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| Latest News |
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| Monday, April 27 2009 - Coolsaet Wins, Koziarski Takes Second |
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Reid Coolsaet made a triumphant return in his first race in over a year, winning the Billy Taylor 15k in a time of 47:14. Coolsaet who was using the race as a prep for his much anticipated Marathon debut in Ottawa at the end of May was positive about the effort and feels he is in good shape to qualify for the World Championships team in Berlin. Coolsaet's Speed River teammate Steve Koziarski made it a Speed River 1-2 to sweep, with his 49:36 clocking. |
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| Sunday, April 26 2009 - "Live" Updates From Billy Taylor |
Guelphrunning will attempt to provide near live updates from Reid Coolsaet's return to action at the Billy Taylor 15k Road Race. You can follow the updates in two ways, first you can become a fan of Speed River on our facebook page and you will get the updates in your newsfeed or you can follow the Guelphrunning twitter below.
You will need to refresh to get updates. All post will have #FB after them which allows them to sync with facebook.
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| Saturday, April 25 2009 - Moody Leads Speed River At Hillsdale |
A pair of golden performances and a quartet of splendid metric miles highlighted a busy weekend for the Speed River Track and Field Club at the Gina Relays in Hillsdale, Michigan.
The weekend got off to a tremendous start with Michelle Moody capturing the gold medal in the women’s high jump with a jump of 1.75 meters. Moody in her first competition of the outdoor season narrowly missed the World University Games standard of 1.80 m. Moody was joined on the top of the podium by the Speed River women’s 4 x 800 meter relay. The team of twin sisters Lydia and Nadine Frost, Sophia Chow and high schooler Emily Dreidger blew away the field to win by over 15 seconds in a time of 9:10.69.
Dreidger, a newcomer to the club from Georgetown, was the star of the weekend as she also posted a 14 second lifetime best in the women’s 1500 meters with her time of 4:47.66. Joining Dreidger in leaving the relays with a new personal best in the 1500 meters was Courtney Laurie who dropped four seconds from her lifetime best with her 4:32.95 clocking. Laurie’s time qualified her for the Senior National Championships in Toronto June 25th-28th. Also insuring they will be on the line in Toronto were Rob Jackson and Josh Roundell, who clocked 3:49.76 and 3:50.61 times respectively to finish fourth and fifth in the men’s 1500 meters.
Full Results |
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| Friday, April 24 2009 - "Live" Updates From Hillsdale Gina Relays and Billy Taylor |
This weekend Guelphrunning will attempt to provide near live updates from the Hillsdale Gina Relays and of Reid Coolsaet's return to action at the Billy Taylor 15k Road Race. You can follow the updates in two ways, first you can become a fan of Speed River on our facebook page and you will get the updates in your newsfeed or you can follow the Guelphrunning twitter below.
You will need to refresh to get updates. All post will have #FB after them which allows them to sync with facebook.
Speed River Athletes Competing Women
Women's 800m Run: Section 1- Saturday 4:40 pm
Frost, Lydia- Section 1
Frost, Nadine- Section 1
Chow, Sophia- Section 1
Women's 1,500m Run: Invite- Friday 8:50 pm, Sections 1 & 2- Saturday 1:50 pm
Carson, Lindsay- Invite
Laurie, Courtney- Invite
Cliff, Rachel- Section 1
Dreidger, Emily- Section 2
Women's 5,000m Run: Invite- Friday 8:10 pm, Section 2- Friday 4:05 pm
Cliff, Rachel- Invite
Mildren, Robyn- Invite
Moulton, Laura- Invite
Novak, Shantelle- Section 2
Women's 4 x 800 meter Relay:Section 1- Friday 9:10 pm
(Dreidger,Frost,Frost,Chow)- Section 1
Women's High Jump: Friday 1:30 pm
Moody, Michelle
Men
Men's 1500m Run: Invite- Friday 9:00 pm, Section 4- Saturday 1:50 pm
Roundell, Josh- Invite
Jackson, Rob- Invite
Murray, Cody- Section 4
Men's 5,000m Run: Invite- Friday 8:30 pm
Snider, Derek- Invite
Thorson, Cleve- Invite
Brett, Allan- Invite
Arnald, Scott- Invite
Men's 3,000m Steeplechase: Invite- Friday 7:50 pm, Section 2- Friday 3:35 pm
Paquette, Maxime- Invite
Murray, Cody- Section 2
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| Friday, April 24 2009 - Stellingwerff Named Athletics Canada Female Athlete Representative |
The Speed River Track and Field Club is thrilled to announce that Hilary Stellingwerff has been elected Female Athlete Representative for Athletics Canada.
