| Monday, May 26 2008 - Gillis Captures Canadian Title At MDS Nordion 10k |
Eric Gillis captured the Canadian title at one of the country's most prestigious 10km road race the MDS Nordion 10k Saturday evening in Ottawa, Ontario. Gillis, the 2007 Canadian Champion over 10000 meters was battling an elite field which included Canada’s top ranked marathoner Dylan Wykes and Canadian national team members Alex Hutchinson and Spencer Morrison. Gillis time of 29:33 was good enough to score him a $2,400 payday.  He will now turn his attention to defend his Canadian 10000 meter title June 4th in Toronto, if Gillis is able to secure the win at that race he will be in excellent position to represent Canada at the Beijing Olympics.
Meanwhile, at the Canadian Marathon Olympic Trials also this weekend in Ottawa, Taylor Murphy made his long awaited debut at the distance. Murphy had set a target for himself of 2:18 which is the standard needed to represent Canada at the 2009 World Cup in Berlin, Germany. Right on pace at the halfway point, Murphy suffered from severe quad cramping which at times reduced him to a walk over the last 10 km and faded off pace to finish in 2:25:00. As anyone who has run a marathon can attest the distance is an extreme challenge as marathon great Bill Rodgers put it “the marathon can humble you.” Murphy will now take a well deserved break to recover and begin preparations for a fall marathon where he will hope to reach his 2:18 target.
In other action Maxime Paquette ran his win streak to two at the Niagara Olympic Twilight Meet in St. Catharines. Paquette ran a life time best over the 2000 meter steeplechase distance breaking the tape in 6:02.85 to finish just ahead of teammate Matt Brunsting who recorded a time of 6:04.07.
Photo Courtesy Photorun.net |
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