Posted: October 16, 2005

Athletics: Giitah Macharia wins BELAIRdirect.com ZooRun to take CRS2005 crown

TORONTO, ON. 15 October 2005. For the third time in the Canada Running Series this year, Giitah Macharia of St.Cathatines did what he had to do, then unleashed his deadly finishing kick to win the BELAIRdirec.com ZooRun 10K this morning in 30:18. Today's sprint to the line gave Macharia a one-second victory over exciting new talent, 19-year old Jean-Claude Nduwingoma of Montreal. Kenyans Abel Ondeyo and Joseph Ekuom were 3rd and 4th, with Montrealers taking the next 4 places. With race and Series titles, it was a $4,000 morning for the soft-spoken Macharia.

On the women's side, Megan Brown of Puslinch had an easier time, with a comfortable 46-second win over Tania Jones of Maple [35:33 to 36:19], followed by Shari Boyle of Toronto [36:42]. Boyle's 3rd place was good enough to give her the CRS2005 Women's title. Nancy Tinari of Coquitlam was just behind [37:10]--a performance that ensured she would repeat as CRS2005 Master's Women's champ.

Conditions were almost perfect, with sunny skies and mild temperatures [15 celcius] for the record 2,331 participants who helped raise more than $10,000 to assist the Toronto Zoo in it's efforts to preserve endangered species. The Fall colours were at their best in the sunlight as the runners cruised around the 710 acres of the Zoo grounds, past many of the 5,000 resident animals. To add further to the entertainment of the morning, Guinness Marathon World Record holder, Michal Kapral of Team Reebok, aka The Joggler, made an encore, cameo appearance, joggling the 10K in 39:22.

Full results and photos at canadarunningseries.com/zoorun.