Stellingwerff has won the last two Canadian Championships in the women's 1500 meters and was a finalist at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and Semi-Finalist in the 2007 World Championships. She first made her national debut in 1999.
As Female Athlete Representative Stellingwerff will serve as an advocate for athletes on the Athletics Canada Board of Directors. She will also work with the Athlete's Council, which provides a forum for National Team athletes to identify issues, recommend solutions, and generally express their needs and concerns to the Association.
With Files From Athletics Canada |
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| Thursday, April 23 2009 - Allan Brett Receives Ottawa Race Weekend Scholarship |
Organizers of Ottawa Race Weekend today announced that Ottawa's Allan Brett, a second year student in Biological Engineering from University of Guelph, is the recipient of its sixth annual National Athletic Scholarship. The $4,000 bursary was launched in 2003 for promising young Canadian track athletes.
“I am honoured to have won this scholarship,” says Allan Brett. “Being recognized by Ottawa Race Weekend not only validates the hard work I have put into my training, it provides me with the resources I need to continue to improve my performance while I am studying.”
Recently, Allan Brett was named the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Cross Country Most Valuable Player for his performance in the 10K race at the OUA Cross Country Championships in Kingston, Ontario.
“It is important to support young Canadian athletes as talented and ambitious as Allan,” says Manuel Rodrigues, Elite Athlete Coordinator for the Ottawa Race Weekend. “The Ottawa Race Weekend’s National Athletic Scholarship reflects our commitment to deserving individuals and to the sport in general.”
The $4,000 national scholarship was created to encourage rising stars in the Canadian running field. To be eligible, athletes must be Canadian citizens and full-time students at a Canadian post-secondary institution. A jury makes its decision based on athletic potential and ability, financial need, volunteerism and scholastic grades.
Brett is the fourth University of Guelph student to receive the award. Last year Guelph's Lindsay Carson received the award. |
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| Thursday, April 23 2009 - Stellingwerff's Ethiopia Trip Chronicled In Canadian Running |
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This past winter Speed River’s Hilary Stellingwerff traveled to Ethiopia for a one month training block in Addis Ababa. Stellingwerff has chronicled her journey in an excellent piece “Living the High Life” in this month’s issue of
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| Wednesday, April 22 2009 - Coolsaet To Run Billy Taylor, Announces Marathon Debut |
Reid Coolsaet will make his long awaited return to competitive running Sunday at the Billy Taylor 15k in Guelph, Ontario. Coolsaet has missed the last year with two major injuries the first of which, a nerve injury, forced him to miss the 2008 Olympic Games and the most recent injury, a fractured foot, caused him to miss the 2008 AGSI Canadian Cross Country Championships. The four time Canadian 5000 Meter Champion will use the race as a tune up for his marathon debut which will take place May 24th in Ottawa at the Ottawa Marathon. The Ottawa Marathon will serve as the selection race for the Canadian team at the 2009 Berlin World Championships. Coolsaet posted a few comments about his decision on his blog.
Why run a marathon?RC: My X-training volume has been high since the beginning of the year and that type of training is physiologically closer to Marathon training than 5000m training. Also, my tempo runs and longer intervals are at a higher level relative to my track workouts right now.
The standard for the marathon to make the World Championships (2hours 18 minutes) is easier relative to the track times (13:20 for 5km and 27:47 for 10km). The reality is that I’ve never run a marathon before, so although it is theoretically easier there will not be anything easy about it.
I have been interested in running a marathon for the past couple of years and with the possibility of Canada sending a full marathon team this year to Worlds it seems like a good time to take a crack at it. Even if it doesn’t go well I know the training and experience will help me down the road in later marathons.
Why not just train until June and by then your track times should be better?RC: I’ve never had a layoff as big as I have in this past year, so either way there are going to be some unknown variables. It’s also still possible to run fast on the track come July if I run the marathon on May 24th (the last day to qualify for the World Championships on the track is July 26th).
