kilometre circuit Sunday. “I really felt it from the start. After two-K, my legs worked well, but I couldn’t breathe.

“I was tired after 10-Ks and I had 32-K more,” said Mladenovic, who motored through a new course to top the field of about 1,350.

The fresh circuit design was one of several changes this year, the biggest of which was switching the race to Sunday from the event’s traditional time during the Calgary Stampede in July.

He crossed the finish line at Bridgeland’s Murdoch Park in two hours, 30 minutes and 15 seconds — significantly slower than his personal best, which was a 2:23:16 he clocked in the 2007 Mississauga Marathon.

“I was surprised,” said Mladenovic, who was cheered at the finish by a handful of his friends from Europe now living in Calgary.

“I couldn’t believe how I feel here . . . it feels like it’s 2,000 or 3,000 metres.”

Not only was the altitude change a challenge for Mladenovic and many other out-of-town runners, the race route led them to Shaganappi hill — an addition to the course this year in place of a flat loop into Shouldice Park.

The incline was a doozy according to Graeme Wilson, who finished second behind Mladenovic in 2:31:19.

“That giant hill took me off guard,” said the 38-year-old resident of East Vancouver, who came to Calgary with his wife Heidi and sons Emon, 3, and Noah, 1, to run the race for the first time.

“My strategy is to stay at a consistent pace and see who burns off at the back, rather than actually attacking and increasing the pace.”

Wilson, Calgarian Chad Kozak, and former two-time winner Jason Loutitt (2005 and 2006) were duking it out for second, third and fourth place while Mladenovic inched further and further ahead before breaking away entirely at the 35-km mark.

When Loutitt, formerly of Canmore, and of Vancouver Island, dropped out with a sore calf at the 30-km mark, Wilson and Kozak were left to fight for second and third.

Kozak, a 33-year-old Calgary engineer in his first HSBC marathon, managed third behind Wilson at 2:32:29, despite running on fumes. He was happy with Sunday’s performance, which bettered the 2:37:58 he posted at the Houston Marathon in January.

“It was a pretty good day,” he said. “I just ran out of gas in the last six K, Graeme dropped me with five or six K to go and I ended up third.

“The downhill on Shaganappi was worse than the uphill because the downhill rips the quad (muscles). And it hurts.”

Mladenovic, Wilson and Kozak earned $1,000, $750 and $500 cheques respectively. They also received $500, $300 and $200 for being the first-, second- and third-placed Canadians and landed immigrant runners — prize money which was new to this year’s race and given out in the men’s and women’s marathon, half-marathon and 10-km races.

Calgarian Melissa Kalyn cashed in big for claiming her first — and, perhaps, last — HSBC Calgary Marathon women’s title.

“I wanted to run it until I won it,” said Kalyn. “So, I was like, ‘Please, let this be the last time.’ “That was the goal.”

Having specialized in the 1,500 and 3,000 metres on the track and the five-km cross-country with the University of Calgary’s varsity track team, Kalyn ran the 2007 HSBC Calgary marathon in 3:04:52, but opted to run the 10-km last year and completed it in 39:50.

This year, the 25-year-old managed to squeeze in a few more three-hour training runs while she was finishing up her biological science degree at the U of C this spring.

It paid off and Kalyn finished in 3:02:39 — well ahead of No. 2 women’s marathoner Karen Kozak, wife of the third-placed finisher on the men’s side, who finished in 3:13:03.

“Shaganappi hill — not nice,” said Kalyn, grinning. “I heard a rumour that (local competitive runner and elite athlete co-ordinator of the race) Jeremy Deere put the hill in the course to make it more difficult.

“But it was a good course. It felt pretty good until 30 K, which is typical.”

Kalyn is putting her running plans on hold until after her wedding in August to Nathan Kendrick, a former Dino and local competitive runner.

Calgary’s Shannyn Clancey was third in 3:13:26.

kodland@theherald.canwest.com

By Kathryn Willms, The StarPhoenix

It was a perfect day for a marathon and Brian Michasiw ran the perfect race.

Michasiw, 39, from Saskatoon, sprinted to his third consecutive Saskatchewan marathon victory on a cool, grey Sunday morning. He thinks his finishing time of two hours, 42 minutes, 30 seconds is the best he has ever run in Saskatoon. He beat last year's winning time by nearly two minutes.

He got faster as the race progressed.

"This is the best Saskatoon marathon I've ever had," he said with a characteristic big grin.

Michasiw, who owns Brainsport The Running Store, was mobbed by well-wishers as he crossed the finish line at Diefenbaker Park.

He has been running marathons since he was 22 and this is his fifth victory in Saskatoon; he also won in 1992, 2000, 2007 and 2008. Like Pheidippides during the fabled run from the battle of Marathon to Athens, Michasiw carries a message. Unlike Pheidippides, who collapsed and died and upon the delivery of his message, Michasiw looked a little too chipper for early on a Sunday morning.

"I'm at the point now where I try not to worry what other people think," he said. "I run to stay healthy. I run these crazy races because it gives me a goal to shoot for, a time when I don't drink beer as often. That's why I do it."

His first comments across the line were about his closest competition, Brendan Lunty of Camrose, Alta. The two ran together from the 15-km mark until their final pass by the Bessborough Hotel, where Michasiw made his move.

Lunty finished second in 2:42:49. He is on a masochistic quest to run three marathons in three weeks.

"He's amazing," said Micashiw.

Lunty, who won the Saskatchewan marathon in 2006, was quick to return the compliment.

"He pulled me along the way and I hope I did the same for him," he said. "I wouldn't have been as fast without him. Definitely not. No way."

Lunty was worried about his legs coming into the competition. He ran a 2:45 last weekend in Red Deer and is heading to Calgary to do it all again this weekend. ("Just love doin' it," he said by way of an explanation).

It turned out Lunty felt great all morning, even when he crossed the finish line in second.

"Lose to him?" he said of Michasiw. "There's nothing to be ashamed of there."

Chris Schwarz of Saskatoon was third in 2:52:06.

Another running entrepreneur, Lindsay Byers of Saskatoon, cruised to her first marathon victory in her seventh time running the distance.

A personal trainer and owner of Performance Training and Fitness, Byers finished second last year. Her strategy Sunday was to focus on her time, not her position.

When Byers hit the wall at the 30-km mark, she caught a glimpse of another competitor, Lori Soderberg of Saskatoon, just ahead. That was all the motivation she needed.

She said her time of 3:21:18 is slower than she planned.

"But first place is a good tradeoff," said Byers, 26.

Byers dedicated her win to the 25 clients who were also competing in the event at various distances.

"I wanted to show that I kick my butt as much as I kick their butts," she said.

Soderberg finished second in 3:24:41 and Jamie Myers of Saskatoon finished third in 3:28:23.

Jody Draube denies he is starting his own mini-dynasty in the men's half-marathon. For three years, he has returned to his home town from Calgary to compete and he has won it every time.

"I'm pretty lucky," he said. "It's more fun than anything. I've got a few sisters that run it every year. We meet back here and it's a bit of reunion."

Draube, who started running only five years ago, finished the half in 1:16:28. His companion on the court, James Funk, was second in 1:17:49 and Matt Mazurik of Saskatoon third in 1:18:58.

Brandi Pozniak of Saskatoon repeated as the women's champion in half-marathon in 1:23:55. Kelly Davey of Saskatoon was second 1:31:47 and Donna Olsen of Saskatoon was third in 1:39:35.

Julian Deciutiis of Saskatoon won the men's 10 km in 39:01 and Grandora's Paule Bertholet took the women's 10 km in 42:52.

The wind prohibited David Cheruiyot of Kenya from setting a new course record at the Ottawa Marathon Sunday, but it didn’t stop him from becoming the first man to win the race four times.

The only other person to win four titles is Lioudmila Kortchaguina, originally from Russia but now a Canadian citizen living in Toronto, who finished second on the women’s side Sunday.

It was the third straight title for Cheruiyot, who holds the course record of two hours 10 minutes 33 seconds, set in 2007. He was third in 2006 and won the event in his first attempt in 2005.

Yesterday, and for the third straight year, he took over the lead in a sprint of the final kilometre to capture the title. He overtook Wegayehu Girma of Ethiopia and Ahmed Baday of Morocco right at the end to finish in a time of 2:13:23.

“I thought I was going to be No. 3. But when I reached the first one I saw that they were going slow so I increased my pace and I caught them,” Cheruiyot said, adding that he had a cramp in the second half of the race that was slowing him down as well.

“The two guys were very far from me, but when I reached about 40K I saw them getting closer to me and they were going slow. I tried to push as hard as I could because around there I thought I could catch them. I caught them at 41 (kilometres).

“I thought we would run under 2:10, but the course was too windy so I knew there would be no record. My time was not good, though.”

It was good enough for the win, however. Girma was second at 2:13:29, while Baday’s run of 2:13:56 placed him third.

“I had to back off because my feet hurt and they were bleeding,” said Girma, who was breaking in a new pair of shoes, apparently not at the ideal time.

“I was happy with the race and it was my first full marathon. I ran a 10K one week ago in New York and finished in 28:12. But I loved this race and I love the country.”

There were seven runners within four seconds of each other at the halfway point of the race. They were all within three seconds of each other at the 30K mark before they broke off into smaller packs.

“I want to run for another five years,” Cheruiyot said.

He plans to take his $15,000 prize and invest it in his automotive parts business in Kenya, where he lives with his wife and two children. He also owns a tour company. “Of course I’ll come back next year. I’ll keep defending (the title) until they beat me,” he laughed.

Reid Coolsaet was the top Canadian with a time of 2:17:10. That was good enough for eighth overall for the Hamilton native, who was participating in his first full marathon.

The Canadian title should be good enough to get him on the world championship team that will compete at the world track and field championships this August in Berlin. “It qualifies me for Berlin as long as Canada sends a full team,” Coolsaet said.

“My legs didn’t hold up towards the end but otherwise I felt really comfortable. I wanted to be about a minute and 15 seconds faster, but it was my first one and I’m coming back from an injury (broken foot last November) so I can’t complain. I’m happy with it.”

Canada placed three other runners in the top-15: Jason Warick of Saskatoon was 12th, Christian Mercier of Quebec City was 14th, and Baie St. Paul, Que. resident David Savard-Gagnon 15th.

On the women's side,

OTTAWA — On Friday, Asmae Leghzaoui of Morocco said she was nervous about the Ottawa Marathon because she was the defending champion, having won the 2008 event in her full marathon debut.

Adding to her nervousness was the fact the Toronto’s Lioudmila Kortchaguina was back this year after dropping out of last year’s race at the last minute because of an injury. Kortchaguina had won the race in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2007, and she was second in 2005.

Leghzaoui also said that, even though she set a course record last year, completing the 42.195-kilometre course in 2:28:44, she felt had a better race inside her, so she was looking towards another course record.

It wasn’t really close.

Leghzaoui, 32, got her second consecutive course record and set a personal-best time by crossing the finish line in 2:27:41. Kortchaguina, the top Canadian, was again second, but she was more than four minutes back with her time of 2:32:10.

“The race was very good, but, (over) the last half of the marathon, there was a lot of wind,” Leghzaoui said. “Because of that, I wasn’t able to put up a faster time, but I was very happy.

“After the start of the race, after 5K, I felt more confident. All the nerves were gone, so, at that point, I was just able to concentrate on the time. If not for the wind, I could have gone faster … 100 per cent.”

It didn’t hurt that Leghzaoui had all kinds of support along the course. Last year, as a relative unknown, she was just a runner. This year she was a name.

“All through the race I heard, ‘Go Asmae. Go Morocco,’ so the people were cheering for me and I was very happy with that.”

Second-place finisher Kortchaguina said she started out too fast in the first 10 kilometres, “and I was going really fast in the first 5K. I tried to keep my pace, but it’s a marathon and it is what it is.”

“I wanted to be first, but (Leghzaoui) ran too fast for me. She did her job and I did mine, but she was just faster,” said Kortchaguina, a Canadian citizen who is originally from Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Leghzaoui’s time for 10 kilometres was 34:43, a full 30 seconds ahead of Kortchaguina, but just two seconds ahead of Kenya’s Irene Jerotich Kosgei and just one second up on Ethiopian Salomie Getnet.

Both those runners tailed off, however, and finished third and fourth, respectively.

Myriam Grenon of Longueuil, Que., was the second Canadian woman and 10th woman overall with her time of 2:51:05.8.

She was followed across the line by Caroline McIlroy (2:53.56.3) of St. Philip’s, N.L., and Heather Gallagher of Ottawa (2:56:16).

If Master Warrant Officer Steve McNabb had run the half marathon Sunday with all the hardware around his neck that he sported after the run, he would have been too weighed down to finish the race at the Ottawa Race Weekend.

McNabb won four medals with his half marathon time of one hour 13 minutes and 13 seconds. He collected the open and masters men’s titles as well as the Canadian Forces open and masters titles.

McNabb, who is stationed in Ottawa, finished 19 seconds ahead of Montreal’s Nicholas Chadi, while Richard Tessier of La Perade, Que. was third with a race time of 1:15:09. “You do your homework and your training and this is the day you do the test and see how you perform.

“I’ve got an A+ if you want to say that, and I’m happy with my performance,” McNabb said.

“It’s great to compete as a master (40-44 year olds) and run against the 20-year olds and outrun them.”

Marie Danais spent seven years in Ottawa before her job had her relocate to Quebec City last year. She was in town Sunday to defend her half marathon title and says now she’ll have to come back next year as a two-time defending champion.

“The race was really good. It was windy so it was a couple minutes slower than I was hoping for, like a couple of minutes,” Danais said following her run of 1:22:30.

Despite the slower time, Danais loved the event.

“Everything is so nice, and the roads are all cleared and there are so many people.

“One of the really rewarding things is that when you’re running down the street everybody knows you and everyone is yelling your name and cheering and they clap; I smiled the whole way.

“I was in pain but I was smiling the whole way and it was really a lot of fun.”

The next three finishers on the women’s side were all from Ottawa, as Leslie Sanderson (1:26:49), Susan Durrell (1:27:08) and Lisa Balerna (1:27:19) finished second, third and fourth respectively.

Oakville’s Josh Cassidy won the wheelchair marathon in a time of 1:35:27. Michel Filteau of Ste. Jean Baptiste, Que., finished second while Clayton Gerein of Pilot Butte, Sask. was third.

By Danny Rode - Red Deer Advocate

Jack Cook had to smile when asked why he didn’t compete in the 2008 Red Deer Woody’s RV World Marathon and Half Marathon despite being on the entry list.

“I slept in and didn’t make it,” he said with a laugh.

But there was nothing sleepy about the 2006 champion’s performance during the 11th annual event Sunday.

Cook out-sprinted defending champion David Corbett of Sherwood Park to win the marathon in an unofficial time of two hours, 43 minutes, 48 seconds. Corbett came in at 2:44:04 with Brendan Lunty of Camrose third at 2:45:47.

Neasa Coll of Calgary, who was running her first marathon, took the women’s title in 3:30:53 with Diane Williams of Calgary at 3:31:40.

Cook ran an uneventful race while Corbett was fighting intestinal problems, which forced him to stop three times.

“It seemed every time I’d run fast it would bother me,” explained Corbett. “But it’s part of running at times. You can’t do anything about it.”

“Without the problems he would have beaten me,” said Cook without hesitation.

“I was leading for the first 20k then David took over, but with his problems he was forced to stop, then had to push it to catch up.

“Each time he stopped I didn’t try to push it extra hard, but just kept going. After the last time I didn’t expect him to catch me, but he came back and when I saw him I knew it was time to sprint.”

Corbett said he lost at least two minutes when he stopped.

“The one time it took me 27 kilometres to catch up and when I stopped the last time it was at 38k and I knew it would be tough to get that back,” said Corbett, who went into the race worried about his sore foot.

