Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Thanksgiving Day Races

What a beautiful venue for a run.  The picture above is at the 3k mark of yesterday's 10k race.  I am at the back  hanging on for dear life (about to be dropped) as the Speed River gazelles used this event as a tempo tune-up for the Canadian 10k Road Champs this Saturday in Toronto.  The highlight of the day was watching Annika run a 16:59 5k with a little help from her Uncle--but more on that later.  First, here is an article of this wonderful event in today's Guelph Mercury:

tsaxon@guelphmercury.com

GUELPH — A new location and the threat of nasty weather couldn’t stop the Thanksgiving Day Races from being a big success Monday.

Roughly 650 people of all ages participated in six different races at Exhibition Park as the rain held off and a little morning frost on the pumpkin did little to dissuade a large number of people from registering the morning of the race.

“I’m very pleased. The turnout was great,” race director John Marsden said.

“Weather was my main concern. We’ve had three weeks of rain and it wasn’t looking good for today. We were ready for the rain if it came, but it’s hard to convince people to stand out in the rain and run.”

It was cold, with temperatures hovering in the single digits all morning, but with little wind to make it worse, nobody was complaining.

The star of the day was Exhibition Park, a new location for the event brought on by construction in downtown Guelph where the races have been held the past few years.

“I just love this venue, it’s perfect,” said veteran runner Scott Cameron, who took part in a new 10-kilometre race that was added to this year’s lineup.

“I really like having it at the park,” said Brian Sharratt, who watched his son David win the 5km race. “You don’t have to have police blocking off roads and it’s very spectator friendly.

Full Article

No comments: