Posted: May 30, 2005

Athletics: One race, one national title for marathon's newest Canadian

Martin Cleary , The Ottawa Citizen

Kortchaguina becomes citizen Friday, outruns all compatriots 2 days later

In another year, Lioudmila Kortchaguina of Toronto would have found it difficult to accept a second-place finish in the Ottawa Marathon.

Not yesterday.

For the first time in her extensive career, Kortchaguina, 33, started a race as a Canadian citizen, and she won her first national women's marathon title.

While Russia's Lidia Vasilevskaia was first in the women's race in two hours 31 minutes 52.7 seconds and earned $18,000, Ms. Kortchaguina, a two-time Ottawa Marathon champion, placed second in 2:32:18.5 for $21,000.

"This year was a little tough," Ms. Kortchaguina said as she clutched a Canadian flag. "But I'm absolutely happy. I'm a Canadian citizen. I got my papers Friday afternoon."

Her citizenship also opens the door for her to represent Canada in the world athletics championships in August in Helsinki.

She is the only Canadian woman to meet the Athletics Canada "A" standard, having won last year's Ottawa Marathon in 2:30:52.

Ms. Kortchaguina moved to Canada four years ago with her husband, Ilia, and daughter, Polina, to explore a new country. Because the family couldn't speak English and Ilia didn't find work as a mechanical engineer until only six months ago, they lived on Ms. Kortchaguina's earnings from running.

"I was proud," she said about how she felt at the start line for her first race as a Canadian.

Defending national champion Nicole Stevenson of Toronto stayed with Ms. Kortchaguina until 26 kilometres, when the Russian-born runner made a surprise surge. Ms. Stevenson finished third overall in 2:38:49.6

"I thought we were working well together," Ms. Stevenson said. "I couldn't respond. It's demoralizing. I hope one day to nail this thing."

Jim Finlayson of Victoria, B.C., who was third in the 2003 Ottawa Marathon, rebounded from a mild form of Guillaume Barre Syndrome, a nervous system condition that hampered him for four months last season, to win the national men's championship with a seventh-place finish in a personal-best 2:18:20.7. He earned $21,000.

Guillaume Barre left him fatigued, affected his walking and gave him tingling in the feet, hands and face.

The condition didn't affect him yesterday, though he still fell 20.7 seconds short of meeting the qualifying standard to qualify for the world championships. If he had made it, he would have been the only Canadian male in the marathon in Helsinki.

Good training and road racing this spring had left Mr. Finlayson feeling confident.

"I felt solid, but, with six kilometres to go, my legs got heavy," he said. "A bit of me is disappointed, but I'm glad to get back to this level. I feel I can go 2:15, but not today."

Toronto's Matthew McInnes, the defending national men's champion, struggled with blisters on his left foot, placing ninth overall and third among Canadians in 2:21:45.2. Ryan Day of Kelowna, B.C., was second among Canadians, finishing eighth in 2:19:55.0.

Kenya's David Cheruiyot was the top male finisher yesterday, with a time of 2:14:20.3.

A New Country. A New Champion.

© The Ottawa Citizen, Reprinted With Permission.