Posted: May 29, 2005

Athletics: New Champions In ING Ottawa Marathon

Lioudmilla Kortchaguina captures Canadian women’s title two days after obtaining citizenship

OTTAWA, ONTARIO – The excitement was palpable at the 31st ING Ottawa Marathon today as David Cheruiyot, a 35-year old from Kenya, took first place with a time of 2:14:20.3, beating John Itati (2:14:46.6) also from Kenya and Danny Kassap (2:15:12.6) of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Last year’s winner and course record holder Elly Rono finished fifth with a time of 2:16:47.3. Victoria native, Jim Finlayson, 32, captured his first Canadian title (seventh overall) with a time of 2:18:20.7. He was followed by Kitimat’s Ryan Day, 22, (2:19:55.0) and Toronto’s Matthew McInnes, 30, (2:21:45.2).

Russian Lidia Vasilevskaia recorded the third fastest time ever in the women ’s field since 1984 with a time of 2:31:52.7. The course record was established in 1984 by Canadian runner Sylvia Rueggar at 2:30:37. Last year ’s winner Lioudmila Kortchaguina, who was sworn in as Canadian citizen two days ago, followed with a time of 2:32:18.5, snatching the Canadian title at the same time. Nicole Stevenson of Toronto finished third with a time of 2:38:49.6.

“The Ottawa Race Weekend keeps growing at an incredible rate and we couldn’t be happier with the results,” says Susan Longbottom, president of the organizing committee. “It was the women’s year: We broke a 16-year record in the women’s 10K and almost had a new record in the women’s marathon.”

New Guiness World Record For Skipping The Marathon
Chris Baron, a 30-year old from Oakville, Ontario, managed to eclipse the Guiness World Record for skipping a marathon with a time of 4:49:39. The previous record was 5 hours and 19minutes. It was Baron’s first attempt at the record.

Toronto Captures Fastest City Title
Toronto was crowned as Canada’s fastest city as part of the ING Run for Something Better, a race within the race, which began as a project to introduce less-fortunate youth to the sport of distance running. Running clubs from seven Canadian cities each sent two athletes, their best male and female marathoners, to compete for a share of the $55,000 in prize money donated by ING Canada. Toronto was the city with the lowest combined times of the two runners with a total of 4:59. Victoria (5:22) and Montreal (5:23) were second and third respectively. Beyond bragging rights for the ‘fastest Canadian city’, the Toronto running club received $10,000 for athletic programs that involve less-fortunate youth.

Record Participation At Ottawa Race Weekend Throughout the weekend, another record participation was recorded as 26,224 runners took part in one of the nine races on the schedule. Here are the numbers of participants for each racing event:

ING Ottawa Marathon: 3,826
ING Ottawa Half Marathon: 7,742
ING Family 2K: 1,623
ING Inline Skate Marathon: 370
ING Inline Skate Half Marathon: 451
ING Wheelchair marathon: 12
MDS Nordion 5K: 5,499
MDS Nordion 10K: 6,522
GRAND TOTAL: 26,224

MEN’S CATEGORY
1. 2:14:20.3    David Cheruiyot, Kenya
2. 2:14:46.6    John Itati, Kenya
3. 2:15:12.6    Danny Kassap, Democratic Republic of Congo
4. 2:16:21.0    Joseph Nderitu, Kenya
5. 2:16:47.3    Elly Rono, Kenya
6. 2:17:51.0    Noah Kipsang Talam, Kenya
7. 2:18:20.7    Jim Finlayson, Victoria, Canada
8. 2:19:55.0    Ryan Day, Kelowna, Canada
9. 2:21:45.2    Matthew McInnes, Toronto, Canada
10. 2:22:37.6    Joseph Nsengiyumva, Rwanda

WOMEN’S CATEGORY
1. 2:31:52.7    Lidia Vasilevskaia, Russia
2. 2:32:18.5    Lioudmila Kortchaguina, Toronto, Canada
3. 2:38:49.6    Nicole Stevenson, Toronto, Canada
4. 2:43:24.9    Natalia Volgina, Russia
5. 2:55:07.2    Tina Kader, Montreal, Canada
6. 2:56:13.9    Michelle Schuler, Ottawa, Canada
7. 2:57:18.9    Emily Bryans, United States
8. 2:57:41.2    Heather Goodfellow, Halifax, Canada
9. 2:57:43.7    Kim House, ThunderBay, Canada
10. 2:58:04.1    Stephanie Hodge, St. Antony, Canada

HALF-MARATHON RESULTS
With 7,742 runners, the ING Ottawa Half Marathon was by far the most popular race of the weekend.

Here are the top three males and females in the ING Ottawa Half Marathon:

MEN:
3rd place:  1:12:58.0 Paul Leduc, Ajax, Canada
2nd place: 1:11:51.9  Richard Tessier, Quebec, Canada
1st place:  1:10:46.1  Matt Sheffield, Portland, Canada

WOMEN:
3rd place:  1:28:45.9  Amy Schnegberg, Kingston, Canada
2nd place: 1:28:00.9  Susan Durrell, Ottawa, Canada
1st place:  1:27:46.5  Sharlene Cobain, Toronto, Canada
ABOUT THE OTTAWA RACE WEEKEND

The Ottawa Race Weekend, Canada's premier running festival, combines
competition, participation and fundraising to make a distinctive
contribution to the health of the community.  The Race Weekend has over
26,200 participants in 9 races, including the ING Ottawa Marathon and the
MDS Nordion 10K. It is run by a volunteer Board of Directors. This year, the
Race Weekend is scheduled for the May 27-29 weekend.

Complete event results are avalable from: SportStats.ca.

 

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