Did you decide to run a marathon after watching Boston on Monday?RC:
No, I had been thinking of this for a while but I didn’t think Dave Scott-Thomas (Coolsaet's Coach) was going to go for it so I didn’t mention it. It turns out Dave had been thinking about it as well when looking over my training and when he brought it up a couple of weeks ago I was all over it. I just needed to make sure I could handle the longer stuff and then commit before I bothered telling people.
Why do a marathon so soon?RC:
The last day to qualify for the 2009 World Championships is May 24th in the marathon. Waiting until later is not an option for the marathon.
Why run a marathon when you won’t have the optimal preparation?RC:
In an ideal world I would of had a longer training block for the marathon however, I am also not trying to run as fast as I would with an ideal build-up. My 5000m and 10 000m times rank me in the top 4 in the All-Time Canadian rankings, to break into the top four for the marathon I would have to run 2:11:15. I’m not aiming to go that fast on this outing.
What are some of the challenges you will face in running the marathon?RC:
The first of course is 42.2km… I’ve never run that long. So far I have a 35km run under my belt and with 4.5 weeks remaining I’ll have one more long effort this weekend.
Figuring out what to drink and eat during the event and practicing taking it in while running 3:12/km. Thankfully, Dr. Trent Stellingwerff has been advising me on what to take and when to take it. I’ll practice taking in fuel on the run this weekend at the Billy Taylor road race. I’ve also been practicing, a little, already with gels and water bottles.
I’m going to have to get used to running on pavement. So far the majority of my mileage has been on soft surfaces. I’ll have to train more on the roads to get my legs used to the impact.
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| Tuesday, April 21 2009 - New ways to follow Speed River |
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As the outdoor season gets underway Speed River is offering some new ways to follow the group. We have launched a Speed River Facebook Page as a way of better communicating with our fans. We also have a twitter site which we will be using this weekend to provide live results for the group from the Hillsdale Gina Relays. |
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| Sunday, April 19 2009 - Watson and Boorsma Smash Personal Bests At Mt Sac Relays |
In the two years since his move to Guelph, Rob Watson has developed a bit of a reputation amongst his Speed River Track and Field Club teammates. Watson has become known for pursuing things full-bore, his courage and fearlessness have earned him the nickname Destoroyer. He throws himself into his training; his incredible training loads have made even the most seasoned distance runner raise their eyebrows. It thus came as no surprise to those closest to him, when they saw Watson in the top six for much of the men’s 5000 meter race at the prestigious Mt Sac Relays in Los Angeles, California. In a race that boasted a handful of Olympians, including Olympic seventh place finisher and eventual race winner Juan Luis Barrios of Mexico, there was Watson leading the main chase pack despite having a lifetime best some 30 seconds slower then most of the field.
With 33 guys in the field there was a lot of back and forth and as the race wore on Watson’s quick early pace began to wear on him “At one point I recall looking at the lap counter and I saw 7 laps to go and though oh no I still have 3k to go. I felt pretty strong and could feel those high milleage weeks paying off” commented Watson after the race.
As Watson hit the bell lap he looked at the clock and needed a 63 second final 400 to run under 13:40. “I just put my head down and for about 70 meters tried to go, it was a struggle.” As he crossed the line 13:40 came across the screen, for the next five minutes he had an excruciating wait as the results slowly came up on the stadium’s screen. Finally, “Rob Watson Speed River TFC 13:40.33” appeared on the screen. Agonizingly close to his goal of breaking 13:40, but Watson did not go home unhappy, “it was a 32 second lifetime best and I learned some things that will help me the next time.” Waston’s time ranks him second in Canada and after returning home for two weeks he will head back out to the west coast to run at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford University. There he will return to his speciality, the 3000 meter steeplechase, an event he won at the 2008 Olympic Trials.
