Posted: October 21, 2005

Athletics Canada Athletes Shine at Columbus Marathon

(Ottawa) Five athletes from Athletics Canada enjoyed strong performances at the 26th Annual Columbus Marathon, held in Columbus Ohio on October 16th. In the Open Men's Wheelchair division, Jeff Adams (Toronto, ON) took first place with a time of 1:30:17, Alan Bergman (Cobble Hill, BC) finished third in 1:32:04 and Mark Ledo (Maple, ON) finished in seventh spot with a time of 1:42:06.

Dean Bergeron (Québec, QC) finished with the fastest time of 1:59:16 in the Open Quad division, while Clayton Gerein (Pilot Butte, SK) was fourth fastest with a time of 2:16:15.

Adams has enjoyed a strong season, culminating with the first place finish in Columbus; earlier this year he finished second in the London Marathon, held in London England. He recorded another second place finish at the Paralympic World Cup in the 1900m Pursuit. He also finished second fastest at Rolling Rampage in Toronto, Ontario in the 10,000m.

Adams reflects on the 2005 season "I am happy with my season; it has been a little frustrating often finishing in the bridesmaid position (second place) in some instances by hundreds of a second, so it was nice to get a win in Columbus. At the same time it's nice to see how competitive the men's Open Division has become." Adams says he used his sub-par 2004 season as motivation for 2005 "I didn't have the greatest season in 2004, including at the Olympics or the Paralympics. I used that as a motivational tool for 2005."

Athletics Canada is the national governing body for the sport of track and field including cross-country running and road running.