Dylan Wykes, Lioudmila Kortchguina to run Vancouver Eastside 10K

Olympic marathoner Dylan Wykes and Canadian women’s marathon champion Lioudmila Kortchguina are the odd-on favourites to win the men’s and women’s titles at Saturday’s inaugural Vancouver Downtown Eastside 10K.

Wykes, a native of Kingston, Ont. who now lives and trains in Vancouver under coach Richard Lee, finished 20^th overall in the marathon at the 2012 London Olympics. The Vancouver event will be his first since the Games.

“I’m happy to be back in Vancouver full-time now,” Wykes told Canada Running Series. “Training has been going well and certainly I want to prove to myself that I’m getting back to near to my old form. But I think it’s important to have an open mind for the first race out and just try to enjoy it regardless of the result.”

Wykes is also planning to run the Canadian 10K road race championships at the Toronto Zoo Run on September 21, and says the Eastside 10K will act as a tune-up for that race.

“Racing in Vancouver is always fun,” Wykes said, “and I expect the Eastside 10k will be a great experience. It’s a unique course and I’m looking forward to testing myself out there.”

The men’s and women’s winners will take home $800, plus an additional $1,000 for new course records, which are guaranteed for this first edition of the race, said race director Clif Cunningham.

At the age of 40, Kortchaguina placed 3rd overall at the Vancouver SunRun 10K in April, in 33:35 and followed that up with a new Canadian masters marathon record of 2:33:11 to win the Canadian marathon championships in Ottawa. Kortchaguina is training hard for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 20 and will be using the Eastside 10K a test of fitness.

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