Posted: June 27, 2005

Athletics: Macharia out-duels Rogers at Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon

VANCOUVER, BC. 26 June 2005:

Defending Canada Running Series Champ Gittah Macharia of St.Catherine's got the better of Eugene, Oregon's Nick Rogers in a good battle at the 7th Annual Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon this morning.

Almost 3,500 toed the starting line at UBC for the dash down to Stanley Park, one of the world's most scenic half marathons alongside the Pacific shoreline. Another 600 participants did the accompanying 5K, all inside the park. The event grew 20% this year, and attracted runners from 20 countries and almost 30 US states. Conditions were good for running in late June--overcast skies and temperatures between 13 and 17 celcius, though the morning was quite humid.

Rogers took things out hard from the start, "to hurt a little", as he said, with Macharia on his shoulder. This immediately spread the field, with Toronto's Danny Kassap on his own in third, and half a dozen others strung out behind. Rogers pushed through 10k in just under 30 minutes, having done all the work over the first half of the race. Between 10k and 15k, the two runners worked together, see--sawing back and forth, until the Canadian made the decisive break at 15k. The American hung on well to finish only 13 seconds adrift, 64:55 to 65:08.

Danny Kassap, winner of last autumn's Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, was adrift most of the morning, running almost all the way on his own. So much so, that he was almost caught by Montreal's Bagdad Rachem and Nanaimo, BCs, Steve Osadiuk, who pushed each other forward in a royal battle for 4th. In the end, the Montrealer took it by a step [65:48 to 65:49], but Osaduik was all smiles.

The performance gave the soft-spoken Vancouver Islander the 2005 BC Half Marathon Championship crown, and two very big notches in his belt--those of Bruce Deacon, Canada's #1-ranked marathoner for more than a decade, and Jim Findlayson, who became this year's Canadian men's marathon champ with his 2:18 performance in Ottawa on May 30th. Deacon placed 6th today in 66:58, and Findlayson dropped out. All 3 being "Islanders", it should be a lively ride home on the ferry tonight!

The women's race was dull in comparison. Canadian women's marathon champ and last year's winner, Lioudmila Kortchaguina of Toronto, had things all her own way after late scratches from Tina Connelly and Sandy Jacobson. In the end, Lioudmila cruised down the course in a respectable 74:32, almost 5 minutes clear of Seattle's Gwen Greiner [79:10], and Vancouver master's runner Nancy Tinari [79:24]. Tinari also became the BC Half marathon women's champion.

General consensus gave "two thumbs up" to the new, modified course and the race charity, VGH/UBC Hospital Foundation, was all smiles as well, as the runners brought in $120,000 for them.

Full results and photos at www.canadarunningseries.com/svhm.