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Stephen Koech runs 27:47 for new course record at Sporting Life 10K in Toronto
TORONTO. May 6th. Kenya's Stephen Koech won a thrilling three-man sprint to the line over fellow countrymen Isaac Arusei and Philip Koech at the Sporting Life 10K this morning, in 27:47, to set a new course record by just one second. It was a big PR for Stephen who came second at Cooper Bridge River Run in 28:42 on March 31st. Florence Jepkoskei also ran a course record 31:42 to win the women's race by over a minute. Conditions were ideal—9°Celcius under clear, blue skies, with only a slight cross-wind from the East—for the record field of 9,250 entrants, and contributed to what was perhaps Toronto's finest-ever road race. The downhill course certainly lived up to its billing as "Canada's fastest 10K". After a polite first kilometre down the middle of the country's most-famous street [Yonge] in 2:55, a group of 12 men settled into their pace, registering 2:47 for the second kilometre. At this point, where Yonge Street goes down into a dip by Mt. Pleasant cemetery, Isaac Arusei made the first move, going hard up the slope on the other side to maintain the 2:47 pace for the third kilometre [8:29 at 3k]. This really sorted things out in a hurry, and the group was down to 6—Arusei, the two Koechs, another Kenyan Henry Githuka, and Toronto's Gitaah Macharia and Danny Kassap. 
Arusei continued to keep the pedal down hard as the group crested the slope at St. Clair, and plunged down past CHUM radio station to Summerhill, registering a 2:38 fourth kilometre. Very quickly, Githuka and the 2 Canadians went overboard, with an instant 20 metre gap opening up to Githuka, and then another gap to Macharia and Kassap. Alone, the top three pushed on relentlessly, passing halfway in 13:54, running 2:47 for the fifth kilometre, then 2:48, 2:44; 2:45; 2:48 and 2:48. They ran shoulder to shoulder, with first one then the other trying to take a stride advantage, until they came to the last 400m on York Street and the final straightaway on Bremner. Arusei sprinted first. As they rounded the last turn onto Bremner, Philip Koech came back on him, then out of nowhere, Stephen Koech blew by them both for the thrilling victory. All three were well under 28 minutes [27:47; 27:49 and 27:50]; Githuka ran a strong race for third [28:32], with Macharia taking the final money position in 28:52—the identical time to his winning run in 2006. 
On the women's side, Jepkoskei went out hard and got things over early, cruising to what looked like a very comfortable 31:44 victory as she crossed the line. Fellow Kenyan Pauline Githuka, now living in Milton, Ontario, was the best of the chasing pack, finishing second in 32:48, ahead of Monica Wangari [33:01], England's Vicky Gill [33:02], and Toronto's Lioudmila Kortchaguina [33:18] who, in fairness, raced the hometown event at the end of a 200+km week in her final preparations for the ING Ottawa Marathon. It was a brilliant sunny day, full of "wow" moments. Not the least of which was when the kids from Camp Oochigeas got up at the awards ceremony to thank the runners for raising in excess of C$300,000 for "Ooch", a unique summer camp for kids with cancer in Muskoka. "Thank you for sending me to camp," said Jennifer, and there was hardly a dry eye in the park. RESULTS:Men:1. Stephen Koech, Kenya 27:47 PR 2. Isaac Arusei, Kenya 27:49 3. Philip Koech, Kenya 27:50 4. Henry Githuka, Kenya 28:32 5. Giitah Macharia, Toronto 28:52 Women:1. Florence Jepkoskei, Kenya 31:42 CR 2. Pauline Githuka, Kenya 32:48 3. Monica Wangari, Kenya 33:01 4. Vicky Gill, Great Britain 33:02 5. Lioudmila Kortchaguina, Toronto 33:18 Full results and photos at www.canadarunningseries.com/sportinglife. Next races in the Canada Running Series: Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon, June 24th and Nissan Toronto Ten Miler, July 15th. Macharia and Kortchaguina confirmed to defend titles in fast race at Sporting Life 10K; record field over 9,000 expected
TORONTO. May 2nd. A record 9,000+ participants are expected to toe the Start line of the 10th Annual Sporting Life 10K in support of Camp Oochigeas this Sunday. Combined, they are on track to raise a record $200,000+ for the unique Muskoka camp for kids with cancer. The event is Toronto's largest single-distance running event, and is billed as Canada's fastest 10k. It plunges down the country's most-famous street, from Yonge and Castlefield, all the way to Roundhouse Park on Bremner, just behind the CN tower. With 7 live bands at key points along the route, the Juno Award-winning Paul James Band playing at the post-run party, and perfect weather in the forecast [sunshine with low of 10, high of 20], there's guaranteed to be the usual, fabulous, festive atmosphere to this big-city 10K. Up front, last year's winner [in 28:52] and current Canada Running Series champion, Giitah Macharia of St. Catharine's, will be hard pressed to repeat against some tough Kenyan competition led by Stephen Koech, Philip Koech [no relation], Isaac Arusei and Philip Lagat. Stephen is coming off a strong second place finish at the recent Cooper River Bridge 10K in 28:42. Lagat ran 28:35 for his 10k best at Azalea Trail last year, while the young up and coming Philip Koech has run a 28:11 in Kenya. This will be his first trip to North America, and he will be arriving with two others, direct from Nairobi tomorrow [Thursday] afternoon. Given the expected ideal conditions, and the downhill route, Ruben Chebii's lightning-fast course record of 27:45, set in 2004, could be threatened. In the friendly rivalry with the Vancouver SunRun [won in the pedestrian time of 29:22 on April 15th this year] and the MDS Nordion Ottawa 10K [to be run May 26th], the Sporting Life seems well set to keep its title as "Canada's fastest 10k".
