Sunday, August 30, 2009

Timex Road Race Series nears the end of season

There are three more races left in the Athletics Alberta Timex National Road Race Series, which is 12 courses around the province starting with the St. Patrick's Day Road Race in March and ending with the Melissa's 10k in September. Timex and Athletics Alberta are tracking the results from pre-selected races and awarding points for overall wins (100 pts), second place finishes (94 pts), 49th place (2pts), and everything in between. Even just finishing a course gets you 1 point. Plus, you're competing against your age group and gender, so you have more chances to pick up some cool prizes.

Is it too late to get started? The season is almost over, right? Well, the top 4 women have 200-283 points, so in 3 races you could get into the mix. The bottom of the Top 10 men starts with 202 points, but you still might break the top ten in your age group. Especially if you're over 40.

Of course, there are some actual races you have to run and do well in. The next race is the Dino Dash September 6th, which starts near McMahon Stadium and runs a nice 10k road course around the U of C campus and ends on the Foothills track. (There's also a 5k version but it's not included in the Timex series.) On September 13th head north for the 10k Rotary Run for Life in Stony Plain, which is a suburb just west of Edmonton. The last race for points in the series is the long-since-sold-out Melissa's Road Race in Banff on September 26. Scour the Calgary Roadrunners, Melissa's, and Running Room websites for people who are dropping out and looking to sell their bibs. It happens. Race changes are allowed Sept 16-20 only.

The Timex series ends in Edmonton with the 26th Annual Fall Classic 10 miler on October 18. Unfortunately, the day before in Toronto the Timex National Road Race Series has the overall final with the Oasis Zoo Run 10k. This is also the 2009 Canadian 10km Championships, so you could toe the line with some serious distance runners.

The top 5 road racing women in the province (at least based on these first 7 Timex-qualifying races) are:
  1. Krissy Dooling of Edmonton with 283 points (based on only 3 races)

  2. Emily Young of Edmonton with 260 points

  3. Krista Petersen of Edmonton with 209 points

  4. Lisa Harvey of Calgary with 200 points

  5. Tara Struyk and Chantell Widney, both of Edmonton, with 194 points each


Also in the Top 15 for women are Calgarians Lindsay McLaren, Lisa Benz, and Jenny Godley.

The top 5 road racing men in the province (at least based on these first 7 races) are:
  1. Brian Torrance of Edmonton with 542 points

  2. Matthew Norminton of Edmonton with 537 points

  3. Kurt Wotiuk of Edmonton with 356 points

  4. Niall McGrath of Edmonton with 259 points

  5. Art Vriend of Red Deer with 237 points


Also in the Top 15 for men are Calgarians Duncan Marsden, Ed Bickley, Andrew Carruthers, Travis Cummings and Mario Festival