Watson was one of four Speed River athletes who made the trip out to the City of Angels. Teammate Kyle Boorsma, in his first race since his outstanding CIS Track and Field Championships, also registered a huge personal best taking 28 seconds of his lifetime best time with a 13:57.23 clocking in the 5000 meters. Boorsma's time provisionally qualified him for this summer’s World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia. Also in the 5000 meters was 2008 Olympian Taylor Milne. Milne clocked a time of 14:01.33, narrowly missing his lifetime best from the 2008 Mt Sac Relays of 13:59.68. Rounding out the Speed River contingent was John Corbitt who clocked a time of 4:00.90 in the 1500 meters. Milne and Boorsma will be joining Watson at Stanford in weeks while Corbitt will be racing this coming weekend in Berkley, California.
Watson and Milne's Race Video
Boorsma's Race Video
Corbit's Race Video
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| Saturday, April 11 2009 - Koziarski and Moulton Holiday Weekends Have Silver Linings |
Steve Koziarski led a busy holiday weekend on the roads for the Speed River Track and Field Club. Koziarski placed second in the Subaru Jordan 5k in Jordan, Ontario. Koziarski battled Edward Tabut of Kenya to the line in a furious sprint finish but fell a second short of gold with a time of 15:06.
Koziarski was not the only Speed River athlete whose weekend had a silver lining as clubmate Laura Moulton captured the silver medal at the Good Friday Road Races in Burlington, Ontario. Moulton led three Speed River runners in the top four with her time of 18:08. Sam Beattie captured the bronze with an 18:47 clocking and 16 year old newcomer Emily Driedger was fourth in 18:54. |
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| Tuesday, April 7 2009 - Alex Genest Joins Speed River |
The Speed River Track and Field Club is pleased to announce the addition of Alex Genest to the club. Genest, the Canadian Junior Record Holder in the 3000 meter steeplechase, boasts the seventh fastest time in Canadian
history and will join Olympic Trials Steeplechase Champion Rob Watson and CIS Cross Country Champion Matt Brunsting in what has the potential to develop into the strongest steeplechase group in Canadian history.
 “When I visited the city last fall, I had a really good time. The places to run are awesome and the group of runners is amazing. The resources around the Speed River group are what I'm looking for to reach my goals. Commented Genest on his move from Sherbrooke, Quebec.
Genest has also formed a strong bond with Speed River Head Coach Dave Scott-Thomas, “Dave works in a way that I really like. He shares a lot with his athletes, explains the purposes of the training and takes time to listen to the athlete. His knowledge and his thirst to know more are inspiring.”
In addition to Scott-Thomas, the strength of the Speed River training group and the Guelph environment were big draws for the twenty two year old. “For the first time, I will train with a big group of athletes that are among the best in the country. Moreover, I'll train with steeplechase guys! Everybody in the group is working together to reach the same goals and I going to Guelph to be part of this group and even more, to be part of a running family.”
On Genest, Scott-Thomas commented, "Alex is just a good soul and I really can’t wait for him to be in Guelph on a day-to-day basis. We've known each other for years through competition, and he's always been an outgoing and classy guy. He'll add a whole new dimension to our scene, and I think having the top two steeple-chasers in the country with a great group around them is going to push that event into new territory over the next few seasons."
Genest will be moving to Guelph in May and will be continuing his studies in Human Nutrition at the University of Guelph commencing in the fall. The 2007 CIS Cross Country MVP, may suit up for the Gryphons in 2010 after sitting out next year due to transferring. |
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| Sunday, April 5 2009 - Milne Takes Silver In Season Opener |
Taylor Milne’s season opener was delayed one week due to illness but the delay didn’t slow him down as he showed he is ready for a big year in placing second at Saturday’s Harry Rosen’s Spring Run Off Eight Kilometer Race in Toronto.
The race boasted a strong field which include 2008 Olympic Trials 5000 meter winner Ryan McKenzie and Canada’s top ranked marathoner Jon Brown. Through three kilometers the a lead pack of five quickly formed including all the principles. Going up the first major hill on the course Milne made a push as he and Brown pulled away from the pack. Over the next two kilometers Brown and Milne would go back and forth with Brown eventually building a three second lead at five kilometers. As they raced down the steep decline just past 5k, Milne attempted to pull back even with Brown but the marathoner was to strong and went on to the win in 24:12. Milne held on for second in 24:29 with McKenzie third in 24:37.
Milne’s Speed River teammates Steve Koziarski and Scott Aranald, were sixth (25:19) and fifteenth (26:04) respectively.
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