Other Canadians expected to be in the thick of things—at least early on—are Ottawa's Joseph Nsengiyumva, Montreal's Bagdad Rachem, and Toronto's Danny Kassap. Martin Williams of Tipton Harriers in Birmingham, a member of the UK marathon squad, should also be in the lead pack. In the women's race, Canada's #1 ranked female marathoner, Lioudmila Kortchaguina of Toronto, is confirmed to start. After protracted injury troubles over the winter, Lioudmila is coming back into strong form. She won the Banque Scotia 21k de Montreal on April 22nd [race #3 in Canada Running Series '07] in 1:14:42, and will be using the Sporting Life as her final tune-up before defending her national marathon title at the ING Ottawa Marathon on May 27th. She has a particularly soft-spot for the Sporting Life 10K — not only was she last year's impressive winner in 32:22, but it was the first race she ran after she and husband Ilia came to Canada as landed immigrants in April 2001. Two weeks after their arrival, Lioudmila ran her first Canadian race at the Sporting Life 10K. "After several weeks of virtually no training I was happy to come 4th, and win my first money in Canada to help my family. It was $400," remembers Lioudmila.
Lioudmila will be tested in what is likely to be a close women's race, by Kenya's Florence Jepkoskei and Monica Wangari, and by England's Vicky Gill. Florence is a solid and consistent competitor who placed 2nd at the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K in April in a personal best of 32:48. Monica will also be on her first trip outside Kenya to race, where she has performed consistently well in cross-country. She is expected to run under 33 minutes also. Like Martin Williams, Vicky is a member of the UK marathon squad under Head Coach Bud Baldaro, and is scouting out Toronto for a possible appearance on "Team GB" at this September's Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. From Chorley in Lancashire, Gill went to Florida State on an athletic scholarship in 2001, where she was a 5-time All-American, and won three Atlantic Coast Conference titles. She has a 5k best of 15:42, and a 32:41 PR for 10K. This should be an exciting race for spectators as well as participants. For details on the best locations at neighbourhood band sites, or for last-minute entry if you want to be on the start line, go to www.canadarunningseries.com/sportinglife. Macharia and Kortchaguina surprise winners at Sporting Life 10K
Canada Running Series' stars Giitah Macharia of St.Catharine's and Lioudmila Kortchaguina of Toronto were surprise winners of this morning's Sporting Life 10K, in 28:52 and 32:22, respectively, ahead of a record field of almost 8,000 runners. On a picture-perfect morning of clear blue skies, crisp temperatures around 8 degrees Celcius, and only the slightest headwind, Macharia and Kortchaguina battled to emerge victorious in strong men's and women's races. 
From the start, Macharia was well positioned in a lead pack of 12 runners, who went through the first kilometre in 2:51. After friendly 2nd and 3rd kilometres of 2:56 and 2:57, down Canada's longest and most famous street, Yonge, Kenyan Joshua Kemei leaned into the downhill from St. Clair to Rosedale Station with a 2:42 fourth 'k', and then there were only 3—Kemei, Macharia, and Kenyan Philip Lagat. By 5km, passed in 14:18, Lagat started to slowly drop back, and this left Kemei and Macharia to battle back and forth over the second half of the course. By 8k, it was clear that Kemei's strategy was to tuck in behind and let the Canadian do the work. The pace actually slowed to a 2:58 eighth kilometre, as Macharia slowed to try to make Kemei share the lead. Then just as bets were being taken as to when the Kenyan would unleash a winning, final kick, Macharia put the bit between his teeth and stormed past the Air Canada Centre and up the final straight for a hard-fought 3-second victory, and the $2500 first prize—much to the delight of the hometown crowd. The photo of Macharia's grin as he crossed the line tells the story! 
