On Saturday morning in Hamilton, Ont., a neighborhood highway 5K race, a part of the Hamilton Road2Hope Marathon weekend, noticed three males run beneath 14 minutes and Lucia Stafford run inside 4 seconds of the Canadian 5K document of 15:16 in her first highway race.
Because it was Stafford’s first 5K race, she had few expectations. She adopted the Canadian document tempo of three:03/km set by Alex Cyr, who set the tempo for Canadian 5K champion Julie-Anne Staehli. Stafford sat on Staehli’s heels as they reached the three km mark round 9 minutes and 10 seconds. Stafford stormed forward to take the lead with two kilometres to go and by no means seemed again, profitable the Endorphin Elite 5K in 15:20.
Stafford took dwelling $2,000 for the win and an additional $1,000 for being the primary feminine finisher beneath 16 minutes. Stafford was solely 4 seconds shy of Emilie Mondor’s Canadian 5K document of 15:16, which has stood for 18 years. Staehli completed second in 15:44, and steeplechaser Erin Teschuk was third in 16:13.
In a post-race interview with Stafford, she claimed she was surprised by her speedy time and hopes to do extra highway races sooner or later.
Though the lads’s race was lacking the well-known firepower of Charles Philibert-Thiboutot and Ben Flanagan, three up-and-coming Canadian elites battled to the end. The tempo was taken out at a 14-flat 5K tempo by way of 2 km, with seven or eight males have been on the entrance. With lower than a kilometre to go, Jeremy Coughler and Connor Black of London, Ont., made a transfer, pulling forward of Toronto’s Andrew Alexander. Coughler sprinted to the end line, beating his Bandits teammate by one second, in 13:55. Alexander crossed the end line for third in 13:59, bettering his time by seven seconds from the Canadian 5K Championships in September.
The course was a single-loop, flat and quick 5K route alongside Hamilton’s Waterfront Path, beginning and ending at Confederation Park. The nice and cozy temperature of 18 C on Saturday morning made for summer-like situations for the elite racers.
For all the outcomes from Hamilton Race Weekend, click on right here.