“It was bothering me, but it was good,” he said.

Cook didn’t have any physical problems.

“No issues at all,” said the 42-year-old, who is a three-time winner of the Death Race in Grande Cache.

Cook was using the marathon to prepare for the world 100km championship in Belgium, which is four weeks away.

“This is a great marathon and there’s no way I could get this quality of a race by running by myself,” he said.

Cook will run a 50km race in two weeks, then head to Belgium.

“I’ve never has success in the world championship, I’ve always crashed and burned,” he said.

“This is my sixth time and I hope to get it right this time.”

Coll never dreamed of winning when she decided to enter the marathon.

“I didn’t think of winning I just wanted to finish strong,” said the 26-year-old, who got into serious running last summer.

“I felt it was a fun way to be out in nature, in the mountains and on the trails and a good way to keep fit and to socialize,” she said.

“I trained all winter and spring with the Calgary Road Runners and I enjoyed it.”

She did run a “couple of” half marathons before she started thinking of a marathon.

“Even thinking about running, especially this distance a few years ago seemed like a crazy idea. But the more I was out (with the Road Runners) it seemed like something I could do.”

Coll found herself in third place for much of the race, but slipped into second at the three-quarter mark.

“After that I didn’t see anyone. In fact I thought I might be on the wrong right trail, but the leader (Williams) came into sight at the 40km mark and I was able to catcher her with about a kilometre to go. At first I thought I overtook her too soon, especially when I got to that last hill. I really didn’t think I could make it up there, but I wanted to finish strong.”

Once she finished she wasn’t even breathing hard.

“It’s so great . . . I’m on fire and so excited,” she said.

• Brian Torrance of Edmonton won the half marathon for the second straight year, winning in 1:13:06 with Robert Renman of Camrose at 1:14:57 and Matthew Norminton third at 1:16:39 . . . Dulcie Timmons of Lacombe took the women’s half marathon in 1:33:05 with Red Deer’s Janet Spafford at 1:34:09 and Barb Edgar at 1:36:59 . . . Official results were unavailable because of technical problems . . . The top three finishers in each category will be in the Advocate when available.

BC’s Gwen McFarlan finished the BMO Vancouver Marathon on May 3^rd in 3:57:30. Gwen is in the W75 age group – and that’s a WORLD RECORD! Gwen broke the record set by Betty Jean McHugh. Betty Jean was at the same event running the half marathon now in the 80+ category. Betty Jean set approved Canadian records for W80 half marathon at Vancouver 2:04:19 and marathon at Victoria 4:36:52 last year.

By MONTY MOSHER Sports Reporter, Chronicle Herald

IN A RUN THAT NEARLY didn’t happen, Scotsburn’s David MacLennan has his fourth Scotiabank Blue Nose Marathon victory.

After a difficult winter for training, MacLennan, 45, initially planned to skip the 42-kilometre run in Halifax/Dartmouth to focus on next month’s Johnny Miles Marathon in New Glasgow, where he is a six-time champion and local legend.

But MacLennan felt so good over the last two months he registered for the sixth annual Blue Nose this past Tuesday. It was a good call.

MacLennan tore up the first half in just over an hour and 15 minutes on his way to a 2:36:05, narrowly missing his own record for the event set in the inaugural running in 2004 at 2:35:35.

"It’s great to be back," said MacLennan, who disappointed himself with a 3:11 in the Blue Nose last year, a race won by Bridgewater’s Terry Melloy in 2:48. "I didn’t expect to go under 2:40, so I’m ecstatic with 2:36."

A field of 280 marathon runners helped bring the total number of competitors in the Blue Nose weekend to more than 8,000, including 2,500 in Saturday’s youth run.

MacLennan, a notorious fast starter, dominated from the opening strides on Sunday, steaming away from Alex Coffin of Saint John, N.B., in the early kilometres in Point Pleasant Park and running untouched from there.

"I pulled away from him and the footsteps were getting farther behind," said MacLennan, who credited better training this year for his success. "I just felt good the whole way."

All racers seemed to enjoy the cool, misty conditions. "The weather was awesome," he said. "This was a perfect day for running, except for a little wind in spots."

Dartmouth’s Ray Moorehead, who beat MacLennan by 10 seconds for the Johnny Miles crown last year, held on for second place at 2:43:09, but it was a rough run to the line for Moorehead. He slumped at the finish line due to hypothermia and dehydration and was taken to hospital as a precaution.

Moorehead, who was fine in the hours after the race, had nothing but praise for MacLennan, his good friend.

"Dave ran a spectacular race," said Moorehead. "I give him a lot of credit. He ran strong and fast right from the start."

Moorehead expected MacLennan to succumb to the wicked early pace, but he never did.

"I did the half in 1:19 and thought that was aggressive in itself," said Moorehead. "But I never saw him. He had that race solidified right from the first 5K."

Summerside’s Scott Clark placed third in 2:49:24. A veteran of all six Blue Nose runs, he has been on the podium for the past three runs after placing second in 2007 and 2008.

Clark said there was no catching MacLennan.

"We saw him for the first 12 kilometres," Clark said. "He always goes out fast and we didn’t really know what kind of shape he was in today. When he took off, he didn’t fail. He was in shape, he was ready."

Coffin came fourth in 2:50:25 after Clark passed him on the home stretch at the Macdonald Bridge. Coffin was trying to pull off an impressive double after winning a marathon in Fredericton last weekend in 2:47.

Rounding out the top 10 were Anthony Landry of Victoria (2:57:09), Bruno Kerhoas of St-Pierre-Miquelon (2:58:48), Philippe Venot of St-Pierre-Miquelon (2:59:24), women’s champion Jen Nicholson of Cornwall, P.E.I. (3:00:07), Tim Keith of Kingston (3:02:58) and Marco Albright of Yarmouth (3:06:30).

MacLennan set himself a goal of 2:40, thinking if he could get there he would give himself a chance to win. He was embarrassed by his effort from a year ago and knew he had something better to give.

His time in 2008 was also hurt by a wrong turn on the course, something that plagued many runners and led to route changes this year.

"Last year was disappointing," he said. "I definitely didn’t have the training going into last year. So it’s great to win. It’s all about time. If somebody ran faster today, good for them. But 2:36 took it today, so I was happy with that."

Age division winners on the men’s side were Lower Sackville’s Jeremy Chabot (19-and-under), Charlottetown’s David Gallant (20-29), Landry (30-39), MacLennan (40-49), Halifax’s Frank MacGillivray (50-59) and Bayport’s Chris Anderson (60-and-over).

Jen Nicholson, a Halifax na­tive living in Cornwall, P.E.I., saw to that.

The Acadia graduate and mother of three children under the age of 10 flirted with the three-hour mark, settling for a course-record 3:00:07 (chip time) in her first Blue Nose event and fourth career marathon.“I’m thrilled," said Nicholson, who plans to be back.

The 40-year-old teacher by trade, eighth overall in the entire marathon field, won her division by nearly 16 minutes over Toron­to’s Jacquie Steele in 3:16:02. Su­san Carbyn of New Minas ran a 3:18:36 for third.

Nicholson crushed the previ­ous women’s record of 3:16:02 for Halifax. That mark was set by Vancouver’s Celine LeBlanc in the first Blue Nose event in 2004. “It was great, lots of fun," said Nicholson. “When I got to Point Pleasant Park I got flashbacks to being a kid and running cross­country races. It was a nice course. I’m thrilled."

She ran the front half in 1:25, leading a women’s field of 109 by a full 10 minutes.

The women’s division was viewed as an open contest with many of the region’s better­known runners taking a pass, in­cluding two-time defending champion Leah Jabbour of Hali­fax.

But Nicholson’s success Sun­day was no fluke. She’s been un­der the three-hour barrier, turn­ing a 2:56 on a flat P.E.I. course, and had a 3:06 in the 2008 Boston Marathon.

“I had an idea I was winning, but you never know who is be­hind you," she said. “I hoped I was, but I didn’t look behind me. But people told me along the course I was the first female.