Lioudmila Kortchaguina was also deservedly thrilled with her performance, as Canada's #1 ranked female marathoner showed what fine form she's in, defeating all the 5k and 10k women in the race. A lead pack of 4 ran the first half together, and all finished under 33 minutes—unusually strong depth for a Canadian road race. Over the second half, Lioudmila and Canadian Olympian, Emilie Mondor, on her first outing after a long lay-off with a serious bone disease, gradually pulled away. By 8k there was a clear gap between them and Tara Quinn-Smith, who ran the 10000m for Canada at the recent Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and another gap to Kenyan Eunice Chepkirui in fourth. In the final kilometre, the marathoner proved her better endurance by pulling away from the 5000m athlete, for a 5 second victory. Given the ideal conditions, and the surprise hometown winners, there were smiles all round at the Oasis Victory Party, headlined by The Meteors—not the least of which could be seen on the faces of the Camp Oochigeas folks, as they raised well over $100,000 on the day for their unique camp for kids with cancer. Men: 1. Giitah Macharia St. Catharines, ON 28:52 Cdn$2500 2. Joshua Kemei Kenya 28:55 $1250 3. Philip Lagat Kenya 29:30 $1000 4. Danny Kassap Toronto, ON 29:46 $ 500 5. Joseph Nsengiyumva Ottawa, ON 29:47 $ 300 Women: 1. Lioudmila Kortchaguina Toronto, ON 32:22 Cdn$2500 2. Emilie Mondor Mascouche, QC 32:27 $1250 3. Tara Quinn-Smith Toronto, ON 32:40 $1000 4. Eunice Cheprirui Kenya 32:52 $ 500 5. Sarah Dillabaugh Ottawa, ON 33:49 $ 300 Full results and photos at www.canadarunningseries.com/sportinglife. May 1st, 2005, Toronto ON Reuben Chebii has convincing victory at Sporting Life 10K
Photos by Theresa Suzuki Defending champion and course record holder, twenty-three year old Kenyan Reuben Chebii, returned to Toronto for a convincing win at the Sporting Life 10k, in 28:41, ahead of a record field of 7,253 participants. Conditions were excellent, with sunny skies, a light Westerly breeze and temperature around 9° Celcius for the 9am start on Canada's most famous street—Yonge—just north of Eglinton. This year, the runners were also given all of the street for the first time, and they filled it impressively, for the plunge down to Roundhouse Park behind the CN Tower, a net drop of 87 metres, appropriately labelled "Canada's fastest 10k". For the first few kilometres, Chebii was content to sit back in a lead pack of 9, that included Ontarions Danny Kassap, Zeljko Zabol and Giitah Macharia, Montrealers Bagdad Rachem and Oukid Fethi, Pete Watson from Buffalo, and fellow Kenyans David Korir and Michael Musilli. Shortly after the pack passed 5k (in 14:10), near Rosedale subway station after the long downhill from St.Clair, Chebii struck with a sharp, decisive surge. Immediately, he opened up a gap of some 100m and the race was over. Unlike last year, when he was pushed until the last kilometre, Chebii was then able to cruise the second half of the course and leave the others to fight things out for the rest of the places. Korir hung on best to take second, some 32 seconds back, and last year's Canada Running Series champion, Giitah Macharia of St. Catherine's ran a smart race, finishing strong, just 6 seconds behind Korir, in 29:19. They were followed by Musilli, Rachem, Ottawa's Joseph Nsengiyumva and Saskatoon's Jason Warick, with the top 7 men all coming home under 30 minutes. Kassap dropped out. 
Megan Brown of Puslinch (near Guelph) had an equally convincing win in the women's race, finishing more than a minute ahead of Judith Navier and Krestena Sullivan (34:07 to 35:15 and 35:44). Pre-race favourite Jackline Okemwa pulled up lame with a sore calf, but hung on gamely for 4th in 35:56. In a particularly generous gesture, Brown donated all of her $2,800 winnings to Camp Oochigeas, the charity of the day, which helped push them over the $100,000 mark in funds raised to send kids with cancer to this unique camp. With a 22% increase in the number of runners over last year, there was an air of expansive joy throughout the morning. Now an "event" rather than just a run, this year's Sporting Life 10K attracted its share of Toronto celebrities, including Councillor Olivia Chow (herself having fully recovered from thyroid cancer last autumn), Health Minister George Smitherman, former-mayor Barbara Hall, and Global TV's Susan Hay. Everyone seemed to enjoy the 6 bands along the course, the sunshine, and Elevation: U2 Tribute Band who played at the post-run party. Elevation, who just returned from U2 Tour gigs in Vancouver, starred a familiar face, Shawn Brady, himself a 31 minute 10k man, as Bono.
