 |
Results & Photos
Please fill out our Post-race Feedback Form — we welcome your comments!
Past Results: |
Register Online Now!Race Highlights Photos: 2008
Ordering photos: Please make note of the ID of each photo you wish to order (ID is located at the top of each individual photo page, after the race name), then use the CRS Digital Photo Order Form. 2007 Photos: 6 Galleries |
Ongeri and Githuka win inaugural Nissan Toronto Ten Miler
TORONTO. July 15th. On a beautiful, mild, sunny morning with blue skies and low humidity, Kenyans Josephat Ongeri and Pauline Githuka led almost 1500 runners around the inaugural Nissan Toronto Ten Miler. Another 500 participated in the accompanying 5K. Temperatures were around 15 degrees for the 8am start at The Historic Distillery District. Billed as "the" official tune up for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon & Half, the event was also run on the second-half of the Waterfront route, through scenic Tommy Thompson Park. The race added a new distance to the Canada Running Series calendar, and was received with considerable enthusiasm. 
The men's Ten Miler was a closely contested affair from start to finish. Toronto's Danny Kassap led a pack of twelve through a pedestrian first kilometre in 3:05. The group settled in and remained together until almost 7k when Ongeri moved to the front and put in a surge as the course dipped down and back up over a scenic Bailey bridge in Tommy Thompson Park. Immediately the group was down to four. Ongeri went hard again after the 5 mile mark [24:02], and there were only two—Ongeri and Ottawa's Joseph Nsengiyumva. The two then ran shoulder to shoulder over the breezy second half of the course. Ongeri made minor surges on two or three occasions over the last mile to test the mettle of his opponent. Convinced he had the leg speed, the Kenyan was prepared to wait until the final 200m on Trinity Street before sprinting away for the victory on the bricks of The Distillery, 48:45 to Nsengiyumva's 48:47. Kenyan Henry Githuka was third in 48:59. 
In contrast, the women's field was very thin, with Pauline Githuka (Henry's sister) coasting around, uncontested in 59:07. Toronto's Jennifer Faraone came second in 61:19, building on her strong outing at the Scotiabank Vancouver Half three weeks ago, where she was fourth. Milton's Josianne Aboungono limped home third in 62:59. The sold-out crowd of 2,000 gave the new distance, the course, and the venue "two thumbs up" as they celebrated to the electrifying beat of Dr. Draw at the post-run concert. Full results and photos at http://www.canadarunningseries.com/nissan/index.htm. Ed Whitlock, age 75, runs 18:45 to steal show at Nissan Foundation 5K; takes aim at 3 hour mark for Toronto Waterfront Marathon
TORONTO. July 14th. On a warm evening (27° Celcius at 7pm start time), Danny Kassap of University of Toronto Track Club had a strong outing to trounce his arch-rival Giitah Macharia of St.Catharines by 15 seconds, to win the Nissan Foundation 5K at The Docks tonight. After battling back and forth for the first 3km, Kassap broke away decisively, to claim his second victory in the past 5 years on the flat, fast course and signal a timely return to form. 
Newcomer to the Canada Running Series, Emily Tallon of Kingston, took a great scalp in coming home first-woman ahead of Olympian Emilie Mondor of Montreal, 16:40 to 17:05. But it was Ed Whitlock, "The Master", who stole the show with an electrifying 18:45 performance at aged 75. Gunning for Maurice Tarrant's Canadian M75 record of 20:42, Whitlock destroyed the old mark. Running a 6:02 per mile pace, Ed placed 74th overall in a field of 1,114 finishers. That is correct—6:02 mile pace at age 75, on a course re-certified just last year by an AIMS/IAAF 'Class A' measurer. 