“I didn’t really have a time goal, I just wanted to do it. The conditions were perfect. It was a wonderful experience."

She said 40 appears to be a great age for women running marathons. Dartmouth’s Denise Robson, also 40, owns the Cana­dian record for a woman 40 and over and recently led all Cana­dian women in the Boston Mara­thon.“It’s wonderful and very en­couraging," she said. “We’re just getting started."

Dartmouth’s Erica Bowie (3:22:44), Halifax’s Penny Hart (3:27:19), Kim MacAskill of Kana­ta, Ont.

(3:28:02), Halifax’s Marie­Claude Gregoire (3:31:31), Hatch­et Lake’s Tonya Huck (3:31:27), Charlottetown’s Nancy Morris (3:31:57) and Halifax’s Erin McDiarmid (3:35:04) finished the top 10.

Despite the inclement weather conditions, there was a record turnout for the 31st annual Scotiabank Fredericton Marathon put on by the Capital City Roadrunners Sunday in the city.

Paul Lavoie, co-ordinator for the event, said the total number of runners, 1,050, marked a 20 per cent increase over last year's field. "It was our biggest year,'' said Lavoie. The full marathon attracted 136 runners although last year's winner, Travis Saunders, and multiple winner, Chris Brake of Saint John, weren't in the field.

That left the way for Alex Coffin of Saint John to cross the finish line first with a time of 2:47:34, winning the marathon for the first time.

"I had a great time, I love the course, and the weather was perfect for running," said Coffin, who has won marathons in St. Andrews and Moncton previously. "I'm also looking to win the Blue Nose Marathon in Halifax. Hopefully I can carry this win over to next Sunday and win two in a row."

Following Coffin at the finish line were Vladimir Suchan from Fort Kent, Me. in second at 2:55:08 and Mark McCosham of Charlottetown finishing in 2:55:11. The first female runner to cross the finish line in the full Marathon was Hazel Caldwell of Stewiacke, N.S. She is originally from Southern Scotland.

This marked her second ever marathon, finishing with a time of 3:17:31. "I wanted to achieve a new personal best and I accomplished that today. The course was excellent. I loved the trail. It was nice and flat which is perfect if you are looking for a personal best," said Caldwell after her first experience at the Fredericton Marathon.

"I expect to be back next year to hopefully set another personal best.''

Full and half marathoners started at 8 a.m. while 5km and 10km participants started at 8:30 a.m. Runners came from all over Canada and the U.S.

The Good Life Half Marathon including 384 participants saw Fredericton's Ryan O'Shea finishing with the top time of 1:19:36.

A former participant in the full marathon two years ago, this was O'Shea's first time running the Half. "I train with the Running Room, following their program. We're travelling to the Ottawa Marathon in a few weeks and hope for another strong performance."

Other notables in the Half Marathon included second place Gautreau Jacques of Dieppe with a time of 1:23:58. Todd Lambert of Saint John finished in third place with a time of 1:24:11 with Jim Breen from Ireland finishing fourth with a time of 1:24.49.

New Maryland's Chris Brannon captured the Valley Graphics 10K event ahead of Dean Strowbridge of Willow Grove with a time of 33:20.

In the 5km event, Ian Forbes of Fredericton powered down the homestretch to capture the event with a time of 16:29, finishing just ahead of Saint John's Matthew McNeil posting a time of 16:30.

For the most part, Lavoie was pleased with how smoothly everything went. "The runners loved the course. Some said it was the safest course they had ever run," said Lavoie. "Overall this year's marathon was another wonderful success even with the weather conditions not being the best."

MONTRÉAL, April 19, 2009 — Over 2,800 runners took Parc Jean­-Drapeau by storm today for the annual Banque Scotia 21K de Montréal et 5K and helped raised a record amount of $87,000 in the Scotiabank Group Charity Challenge, with all proceeds going to five local charities. Top male runner Asamenew Yeshanew of Ethiopia finished in 1:03:55 while Canadian Tara Quinn Smith set a new Canadian record as well as a new course record for women, with a time of 1:12:08. This event also serves as the official selection trials for the 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.

This is the second year in a row that the Banque Scotia 21K de Montréal is the venue for the official selection trials for the 2009 IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships, to be held in Birmingham, UK this October. The Canadian athletes who finished in the top three positions at the 2009 Canadian Half Marathon Championships are eligible for selection.

"Once again, Montreal sets the bar high with solid performances from top athletes from the running world. Not only did we see the course record broken, but the top female runner also broke the Canadian record! With over 2,800 participants in both 21K and 5K races, this event is an outstanding success," said François Lecot, Race Director for Canada Running Series.

In the men’s 21K race, it was a tight race between Ethiopian Asamenew Yeshanew and Canadian Matt Loiselle almost until the end, where Yeshanew took the lead to win. Loiselle finished the race in 1:04:09, winning the Canadian Championship, followed by Josephat Ongeri of United States in 1:05.04. In addition to Matt Loiselle, Andrew Smith (1:05:07) and Steve Osaduik (1:05:52) finished the top three for the Canadian Championship.

Canadian top winner in last year’s event, Tara Quinn Smith of Toronto dominated throughout the entire race and took the title by setting a new course record as well as breaking the Canadian record of 1995. Respectively in second and third positions overall, female runners Lioudmila Kortchaguina (Canada) registered a time of 1:15:49 and Firehiwot Gebreyesus of Ethiopia finished in 1:16:16. Paula Wiltse joined Quinn Smith and Kortchaguina as the third best Canadian time at 1:19:46.

Note from Alex: Magali Tisseyre was actually the third place Canadian for the women. She is a top triathlete as well.

Half-Marathon Male

1. Asamenew Yeshanew      1:03:55
2. Matt Loiselle          1:04:09
3. Josephat Ongeri        1:05:04

Half-Marathon Female

1. Tara Quinn Smith       1:12:08
2. Lioudmila Kortchaguina 1:15:49
3. Firehiwot Gebreyesus   1:16:16

The Banque Scotia 21K de Montréal & 5K is part of the prestigious Canada Running Series. Growing in popularity every year, this world-class race is also a successful fundraising event. This year it helped raise a significant amount of money, $87,000, for five local charities that have a huge impact on their local community: Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation, The Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors, La Maison de la famille Pierre Bienvenu Noailles, Share the Warmth and West Island Women’s Shelter.

"What a great way to combine business and fun: running on a wonderful course on such a great day, and helping local organizations that truly make a difference. At Banque Scotia, we are committed to being a contributor in our community, and today acting as a catalyst in helping to raise money for local charities is very rewarding," said Pierre Michaud, District Vice-President, Montreal, Scotiabank.

For complete race results, please visit www.canadarunningseries.com/monthalf.

New Glasgow N.S., March 9, 2009...... After a record year in 2008, the details are set for the 2009 running of the Johnny Miles event. According to Race Director Terry Curley the format for this year’s event weekend will stay much the same, building on the great success of last year’s event with just a few adjustments that will fine tune the weekend of activities even more.

The weekend gets under way on Saturday, June 20, 2009 with the ``Johnny Walk`` at 9:00 am, followed by the Tim Horton’s / Subway Kids Fun Run at 10:30am. Both events take place at the Scott Weeks Sports Complex in Parkdale.  Registration and Race Kit Pick Up will start at 2:00 pm at the John Brother MacDonald Stadium. The Carbo Loading Dinner will start at 4:00 pm with the Opening Ceremonies taking place at 5:00 pm. 

The Opening Ceremonies will feature key note speaker Mark Black. Mark is a double lung & heart transplant survivor. He is also a published author, marathon runner & motivational speaker. Mark will speak to the crowd about Living Life from the Heart, the title of his book. Following the key note address will be the presentation of the ``Johnny Miles Williston Award`` and the ``Danny MacLeod Inspirational Awards``. 

The main running events will take place on Sunday, June 21^st   starting at 8:30 am directly in front of Carmichael Park on Terrace Street. The running events will feature the marquee events: The S. Allen & Sons Disaster Kleenup Marathon and the Advocate Half Marathon and Walk. Other events are the CIBC Wood Gundy 5km Fun Run, the Empire Theatres 5km Student Challenge, the Disability Challenge and the ProSport/New Balance 10km Classic.  

One of the most noticeable changes will be the introduction of a new state of the art “Single Use Timing Chip”. The new timing chip will be a single use chip with the Johnny Miles Logo on it that participants will be able to keep as yet another souvenir of their accomplishment. The single use chip will eliminate the ankle strap and the need to have volunteers at the finish line to remove them from the participant’s ankles, a task that was never popular among volunteers. 

The change in venue for the Sobey’s Carbo Loading Social and Meal is the result of the growing success and popularity of the event. The event has outgrown the Bluenose Curling Club therefore the Sobeys Social and Carbo Loading Meal will move to the more spacious setting of the John Brother MacDonald Stadium. The move will allow for more floor space for seating for the expected increase in numbers and will allow for more registration tables and additional display area explains Race Director Curley

One other change that will be made will be with the Empire Theatres Student Challenge. This year the event will be used to bring awareness to the Anti Bullying Campaign that is currently running in most schools. “We see this as a natural fit for our event,” says Curley, “The 5Km Student Challenge was created to challenge students to be the best that they can be and obviously helping to eliminate bulling fits into that profile of being a positive leader.” The students will wear pink bib numbers and will have the Anti Bullying logo on the back of their shirts. The event is free for students and students will receive free pre-race breakfast, official race shirts, completion medal, and a post race meal and are eligible for draw prizes.

“As a committee we continue to be motivated and inspired by the growing number of participants and the stories they tell us about their reasons for taking part”, says Curley.  

New Glasgow Marketing & Communications Director Kim Dickson describes the Johnny Miles Running Weekend has one that has become a classic for the region that generates much appreciated tourism revenues into the community during the shoulder season. “In these challenging times, the Johnny Miles Running Event Weekend brings visitors to the community while also providing an event that is supported and applauded by the citizens and businesses of Pictou County. It has multi-generational appeal and opportunities for all levels of abilities to participate and be proud of their achievement,” says Dickson.

For complete details please visit www.johnnymiles.ca

A local runner didn't win it but still enjoyed a personal best and gave the winner a good run for his money.

Peterborough's Jamie Switzer reached his goal of finishing under an hour and 20 minutes and ended up a solid fourth overall in the half-marathon segment of the 31st annual Peterborough Family YMCA Vascular Health Network HalfMarathon, AccuPed 5K and Wildrock Kids 1K in the region yesterday.

Posted By DALE CLIFFORD, EXAMINER STAFF WRITER

With the start and finish at the corner of Park and Brioux streets, the 20-year-old Switzer completed his third half in 1:18:40.0, right on the heels of first-time winner Mike Strano of Barrie, who won in 1:16:59.0.

Huntsville's Troy Cox was second in 1:17:02.2 while Toronto's Lawrence Warriner placed third in 1:17:58.1. It left Switzer in fine company with a respectable finish, not bad considering there were 884 registered runners overall, including 573 in the half alone.

There was a local connection to the top woman finisher in the half. Trent University grad Jutta Merilainen, a Finnish native who lives in Batawa, near Trenton, finished ninth overall in 1:23:05.1 to earn such an honour for the third-straight year.

The runners enjoyed a variety of weather conditions, from a snow squall to flurries, mild to cool temperatures, sun to cloud and little wind to blustery. Throughout the roads were constant, snow covered and wet.

Switzer actually enjoyed a lead for a while before settling back.

"I stuck to my game plan and didn't push too hard," said Switzer, a first-year recreation and leisure student at Fleming College. "I tried to keep stride. The weather was all right. It is February. The roads were packed with snow and they were wet and slippery. I was happy with how I ran. And I was happy to reach my goal. I finished under 20 minutes and it was my personal best."

It was the third half-marathon for Switzer, all here, and he was happy to represent the area. He got into the sport when he was 10.

"I trained all winter for this and I just hadn't taken it seriously before," he said. "It's the only sport I do now. I love the challenge, the competition and being outside. It's good for my health."

For the 35-year-old Strano, it was his first win after finishing second last year.

Royal Victoria Marathon to host Provincial Marathon Championships

(Victoria, BC – February 16, 2009). The 30^th Annual Royal Victoria Marathon (RVM) has been chosen by BC Athletics to host the 2009 Provincial Marathon Championships for junior, senior and master runners, for both men and women. The Marathon will be held on Sunday, October 11, 2009.

“Throughout its history, the Royal Victoria Marathon has consistently staged a first class event, attracting many of BC’s finest marathon runners,” said Maurice Wilson, Technical Manager of BC Athletics’ Road and Cross Country Running Division. “After an absence of many years, BC Athletics is pleased to award the 2009 BC Marathon Championships to Victoria, to be held in conjunction with their 30^th anniversary.”

The Royal Victoria Marathon has consistently attracted an elite field of runners including former winners Cheryl Murphy and Olympian Jon Brown, both 2008 BCA Road Runners of the Year, reigning and three-time Marathon winner Steve Osaduik, five-time winner Kelvin Broad, six-time winner Cindy Rhodes and Olympians Bruce Deacon and Peter Butler.

“For 2009 I will be inviting about 50 elite BC runners to participate,” said Bob Reid, President of the Victoria Marathon Society. “There is $26,000 available in prize money with $3,000 each going to the top male and female and a $5,000 bonus for a new men’s or women’s course record. We are very proud – this is the first time in 30 years that RVM has hosted the provincial marathon championships.”

Current course records are held by Langley’s Steve Osaduik, 2:16:49 set in 2006, and Val Chowaniec, from Edmonton, 2:42:32 set in 1989.  

The 30^th Annual Royal Victoria Marathon takes place Sunday, October 11, 2009; in addition to the Marathon there is a Half Marathon, 8K Road Race and Thrifty Foods Kids Run. For more details, visit www.royalvictoriamarathon.com.

- 30 -

For more information contact:

Louise Hodgson-Jones                                                       Bob Reid

Media Liaison                                                                     President                                              

Royal Victoria Marathon                                                    Victoria Marathon Society                                                                                                                                                                                               

250-812-2518                                                                      250-384-1520                 

media@royalvictoriamarathon.com                                   breid@islandnet.com

KIHEI - In conditions that felt more like they belonged in the Pacific Northwest than Hawaii, it was fitting that the top two finishers at Sunday morning’s Neways Maui Paradise Marathon were from Vancouver, British Columbia.

Steve Mattina, 38, took home the men’s title, running through the soaked streets of South Maui to finish the 26.2-mile course in 3 hours, 4 minutes, 20 seconds, while his girlfriend, Karen Warrendorf, 35, won the women’s title in 3:12:55 at the inaugural event, which began and ended at Kalama Beach Park.

The day started as a clear Maui morning before giving way - almost as soon as the race began - to heavy showers, with occasional thunder and lightning.

The rain seemed to suit Warrendorf, who finished nearly an hour ahead of the next woman, 22-year-old Karen Johnson (4:11:57), of Greeley, Colo.

’’It was good - I was very happy for the rain,’’ Warrendorf said. ’’It was wonderful.

’’Running a marathon in the heat and sun is not so fun so it (the rain) was welcome.’’

While many of the approximately 200 runners who participated in the full and half marathons welcomed the weather, it played havoc on the organizers, who decided to cancel this year’s 5-kilometer race as the rain left huge puddles around the start/finish line.

Race manager Jerry Levey said he wasn’t offering refunds to the runners who paid $20-30, but those who paid this year can have their fee applied toward next year’s race. The planned keiki races were also canceled because puddles covered the baseball diamond at Kalama.

The rain let up by the time Mattina completed the race, although he did have to run around a huge puddle just in front of the chute leading to the finish line.

Mattina, who works for shoe retailer Running Room and reviews races as part of his job, called the event a ’’destination marathon’’ and said he wouldn’t hesitate recommending it to fellow runners.

’’I think this race will take off, people need a break (during winter), people need to escape,’’ said Mattina, who said he’s completed 20-25 marathons, including the New York City Marathon last year.

Tony Phillippi (3:14:03), 47, of Tacoma, Wash., was third overall - second among the men.

Johnny Landeza, 45, of Aiea, Oahu, was fourth overall and the top Hawaii finisher.

’’It was a really good course,’’said Landeza, who came to Maui along with five other members of Runners HI on Oahu. ’’We were excited when we heard about a new Maui marathon in January.’’

Landeza said he enjoyed the run and planned to return.

’’We’ll be here next year,’’ he said.

The second Maui Paradise Marathon is scheduled for Jan. 10, 2010.

Jerome Ross, of Anchorage, Alaska, won the half marathon in 1:15:35. Lindsey Wilbur of Kihei was the top women’s finisher, in 1:35:13.

Hana’s Billy Conner, 59, a veteran of 113 marathons, gave his approval to the course.

Conner ran the half marathon, in 2:34:39, because his girlfriend, Jill Davis of Wenatchee, Wash., was on Maui to celebrate her 50th birthday. She crossed the finish line 1 second before Conner, a personal best time.

’’I loved the course today, conditions were ideal,’’ said Conner, who has run the last 32 Maui Marathons. ’’I’d rather be cold and wet than hot and dry.’’

HOUSTON, TX. January 19^th. While the Ethiopians stole the headlines, Canadians continued a strong tradition of excellence at yesterday’s Chevron Houston Marathon.

Up front, Ethiopia’s Deriba Merga and Teyba Erkesso set blistering paces to set new men’s and women’s course records of 2:07:52 and 2:24:23, respectively -- propelling Houston to a status usually reserved for the Marathon Majors of Chicago, Boston and New York.

Not too far behind them, Andrew Smith of the Brooks Canada Marathon Project took 3 minutes off his previous best to run 2:16:18 for 5^th place male, and Thornhill’s Lioudmila Kortchaguina came back from 2 years’ of frustrating injuries that forced her out of the Beijing Olympics and her dream of running for Canada, to record an impressive 2:30:43 clocking, good for 3^rd place female and US$7,000. A third Canadian, Giitah Macharia of Oakville had a disappointing day, fading badly in the final stages to finish in 2:21. He had run 2:16 in his marathon debut at Ottawa last May and was hoping for a sub-2:15. Ottawa ’08 was also Smith’s marathon debut.

In quietly finishing 3^rd and 5^th, as first North Americans, Kortchaguina and Smith continued a fine national tradition of top Canuck performances and close ties with Houston. In January 1985, Silvia Ruegger ran 2:28:36 to take 1^st place, and set a new Canadian women’s marathon record that still stands today, 24 years later. Current Ontario Minister of Labour, Peter Fonseca, was overall Houston Men’s champion in 1995, going on to compete for his country in the Atlanta Olympic marathon in ’96 where he placed 21^st.

With their performances yesterday, Kortchaguina and Smith hope to stake claims to one of the 5 men’s and 5 women’s marathon teams going to the Word Championships in Berlin in August.

Alan Brookes,

Race Director,

Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon,

From Houston, TX.

(Note from Alex: You can check out Norma's blog on http://mexicanrunningwild.blogspot.com/2008/10/freedom-means-opportunity-to-be-what-we.html

Norma will be running 7 ultramarathons in 7 months in 7 continents!!

Calgary Sun

January 16, 2009

Bill Kaufmann

It's a vision to help the blind that'll span all seven continents.

Inspired by a teenage son suffering from a rare eye disease, Calgarian Norma Bastidas is preparing to both sweat it out and freeze -- running some of the world's most gruelling marathons from the deserts of Africa's Namibia to the icy wastes of Antarctica.

Her goal: To raise $100,000 for eye disease research and treatment but to do so, she'll have to survive the more than 1,400 km of Earth's most inhospitable reaches.

"I do love it -- you have to love it," said Bastidas, a 41-year-old single mother of two whose seven-month odyssey is being underwritten by a local business, the Bolt Supply House.

There, she'll run a 100-km route by herself -- a challenge aided by recent frostbitten conditions in Calgary.

"I was out training with sleds in the -35 Celsius weather ... I'll dress in layers to pull the sweat away from me to prevent hypothermia," said Bastidas, who'll also take another lonely trek through the Yukon and Alaska, where her main source of calories will be butter.

And she'll pull a sled through the snow weighed down with 20 kg of provisions.

The petite marketing director will also run races in Switzerland, Australia and the Gobi desert.

For some of them, Bastidas says she'll be going for the win -- "others, it's just to survive them."

A year of training peaked last October when she embarked on a 250-km trek across the Sahara desert.

"I wanted to see if my body could handle running it," she said.

"Not only did I survive, I placed fifth for females in my age group."

When it's not the competition driving her, Bastidas is motivated by her 14-year-old son Karl and others suffering from genetic eye diseases.

"It's watching my son struggle ... I'd like to think of myself as an athletic ambassador for the blind," she said.

Source: www.flotrack.org

Special thanks to Christopher Kelsall

With a Commonwealth Games appearance and a 2:32 marathon personal best, Nicole Stevenson has been one of Canada’s elite marathon runners since 2002.

Coached by Hugh Cameron, Nicole transitioned from a middle distance runner to a marathoner smoothly, able to maintain fairly low-mileage training while working full time for a Pharmaceutical company in marketing.

Coach Hugh is the head coach with the Brooks Canada Marathon Project in Ontario, which enables Canada’s best runners to maintain their focus on their training and he is doing so with good success.

Martin Goulet, Chief High Performance Officer for Athletics
Canada says:

"As a long time national team and Olympic distance running
coach I was thrilled to learn about this new privately
sponsored Brooks Canada Marathon Project when briefed about
it.  Our sport certainly needs new innovative ways to
attract support for our Canadian athletes.  We
enthusiastically endorse the concept and approach especially
knowing that under the strong leadership of coach Cameron,
this initiative will harmoniously complement what Athletics
Canada is doing in the global area of distance running."

The time left for qualifying for the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Track and Field Championships, (August 15 to 23, 2009) is coming up for the marathon, that final date is Sunday, May 24th 2009 at the Ottawa Marathon. The question is, will Nicole continue to hold onto one of the last spots that remain and keep her place on the team.

At the 2008 ING Ottawa Marathon, I had an opportunity to ask Nicole just that, but a serious case of food poisoning kept me on a lobby couch in the Hyatt, head-in-hands looking up as the CBC and everyone else interviewed her instead. Now, finally here follows my Q and A with Ms. Stevenson.

CK: So are we going to see you in Ottawa in May 2009 attempting one of the spots for the marathon team to race the Worlds in Berlin?
 
NS: I've actually already made a qualifying time with my 2:41 in Ottawa in 2008, so unless I get "bumped" by some faster women, I am on the team.

CK: Are you going to wait to see if you get bumped? Ottawa is a last chance and I think 3 women have qualified already. I believe Cheryl Murphy has a time that is very close to yours and will be racing shortly to try to improve on that. Additionally, Loudmila hasn’t raced as far as I know.

NS: Wouldn’t it be great to say that a woman with a 2:32 marathon PB didn’t make the Canadian national team? Ok, I know that’s misleading since I didn’t run the PB during the qualifying period. However, it’s great to see more Canadian women breaking the 2:43 mark. What’s interesting is the age range of this group: with a couple women under 30 and some nearing or even over the 40-year mark. I suppose to make the really fast times of under 2:30, we need more of the younger women in the event, but it’s still good to see a full team forming for Berlin.

My guess is that Loudmila will return in 2009, though she and I are both battling some unavoidable challenges like aging and being females who have raced a lot of marathons in the last 10 years. I’d love to re-ignite our rivalry (I think my record with her is 1-100). Notice how I haven’t answered the original question? I have to wait and see how the next few weeks go with training before I commit to any races. As much as I want to be at the top of my game in 2009 and run as fast as I did just three years ago, I am fighting some physiological demons, so I’ll see how the winter goes and maybe test myself at Around the Bay 30km at the end of March.
 
