On Saturday June 20 the Niagara Ultra races were held in pouring but warm rains. Beginning in Niagara on the Lake all distances wound their way along the beautiful Niagara parkway, climbing gently and in some areas not as gently as runners found their way to their respective turn-arounds. First to reach theirs was Julie Soule running a PB in 2:00:38, Kristin Knight (2:03:39) and Janet Allaire (2:08:26) all completing the half marathon. With the marathon distance ?only? four kilometres from the 50k turn-around most racers choose the later distance over the traditional marathon. Attempting their first ultras were Neil Ibey (4:44:22) and Bill Dudgeon (5:56:44) who was accompanied by Sandy Musson (5:56:44).
The Niagara races are put on by the Ontario Ultra Series (OUS) who hosts a demanding 11 race series across Ontario. Races range in distances from 10k to 100 miles and are held on a variety of terrains. The Niagara 50k Ultra is a great way for road runners to test themselves at a distance farther than the marathon and dabble in ultra running. Ultra races are identified not only by distance and terrain but also by support or lack thereof. New runners to this series noted while there were well stocked aid stations every 5k, porta potties were non-existent. Finishers were treated to beer, pizza, a sweatshirt and medal or key chain. If you are thinking about taking the step past 42k, this is the perfect one to do it at.
In this past week?s triathlons Tony Nelson and Elizabeth MacDonald raced the Smiths Falls Sprint in 1:16:58 and 1:41:05 respectively. At the Guelph Lake 1 Sprint (750/19/5) Emily Holmes finished in 1:29:41 and Jennifer Freymond finished in 1:36:35. Cuthbert Cheung raced the duathlon (5/43.5/10) in 2:49:58 and John Kooistra completed the Try a Tri (375/10/2.5) in 43:02.
On the running front Leslie McClair completed the 30th Tour du Lac Brome 20k in 1:58:57, Gracie Tetzlaff (20:42) and Brenda Young (33:25) completed the 16th Annual Run the Lake in Ajax while Tyler Brown completed the 10k in 43:23. Braden and Angela Rumpel raced the 32 Annual Waterloo Classic Rim Park 5k in 24:02 and 30:47 respectively.
While some athletes race for themselves and the accomplishment, some participate to raise funds. Paul Jaquith, Liz Grant and Bill Goneau are three such athletes. Paul cycled 80k with the Sears National Kids Cancer Ride, alongside 36 National cyclists on their ride across Canada to raise funds for charities that assist kids with cancer. Liz and Bill participated in the Ride to Conquer Cancer, a two day 200k event. In its second year the Ride raised over 14 million dollars and had over 3500 athletes participate.
To get involved in your own events go to
www.redballradio.com to register for the Canada Day 5k Dash held at Zwick?s Park July 1st and
www.eventsonline.ca to register for The Quinte Triathlon and Duathlon. The Quinte Tri/Du will be held on July 12 in Batawa and is hosted by Tri & Run Sports.
