Posted: June 17, 2005

Athletics: Over 100 Athletes set to Compete in London at Distance Festival

2nd Annual Runners’ Choice London Distance Festival Set for Sunday

Over 100 competitors are ready to race at the 2nd Annual Runners’ Choice London Distance Festival, including several of the top distance athletes in Canada. The Festival will take place on Sunday June 19th from 4:30-8:30pm at TD Waterhouse Stadium – site of the 2001 Canada Summers Games – and will feature a variety of distance events with athletes competing for merchandise and prize money, as well as great opportunities to qualify for national and even world level competitions. Highlights of the evening will include:

-deep fields in both the men’s and women’s 1,500m; the women’s 1,500m includes top seeds Alyson Kohlmeier (Canadian Youth 1,500m record holder) and Tarah McKay (2005 OFSAA Senior Girls 1,500m Champion), followed by several other OFSAA medalists and World Youth hopefuls

-the George Goulding Memorial 5,000m Racewalk which will include Canadian Youth 10kmW record holder Pierre-Luc Menard, 1992 and 1996 U.S. Olympian Allen James, Canadian Junior 10kmW record holder and 2005 Pan-Am Cup champ Rachel Lavallee, and several other athletes who hold a combined 43 Canadian Masters age group records.

-Open 5,000m races featuring Vancouver Sun Run 10k champion Nicole Stevenson – who will compete at the World Half-marathon Championships on October 2nd in Edmonton – and a loaded Men’s field that includes 4 runners currently ranked in the top 7 in Canada: Kurt Benninger (#2 in Canada), Ryan McKenzie (4th at 2004 Canadian championships), Taylor Milne, and Eric Gillis (7th at 2004 Canadian Championships) – as well as 2005 World Cross Country Championships competitor and 8th at the 2004 Canadian Championships over 5,000m Calvin Staples. Top-5 prize money in the London Runner Men’s High Performance 5,000m is set at $500/400/300/200/100.

-Awards presenters will include Jason Bunston, former Canadian record holder at 5,000m outdoors and both 3,000m and 5,000m indoors; Orville Atkins, 1961 Canadian Marathon and 6-mile champion, 5th at the 1962 Boston Marathon; and Paul Roberts, Canadian Cross Country team champion and owner of the Festivals’ title sponsor Runners’ Choice.

-local radio station 102.3 BobFM will be live on location for part of the Festival with free give-aways

In only its’ 2nd year this event has taken a big step forward, drawing top competitors and some coverage in the London Free Press. Hopefully there will be increased support from the Canadian track and field community and more sponsors to make this an even bigger event in 2006. Full details are available on the www.londonrunner.ca website and Start Lists should be posted Friday night.

Source: www.londonrunner.ca.