CK: Again regarding Ottawa being a last chance event to qualify. A few years ago when you ran in the Commonwealth Games Marathon, you considered it your toughest marathon ever, partly because you ran it two months after a personal best in Houston. What are you doing to prepare for racing with minimal recovery this time for World’s?
 
NS: I've encountered a number of setbacks since the Commonwealth marathon. I thought my body would bounce back after some downtime, but I'm still looking for that bounce! I partially tore my achilles towards the end of the 2008 Scotiabank Toronto marathon in September and had to take ten weeks off. I decided to take a real break and I hardly did any exercise during that time. Needless to say, I am starting 2009 completely rested but also completely out of shape. I have started to include some cross training in my program, something I did more of back in 2001-2002 when I dipped my toe in triathlons. So I bike 1-2 times per week and I am doing lots of yoga and core work to see if I can stave off future injuries.

CK: You told Bill Lankoff of Slam Sports: "To me it's better to have someone there and be proud of them than to say: 'Sorry but if you're not going to get a medal we don't want you wearing our colours.' I felt ripped off to be honest. I don't want to sound full of sour grapes because I'm grateful for many things, but it is certainly an opportunity missed."
 
Do you feel that if an athlete qualifies, even minimally, that given solid training, anything may happen on the day – so why not be there at the Olympics?
 
NS: The IAAF sets qualifying times for each event already, so countries should follow those criteria and not duplicate the effort locally. I am starting to coach in 2009 and I think my experience from 2004 may help our future Olympians. I will steal Coach Hugh Cameron's motto and suggest athletes control what they can and focus on themselves and not the politics surrounding them. Athletes have enough pressure that they put on themselves and I want to shield them from further stress.

CK: Why do you think Athletics Canada sets standards that are different than the IAAF?

NS: I could be corrected on this, but I believe AC has to negotiate standards for each event with the Canadian Olympic Committee. I don’t think the blame all falls on AC. As for the COC, I don’t know everything about the group, but I definitely do not agree with the ‘Own the Podium’ program. It doesn’t follow my interpretation of the Olympic Charter, instead it is obsessed with medals, which are significant, but there are so many other benefits of the Olympics that are neglected during the Games. I’ll never forget this past summer where for the first week the media were all complaining about Canada’s lack of medals so far in Beijing. I felt completely ashamed of the bad press. All I can say is – we’re all athletes and we all want to win. Get more people involved, build the necessary infrastructures, promote clean sport and let the athletes take care of training and competing under proper guidance. Lastly, I’d like to see more focus on and support for more accessible and popular sports in which Canadian kids participate.

CK: Whose training methodology do you practise?

NS: I’ve tried to read about 10 running books and I can’t say I’ve finished any of them. I have a short attention span for non-fiction and think most things can be explained in an essay, not a whole book! All kidding aside, I’ve been blessed with knowledgeable coaches throughout my career and I’m very grateful for all the learnings I have gained from them.

I’m not sure who coined it, but I have always favoured the 1 day hard / 1-2 days easy concept, which includes two workouts per week, and most people I know follow this plan. One of the work outs is geared towards longer tempo repeats with only a bit of quality and the other work out includes shorter intervals at a quicker pace, of course things vary depending on time of year, race plans, etc. The other days of the week are easy mileage and one long run on the weekend, which is anywhere from 1hr 20min to 3hr. I have experimented a bit with my marathon training; for example, I once tried a phase where I did a long run the day following a hard workout to practice running on tired legs. After 6 weeks I learned that I was just getting more run down and both the workout and the long run were suffering. Lesson learned!

The biggest learning I attribute to Coach Hugh is the “execution run” concept. I would do a 25-42km run every 6 weeks or so leading up to a marathon. The goal of this run would be to help prep my mind and body for the marathon race. I was supposed to average 4:00/km, though often I went faster, then the last 2-3km would be “execution” time, running faster than marathon pace, sometimes below 3:20/km, when I was really fit. Coach Hugh would follow in the van behind me, calling out splits every kilometre for the whole run. These runs definitely helped my fitness and my confidence in my marathon career.

CK: Interesting you say that about an essay containing all the training information required to run a marathon and the over-complication of training in recent history. Frank Shorter once said that he tried to write a book on training but he didn’t because it would just end up being two pages. (or something to that effect).
 
NS: One thing I have really noticed over the last ten years is that runners concentrate on too many things these days – and these things don’t directly involve putting one foot in front of the other! Instead it’s all about the extras, like supplements, equipment, etc, etc. Back when Sylvia Ruegger and Mike Dyon raced marathons, they barely even drank water through marathons! Running involves some basic knowledge on rest, nutrition, shoes, etc but with the running boom, we’ve been bombarded by promotions on products instead of good, old-fashioned hard training. Details can be learned through experience and through coaches, but to really get the most of out yourself, you’ve got to be smart about your program and put in the miles of hard work and there’s no pill or special clothing that will do that for you!

CK: Did you grow up playing a lot of sports? Where you a runner early on?

NS: I started running after a victory in gym class during our track week at school. I won the 400m event back in grade six. In high school I played volleyball for 3 years and I rowed crew for one season. Running was always my strongest sport, although I loved the team aspect of volleyball. In grade 11, my brother's coach encouraged me to stick with my strength and lose the other sports, so that's what I did. It worked out really well for me, and my running times improved dramatically.
 
CK: While you work full time, what quantity of mileage do you manage to get in on a weekly basis?

NS: Back in 2002, when I raced my first marathon, I was only running 60-65 miles a week and clocked 2:36. After that I increased my mileage every season so that for Houston 2006 I was averaging 80-85 miles per week, which I would consider to be pretty low for most marathon runners. I have tried running higher mileage but I've found that the quality of my work-outs suffers and I get super tired, which I can't afford to feel during the day with a demanding job.

For 2009 I will go back to lower mileage of 60-70 miles per week and see how that works out, though I'll add in some cross training as well since I might hop in a triathlon in the spring. For the last two years I've been traveling a ton with my job so it's always a juggle to fit in the necessary training, especially the quality aspect. And this year I'm throwing a coaching business into the mix, so we'll see how that life balance thing goes!

Quickfire questions:

CK: Steak and beer or soy and smoothie?

NS: How about steak and beer and smoothie and forget the soy?

CK: Sounds good to me! Top three songs on your iPod right now?

NS:  Head On by Jesus and the Mary Chain, Today by Smashing Pumpkins and Too Legit to Quit by MC Hammer, a true 80’s child.

CK: Post 20 mile run indulgence?

NS: Almond butter, honey and banana on a fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip bagel.

CK: Did Oprah ruin the marathon?

NS: No but I question why so many people want to run a marathon in over 4 hours instead of improving their 5k and 10k times. The training is more fun and less time-consuming and the gratification is even better.

CK: Come on she ruined it, Chocolate or Vanilla?

NS: Chocolate / vanilla swirl.

CK: Brad Pitt or Steve Yzerman?

NS: Robert Buckley from Lipstick Jungle – I love, love him!

CK: Let’s Run or runnersweb?

NS: Runnersweb for results and track and field north for gossip!

CK’s note: And I know you have read Flotrack!!

CK: Ok coach, here is your opportunity: early you said that you cycle and do yoga specifically, how do these forms of cross training help your marathon training?

NS: I’ll start with the yoga. I’ve been told by a whole crew of therapists that as strong as I look (I’m built more like a brick wall than a marathoner!) my core is super weak and I will continue hitting road blocks until I build more core strength. Recently, my friend pointed me to some on-line yoga, which I have followed diligently over the holiday break. Now that the New Year has started, I just need to fit this in with training, working and all the other stuff I do. I choose classes that are specific to my weaknesses and I just have to hope they work! In the past, when my therapists have given me exercises, I would do them a few times then totally fall off the wagon. Having on-line classes has (so far) kept me consistent, even though I often only do 30-40 of the 60 minutes. Another reason for the yoga is to improve my focus on specific muscles and focus on the present, I’m always multi-tasking and need to learn to concentrate on one thing at a time.

Cycling adds some aerobic activity without taxing my tender joints from more running and it’s an easy way to burn calories since I eat way too many sweets all the time! I spin at an easy gear because my leg muscles aren’t strong enough to do real workouts. Also, I am friends with some triathletes and it’s fun to dabble in one of their disciplines. I would say that the benefits from cycling are more psychological than physical for me since my heart rate is really low on the bike and my power output is minimal. However, I have the hopes of doing a triathlon in the spring so this keeps that possibility alive. Just don’t ask me to swim until race day because I hate pools!

CK: Yes…the New Year…this year is the Year of the Ox, Gung Hei Fat Choy! Speaking of Oxen, have you gained a lot of weight since being off from running?

NS: Ha ha! So that is why I’ve put on some pounds! I can blame the year of the ox!!! Yes, I have put on an extra layer, but losing the weight will be a good way to integrate discipline back into my life after my break from exercise and consuming copious amounts of chocolate.

CK: Will you have a Nicole Stevenson coaching website? If so what is the URL?

NS: Yes, thanks for the opportunity to put in a plug! The website is very clever: www.nicolestevenson.ca. Also, I will be a volunteer coach with the University of Toronto Track Club a couple of times per week to work with developmental athletes. I’m really excited about this new phase of my running career. I’ve been asked many times to take on a coaching role and I can hardly wait to start helping people improve their times.

Join us as a member of Team Canada at the World Masters Championships in Finland this summer !

There are no qualification performance marks for a World Championships

                   – guys like me compete, come in last sometimes, and have a great time! J

I’ve been to seven World’s and they seem to get better all the time. There were 6000 athletes at the last one in Italy.

You’re a Road Runner? …..they have a Marathon.

You run cross country? ….. they have a Cross Country championship – with separate races for the age groups.

CMAA President Brian Keaveney is handling the Canadian entries. You must enter through the CMAA – you cannot mail your entry directly to Finland.  Brian can be reached for any inquries at masters@sympatico.ca

Entry information is now posted at http://www.ontariomasters.ca/competition_schedule.php  - listed at July 28th

The entry forms are there. Click on ‘Entry Forms’.

Specific information on the entry process, including the additional Canadian Team Members fee, is under ‘ Team Canada Info’

(this is the second version of the procedure. It has been slightly corrected)

All Canadian entries have to be members of the CMAA. (Ontario Masters membership includes membership in the CMAA)

Complete meet information is at http://english.wma2009.org/athletes/ including the Entry Book

If you have a slow internet connection, then look under the title ENTRY PROCEDURE

Click on OFFICIAL ENTRY FORM. This is a pdf file as well. It is not large. Save it and print it.

All information and updates will be on the CMAA web site shortly  http://www.canadianmastersathletics.com/

Goway Travel has special deals for travel and accommodation. Click on ‘Goway Travel Package’

I spotted the following results on race results weekly. This is a great service if you are a 
racing fan like me and the subscription info can be found at the bottom. The full results are on
http://www.boxingdayrun.ca/ This event has a lot of history and both Andrew Smith and Megan Brown
ran very impressive times. Megan finished 10th overall.

Harold Webster Memorial Boxing Day 10-Miler (88th)
Hamilton, ON, CAN; Friday, December 26
Distance: 10 mi.
Finishers: 753 of 840 entrants
Course Records: Men, 48:29.2, Roger Martindill, 1984; Women, 57:07, May Allison, 1995
   NOTE: This is Canada’s third-oldest race --Ed.
 
MEN (gun times) - 
 1. Andrew Smith, Toronto        50:48
 2. David Karanja, KEN           51:55
 3. Brendan Kenny, Dundas        52:08
40+ David Brooks, Guelph         58:58
 
WOMEN (gun times) - 
 1. Megan Brown, Toronto         59:01
 2. Lauren King, Toronto       1:01:37
 3. Kristina Rody, Burnaby     1:04:23
40+ Brenda Dolderman, Elora    1:04:46
 
For subscription info visit the RRW(tm) website at http://www.raceresultsweekly.com

Denise Robson, from Dartmouth NS won the Masters division at the recent California International Marathon

I (Doug Smith) chatted with Denise…..

You started running four years ago??  You must have been doing other sports to be in that kind of shape?
Nope no sports.  Kept active as a mom with three girls.
I ran in Junior High, High School & one year University quit cold turkey as I didn't like the University training (every session was a race in itself).  Married my High School sweetheart had three beautiful girls (who are now 12, 10 & 8) and unfortunately went through a separation 4 years ago and started running with a co-worker for some stress relief and she asked if I wanted to do a marathon.  I thought she was crazy as I had only been running two mths.  I agreed as a lark and 4 months later ran my 1st marathon heck 1st race in 15+ years in 3:13 and was the 1st female to cross the line and have been passionately addicted ever since.  lol  and that's my story.  So needless to say I was in awe when I rec'd your email.  

Why did you pick Sacramento? Was it the closest to your 40^th birthday?
No, not because it was closest to my 40th b-day, never really thought of that.  I picked it because of it's website which said it was one of the fastest, if not the fastest course in the country, top ten as a fall marathon destination, and one of the world's best small marathons.  The weather conditions have been ideal at this event for the last 26 yrs.  So it all added up to a perfect marathon choice and it did not disappoint.  The organization was GREAT.  The volunteers plenty. Crowd support was awesome.  The course was perfect.  Would definitely recommend and do this one again.

The course is about 400ft overall downhill, so I guess they’ll list it with a ‘dh’ in the Record Book. Was it noticeable ?
Downhill was not noticeable at all.  The elevation start is 366 ft and you finish at 26 ft; however, it was quite rolly the first ½ (I was surprised; however, the hills in Halifax helped with that) and the second half felt more like a flat course then a net downhill.  I would say Chicago and Berlin are much faster courses then this as they are entirely flat.  Now Boston that's a net downhill.  Recovery for me is worse following Boston, in Sacramento I had no issues with my quads following this marathon like I do every year that I run boston. Recovery has been perfect. J

What kind of training/mileage are you putting a 40 year old body through to be able to run 2:41 ?
Ha Ha You will be surprised.  Prior to this marathon and before Boston 08 my highest mileage was typically 84k/week, I did do one week at 92k.  This marathon I tried to up my mileage a bit and typically did 90k/week, with little less mileage every 2nd week, but did get up to two weeks that my mileage was 102k.  Compared to my male training partners this was low mileage.  So will likely try to gradually increase my weekly mileage leading up to my next marathon.  I wanted to be cautious, as I think I've asked a lot already of my body in only 4 short years from no running to racing marathons.  It will be interesting to see what increased mileage will do for me.  In getting ready for the marathon.  I run 6 days a week with two days as speed workouts and one long run day, alternate days are easy running with one temp run day .   I do stability ball during the winter months and have spent some time in the pool doing pool running while my girls swim/play around me.  
 
So which race have got in mind for next year? I believe your time would have placed you 2^nd at New York and 1^st at Boston.
I work for Manulife Financial and John Hancock (our sister company in Boston) as i'm sure you are aware is the title sponsor of the Boston marathon, so I hope I will be able to be part of again the JH team of elite runners.  
*OH*,  I was well aware of the master runners this Boston 08, I passed the Russian woman Firaya Sultanova-Zhdanova at mile 22 (who was the top masters woman finisher) in 2:47:17 and I finished in 2:45:54.  Never seen a 39 year old woman wanting to be 40 so badly.....lol.  The American woman for the most part were missing from this years Boston due to the Olympic trials; however, my goal for next year is still a top finish as a masters woman in Boston 09.
I have not decided on a fall marathon destination yet; however, my goal will be to break 2:40, at whatever marathon I decide on.
 
 Thanks a lot Denise. We’ll be watching for your results. Good luck!

62nd Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship

Sunday, December 7, 2008 David Jackson and Jon Brown both of Victoria, British Columbia will be competing in the 62nd Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship in Japan.

Three-time Olympian Jon B