Canadians crack the top-10 at Rock ‘n’ Roll Philly Half
Sami Jibril and Melanie Myrand ran Philadelphia as a tune-up five weeks out from the Canadian Marathon Championships in Toronto on Oct. 22
Two Canadians finished in the top-10 at Sunday’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon, an event that celebrated its 40th anniversary and saw some 8,800 finishers.
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Toronto’s Sami Jibril placed seventh in 1:06:06 while Melanie Myrand of Montreal was eighth in the women’s race in 1:17:12. Both are scheduled to toe the line in Toronto at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Oct. 22, an event that will also play host to the Canadian Marathon Championships.
American Galan Rupp–the 2016 Olympic Marathon bronze medalist who will run the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 8–was the men’s winner in 1:02:18 ahead of local favourite and 2017 Ottawa 10K runner-up Marty Hehir (1:04:00) and Gebrekiden Abadi (1:04:05).
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Meseret Defar of Ethiopia, one of the most decorated long-distance runners of all-time, won the women’s race in 1:08:45. Caroline Rotich of Kenya was second (1:09:40) with American Jordan Hasay (1:10:41) in third.
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Fresh off her third-place finish at the Canadian 5K Road Race Championships, Toronto-native Sasha Gollish started the race but dropped out due to a hip issue. Gollish has run 1:11:07 for the 21.1K distance and was considered one of the top contenders.
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I ❤️'d seeing all the @RunRocknRoll #RnRPHILLY ?&?worn proudly in the city today. Tx for a great race and congrats to every??♀️??
— sasha gollish (@SGollishRuns) September 17, 2017
Trevor Hofbauer who trains with Speed River in Guelph, Ont. was also in the field and his early splits (14:42 through 5K; 30:24 at 10K) suggested he was aiming for a fast time. However, he faded in the final miles and finished 25th overall in 1:14:12. Hofbauer will be making his much-anticipated marathon debut at the STWM as well.
Canada’s one and only Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series event takes place this coming weekend in Montreal. Canadian Running will be on-site providing race coverage.
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