TORONTO December 15th 2015. The 2015 Canada Running Series is now behind us and will be remembered, once again, for providing runners of all abilities, from novice to Olympians, the chance to lace up, strip down and challenge themselves over certified accurate and fully supported courses.
The Modo Vancouver Spring Run Off 8k (March 22nd) set the tone for perhaps the most competitive series ever with Canadian internationals Kelly Wiebe (the winner in 23:42), Geoff Martinson and Chris Winter occupying the first three places while Canadian marathon record holder Lanni Marchant fought off a challenge from hometown favourite Rachel Cliff to win the women’s race in 26:43.
Marchant would go on to win the Toronto Yonge Street 10k, the Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon and finish 5th overall (and first Canadian) in the Series climax, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. The event also doubled as the Athletics Canada National Championships.
Marchant’s finishing time of 2:28:09 was her second fastest time ever, missing her national record by merely nine seconds. Nonetheless, she was all smiles as she was rewarded with an Olympic qualifying mark.
The London, Ontario native’s consistency earned her perfect points in a year when no fewer than 131 runners scored points and she also claimed the $5,000 overall CRS prize. Two years ago she was also the CRS overall champion. Asked what she considers the highlight of 2015 she responds quickly.
“Qualifying for Rio in two events,” says the 31 year old. “The CRS races are kind of the bread and butter for Canadian runners; they put on the top events you are going to run in Canada, outside Ottawa Race Weekend. (Race Director) Alan (Brookes) makes sure to put on great races and invites us out. He invited me up to Toronto Yonge St 10k where at the time it was my fastest 10k ever and it kind of gave me the confidence to run on the track.
“Winning the Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon told me my fitness was still there for the longer stuff even though in the summer I had been focused on the shorter distances. I knew I was going to be able to roll right into a good marathon in the fall.”
The $5,000 overall prize will come in handy as she prepares to represent Canada in either, perhaps both, the 10,000m and the marathon in Rio next summer.
“I was fortunate enough to get carded this year but I won’t get the enhanced funding that other athletes get that help them go to training camps and physiotherapy and stuff like that,” she declares. “So having that boost of money from CRS, well, it’s going to get put to good use this year. Definitely having that extra $5,000 in my pocket will cover Kenya and one other training camp.”
With the 2015 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon earning IAAF Gold Label status for the first time, the international field was once again exceptional. Racing fans in over 100 countries watched the live stream on the STWM.ca website with the first four men finishing within 38 seconds of one another.
Canada’s Eric Gillis placed 7th in 2:11:31 achieving what he had come for – the Olympic qualifying standard. Should he be named to the 2016 Olympic team he would join Lea Pells, Paul Williams and Kevin Sullivan as the only Canadian distance runners to make three Olympic teams.
Gillis, who comes from Antigonish, Nova Scotia but is a long time resident of Guelph, Ontario, also had an incredible season.
Victories at Harry’s Spring Run Off 8k, Toronto Yonge Street 10k and the Banque Scotia 21k de Montreal earned him enough points, together with his Canadian championship marathon title, for the overall CRS prize for the second consecutive year.
“Definitely (the highlight) was getting the Olympic marathon standard in Toronto,” he reveals. “Setting that goal of being around the same time I had run there before and be comfortably under the standard. Setting that goal and achieving it in Toronto was special.
“The (other CRS races) were great setup races (to get the standard). I was hoping to get the standard in the spring nice and early but after a couple of injuries in the buildup for Rotterdam I didn’t feel confident going into that. I didn’t run the marathon and it was so great to have those CRS races in the spring to re-focus myself at home. It was a good ‘plan B’ and it gave me a good vibe going into the summer and in the buildup to Toronto.”
While Marchant and Gillis achieved Olympic standards, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon also saw Leslie Sexton smash her personal best with a solid performance of 2:33:20. At 28 she is poised to join a growing list of elite Canadian women thanks in no small part to the Canada Running Series.
Another leading light was Rachel Hannah, the 2014 CRS overall champion who elected to run the Pan Am Games marathon, an event for which members of the Canada Running Series staff provided on-site support. She was rewarded with the bronze medal.
Then at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront she entered the half marathon distance finishing with a time of 72:25, good enough to earn a place on Canada’s team for the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff in March. Both Canada Running Series and Ottawa Race Weekend are contributing finances to send that team to Cardiff.
Not to be outdone, there was a terrific competition for the CRS Masters’ titles with Vancouver’s Stan Jang earning the victory with 83 points while Lioudmila Kortchaguina, a familiar name to race fans, collected 135 points to win the women’s Masters’ title. They each collected $1,000 prize money for the overall titles.
“Congratulations to Lanni, Eric, Stan, Lioudmila, and all of the runners who crossed the finish lines of CRS 2015,” says Alan Brookes. “We saw so many great races, so many great achievements, so many great stories. So many runners, of all shapes and sizes, all abilities, came together to create a wonderful season. We’re already excited for 2016, which will be a massive year at home with 8 more CRS events to celebrate, plus Cardiff and Rio!”
Almost 60,000 runners participated in the 2015 Series and together raised $5.8 million for local charities. No doubt the numbers will continue to grow as the Series heads into 2016.
For complete Canada Running Series 2015 standings see http://www.canadarunningseries.com/crs/crsRESULT.htm
Registration for Canada Running Series 2016, including “Combo Packs”, is now open at http://www.canadarunningseries.com/crs/index.htm
-30-