Over the past 3 years, Mr. Whitlock has received extensive global media praise and innumerable accolades from his peers in the running community for his distance running exploits. Last November, he was honoured at ceremonies at the New York City Marathon as a "Runner's World Hero of the Year", and labelled "The Master". He received this alongside such running legends as Norway's Grete Waitz (9 time NYC Marathon winner) and young Olympic stars Justin Gatlin and Lauryn Williams. (for story click here) Why all the excitement? Mr. Whitlock is the only person on the planet over 70 years of age to have run a marathon in under the magical 3 hour barrier. He has done this now on three occasions—twice at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, where he set the Men's 70+ world record of 2:54:49 in 2004, and once in Rotterdam. It has been claimed that on recognized scales of comparative, age-graded performances, Ed's 2:54 ranks as a greater performance than superstar Paula Radcliffe's remarkable women's world record of 2:15:25. "I surprised myself a bit tonight with the 18:45," said the typically modest "Master". "I wasn't expecting to do quite this well. Since late February I have had various problems which caused me to withdraw from the Rotterdam Marathon, and miss several other races and a fair bit of training. I have no major concerns at the moment and just this week, I have managed to get up to 3 hours of continuous running for the first time since February. My training could be described as simple, non scientific and unmeasured. It basically consists of trying to run every day for as long as I can, considering my current physical condition. When I feel ok and have enough background, I run for 3 hours a day every day not taking note of the pace or the distance run. I have followed this daily regime for several years now, not making any allowance for age, but since I don't measure my pace I do not know how much I have slowed down in training. When I was in my 40's my training was different with more emphasis on quality, but then I was concentrating on middle distance and I only dabble in that now. I am hopeful things will continue to go well until the Waterfront (Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, September 24th). 
On September 24th, The Master will take a run at becoming the only person on the planet over 75 to go under 3 hours. In 2004, Whitlock ran 18:22 at the Nissan 5K, then his 2:54 at the Waterfront. Last year, his Nissan run was only 19:06, and his Waterfront performance was a 3:02:41. Tonight's 18:45 would signal that the "sub 3" is a real possibility this Fall. Elsewhere at the Nissan 5K, Michal Kapral, aka "The Joggler", had a great time of 17:50, running and juggling 3 balls, but came up short of eclipsing the 20-year old Guinness World Record of 16:55, that was set on the track, without 1100 other runners to contend with. Undaunted, The Joggler claims he'll be ready for the Toronto Waterfront Marathon also, where he is preparing for a re-match with Zach Warren, "The Boston Joggler", after their battle in Boston this spring, where Warren set the marathon joggling World Record of 2:58:23! Giitah Macharia wins 2005 Nissan Foundation 5K in a sprint
Giitah Macharia of St. Catharines successfully defended his title as race champion, and moved into a strong position to repeat as 2005 Canada Running Series champion, with an exciting sprint to the line to win the Nissan Foundation 5K at The Docks on Friday night, in 14:39. It was a hot, humid night (27° Celcius at start time), that was more conducive to a close, tactical race than fast times. As in Vancouver last month, Macharia was content to sit back in a group of 10 early on, and leave things to the final 300 metres. As he turned the corner onto Poulson Street, he was still shoulder to shoulder with Montreal's Bagdad Rachem, before moving to overdrive in the final 150 metres, for a 3 second victory. Toronto's Danny Kassap, who had pushed the early pace with Rachem and Matt McInnis, took third in 14:48, with Montrealers Oukid Fethi and Dahbi Ammor close behind in 14:52 and 14:57. With the win, Macharia leapfrogged over Rachem and Kassap into first place in the Canada Running Series standings, with only 3 races left on the calendar: 120 points to 114 to 111. 
The women's race followed a similar pattern, with Cambridge's Krestena Sullivan coming home strong for a 6 second victory (17:32) over Tania Jones and Sandy Wells who were both timed in 17:38. Michelle Cormier rounded out the lead pack in 17:47. The victory also moved Sullivan into first place in the CRS Women's standings. Behind the frontrunners, Jerry Kooymans had a great evening, despite the conditions, setting a new Canadian 5K road-race record for 50+ of 15:51. The old mark was 16:03, and Friday's performance made Kooymans 1st Master on the night, and 15th overall. A little further back, the indefatigable Ed Whitlock, now 74 years young, signalled he'll be ready for his marathon re-match against Holland's Joop Ruter at the Toronto Waterfront, September 25th, with a 19:06 performance at The Docks. Ed's time would also have won him any age category from 55+ ! |
||
