Some of the top Canadian runners in the country will be in the Hub City this weekend.
Organizing Committee Vice-Chair of the Medavie Moncton Running Festival Marc Lalonde says the Canadian 5K Road Championship has attracted an elite class of participants, “Probably one of the fastest 5K courses in the country. Some of those runners are actually trying to go for the Canadian record of that distance. A really cool thing to see live at that time.”
Both the men’s and the women’s Canadian 5K road records of 13:35 and 15:15 respectively could be broken along Assomption Boulevard.
Lalonde says this is the first time the 5K Championship is being hosted here, “There were 10k national championships held in Fredericton back in 2004, but otherwise, no such events have been held, not only in New Brunswick, but in the Atlantic provinces, so it is very much a first.”
There are several events to choose from depending on what level you are running at, that includes a one-kilometre event for youth, and long-distance runners can also sign up for the Resurgo Marathon.
Over 400 runners have registered to take part in this weekend’s events. It will be livestreamed through AO TV.
For Stephen Andersen, the director of the Elite division, this has been a year and a half in the planning, “It all started in the spring of 2021 when faced with another year of pandemic postponement, and with the fantastic sponsorship support of Medavie and of Athletics Canada, we hosted in September 2011 the first ever, and likely never to be repeated, virtual Canadian Championship with each runner racing the 5K road distance in their hometown and once verified qualifying for the prize purse and the official championship win. As a result of this effort and very positive experience by all, runners established a strong connection with Moncton and with our organizing committee and are now coming to New Brunswick for the live edition with some 40 plus runners taking to the start line, including six Olympians, the 10K Canadian record holder, plus many top local runners”
In the men’s division, the favourites are Lee Wesselius, the New Brunswick record holder for the marathon. He will be up against Ben Flanagan, Luc Bruchet, and John Gay. Tristian
Woodfine, Connor Black, Mitch Ubene, Justin Kent and another Atlantic Canadian, Mike Tate of Nova Scotia will also toe the line for the men’s race.
Starting shortly after, the women’s field boasts an equally strong lineup with four Olympians on the field. Fresh off the Commonwealth Games, Julie-Anne Staehli comes in with the fastest personal best of 14:57. Fellow Olympians Regan Yee, Erin Teschuk and Alycia Butterworth will look to steal the spotlight.
Other contenders not to be discounted are World Masters Record Holder Sasha Gollish, 2021 Canadian 10K silver medalist Cleo Boyd, 2:28 Marathoner Branna MacDougall, Erin Mawhinney, as well as Paige Chisholm of PEI.
More details on the events that run on September 10th and 11th can be found HERE.
There will be some road closures due to this weekend’s event.
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