Records fall with rain at 2004 Sporting Life 10K
Kenya's Reuben Chebii led the charge, flying down to the Finish line next to the SkyDome and CN Tower in a new course record of 27:48, smashing Peter Ntabo's previous mark (set last year) by 14 seconds. Toronto's Lioudmila Kortchaguina also had a fine run to set a new women's mark of 32:08—six seconds faster than Edna Kiplagat's record performance from 2001. Adding to the record-setting day was Kingston's Steve Boyd, who set a new Canadian 10K masters standard on the roads of 29:33. Chebii bided his time, hanging in with a pack of 6 runners, led by Montreal's Mustapha Bennacer, that passed the mile in 4:10, and halfway in 13:52. Shortly after 5K, countryman Anthony Gitau threw in a quality surge that reduced the pack to four. Chebii then took charge around 8K, and hammered the last kilometre to set one of the top 10K times on the North American roads so far this year. After Chebii broke clear, it was left to Joseph Ndiritu and Bennacer to fight over the runner-up position. Nderitu won the "rubber-match" between the two—Bennacer defeated the Kenyan in March at the Around the Bay 30K, while Nderitu finished ahead of Bennacer in the second race in the Canada Running Series, the 21Kmtl in Montreal, in April. Gitau would eventually finish fourth, with Toronto's Danny Kassap finishing fifth ahead of Joseph Kamau. 
Kortchaguina's win was equally impressive, considering the fact that one week ago she won the inaugural Salt Lake City Marathon with a stellar 2:30 clocking (at 4,500 feet altitude). Kortchaguina bested Burlington, Ontario's Tara Quinn and Toronto's defending champion, Nicole Stevenson. Quinn ran 32:35 while Stevenson was just two seconds off the time that won her the race last year—her 32:58 today was the third time in three years she has run sub-33 at the Sporting Life race. Behind her was Kingston's Paula Wiltse and Toronto's Diane Nukuri. Alison Wiley, one of Canada's premier distance runners through the 1980s, made a return to competition (after becoming a mom a few times over) and won the women's masters competition with a 36:19 performance here today. She finished just nine seconds ahead of Montreal's Diane Legare. With 6,000 runners competing, and almost $100,000 raised for Camp Oochigeas, a camp for kids with cancer, two more records were set on the day—and everyone went home with a smile, despite the soggy conditions. Excitement builds around Sporting Life 10k (2003)It was a glorious morning for running in downtown Toronto, as the Sporting Life 10K lived up to its billing as "Canada's fastest 10K". With perfect conditions for running (8 Celcius and bright blue skies at 9am start), a record field of 5,320 registered runners charged down Yonge Street. They were led by a bunch of new Kenyans and new Canadians. Participants were up almost 40% from the 3,800 who ran last year, giving every indication that the "Sporting Life" is now on its way to giving Toronto the big road race it has sought for a long time. It was event #4 in the prestigious Canada Running Series. In an exciting sprint to the line at the foot of the CN Tower and SkyDome, Peter Ntabo out-kicked fellow-Kenyan and last-year's winner, Joseph Ndiritu, 28:02 to 28:04, for a new course record (old record 28:23). Twenty year-old Danny Tschindid of University of Toronto Track Club had a breakthrough performance, taking third in 28:56, ahead of Around the Bay 30K winner, Joseph Nsengiyumva of Ottawa, and Montreal's Mustapha Bennacer. As proof-positive that top-flight road running is returning to Montreal, there were 5 Montreal guys in the top 11. On the women's side, Nicole Stevenson had a fine run to equal her course record of 32:56, and demonstrate that she is in good form for next week's National Capital Marathon where she will be gunning for the Athens qualifying standard. Also worthy of note was 13-year-old Stephanie Smith's 37:29 that was good enough for 10th overall. A spirited Masters competition underscored the nationwide attraction of the Canada Running Series/Circuit du Canada, with Vancouver's Richard Lee taking first-place points in 31:38, ahead of Montreal's Paul Tessier (32:40), Guelph's Andy Krucker (33:00), and Montreal's Michel Brochu (33:18). |
Today's
Sporting Life 10K, presented by New Balance, saw course records broken
in both the men's and women's races. Conditions were perfect for
running—if not for spectators—with light rain and
temperatures around 9 Celcius. More than 6,000 competitors charged
down Toronto's Yonge Street—Canada's longest—and the many
PR's recorded enhanced the course's reputation as "Canada's
Fastest 10K".