Olympian Eric Gillis and Leslie Sexton top stacked fields at Vancouver’s Eastside 10K
Olympian Eric Gillis and Leslie Sexton continued their tuneups for the Toronto Waterfront Marathon with wins at Vancouver's Eastside 10K.
Winners #eastside10k pic.twitter.com/AASxXImo5s
— BC Athletics (@BC_Athletics) September 17, 2016
Vancouver’s Eastside 10K had some stacked fields on Saturday so it’s no surprise that an Olympian took the overall win. Eric Gillis, in his first race since finishing 10th in the marathon at the Olympics, won in 30:16 while Leslie Sexton bested Dayna Pidhoresky and Olympian Natasha Wodak for the win in 33:17.
RELATED: BMO Vancouver Marathon registration now open for city’s only 42.2K race.
The Eastside 10K doubled as the British Columbia 10K road race championships. Since Gillis is a resident of Guelph, Ont. and Sexton is from London, Ont., the B.C. titles went to Justin Kent and Pidhoresky in the men’s and women’s category. Both B.C. champions competed at last weekend’s Canadian 5K road championships in Toronto.
BC Championship 10K winners @jkent_ @DaynaPidhoresky pic.twitter.com/1hw0thwQsb
— BC Athletics (@BC_Athletics) September 17, 2016
It was a stereotypical day in Vancouver as runners and walkers were met with cool and rainy conditions on Saturday morning in the downtown core. The route begins and ends at Dunsmuir Viaduct at Beatty St. with the runners running approximately 5K east before returning on an adjacent street.
RELATED: The story behind Natasha Wodak’s motivational “be brave” tattoo.
Both Sexton and Gillis are expected to run the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October. Pidhoresky is too slated to run the October marathon in the Ontario capital.
.@EricGillis42_2k holds off @jkent_ for W at #eastside10k 30:15 pic.twitter.com/SdiyHuR3tR
— alan brookes, CRS (@alnbrookes) September 17, 2016
London's @LeslieSexton WINS #Eastside10k 33:17 from @DaynaPidhoresky 33:35. Watch for rematch at #STWM pic.twitter.com/nTzFTsPT1a
— alan brookes, CRS (@alnbrookes) September 17, 2016
Wodak was leading the women’s field through the 5K mark before Sexton took control in the latter half and edged Pidhoresky by 18 seconds. Wodak would fade to third. Both 10K wins for Gillis and Sexton are impressive given they’re in the midst of marathon training. Sexton regularly posts her training to Strava and hits the occasional 42.2K run in training.
Gillis, who is coming off the “race of his life” at the Olympics, will continue his Rio momentum to Toronto in October and try to better his 2:11:21 lifetime best, which was set in 2014 at the Toronto waterfront course. His Olympic finish was the best by a Canadian in the men’s marathon since 1976.
Top-five results
MEN
1. Eric Gillis – 30:16
2. Justin Kent – 30:26
3. Geoff Martinson – 30:43
4. Kevin Coffey – 31:01
5. Shoayb Bascal – 31:07
WOMEN
1. Leslie Sexton – 33:17
2. Dayna Pidhoresky – 33:35
3. Natasha Wodak – 33:42
4. Lindsay Carson – 35:21
5. Courtney Olsen – 35:24
A bit further back in the pack was a familiar face in the Canadian running scene. Rob Watson, popularly known as one of Canada’s favourite marathoners, ran 32:10. He is on break from competitive marathon running after missing the Olympic qualifying standard last spring at the London Marathon.
RELATED: A custom Eric Gillis T-shirt to match his inspirational Olympic run.
According to timing event company Sportstats, there were 2,295 participants who took part in the sold-out race. The Eastside 10K was the sixth of eight Canada Running Series events with the Toronto Zoo Run and the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon still to come in September and October.
Other notable results include Olympic racewalker Inaki Gomez running 34:53 and teammate Evan Dunfee walking 41:42.
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