Canadian elites return south a year after memorable Run Barbados finish

A year after one of the most dramatic race finishes you will ever see, some of Canada’s top distance runners are once again in the Caribbean for the Run Barbados weekend.

Among the elites for the Friday-Sunday event are 2017 Under Armor Eastside 10K champion Sarah Inglis, Canadian 10,000m record holder and Olympian Natasha Wodak, 2017 U Sports cross-country champion Sasha Gollish and Canadian marathon record holder and Olympian Lanni Marchant. The latter three are Canadian while Inglis, who resides in the Vancouver area and raced for Trinity Western while in university, represents Scotland internationally.

Wodak has the second-fastest half-marathon of all Canadians in 2017 and, if she maintains a top-three spot in the national rankings, is on track to qualify for the 2018 IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships.

Run Barbados, held in Bridgetown, the country’s capital and largest city, offers a mile, 5K, 10K, half-marathon and marathon. It was in the Run Barbados 10K in 2016 that Marchant and Wodak finished side-by-side thinking they had won a mere metres from the finish but were passed at the last second by Trinidad and Tobago’s Tonya Nero.

A GIF, which Canadian Running created and posted using a sequence of photos by Canada Running Series’ Inge Johnson, made it on to ESPN shortly after the race in 2016. A video of the events attracted more than 13 million views on social media.

Hey @CanadianRunning, Looks like #Bettyandveronica made it on prime time ESPN in the US. Solid plug for Canadian running lol. #oops pic.twitter.com/Y0BOdyF1VR

— Dan MacDonald (@propofolpapi__) December 8, 2016

The 2017 agenda calls for the mile on Friday, the 5K and 10K on Saturday and the half-marathon and marathon on Sunday. Friday and Saturday’s race have a late-evening start time while the half-marathon and marathon begin at 5 a.m. local time.

RELATED: VIDEO: Must-see Barbados 10K finish reaches 11 million views, gets airtime on ESPN.

Sasha Gollish & Sarah Inglis have joined the Canada Running Series group heading to Run Barbados, Dec 1-3. They will join Canadian Olympians Natasha Wodak and Lanni Marchant, plus a large group of CRS friends on the start lines! Photo: Mark Bates/CRS. https://t.co/SJb4wtaa04 pic.twitter.com/fmxNHOXvsB

— Run Barbados (@RunFunBarbados) November 25, 2017

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcKLvEulX0F/

Canada Running Series organized a trip to Barbados for race weekend meaning there will be plenty of Canadians – elite and non-elites – in the Carribean soaking in the sun. Run Barbados is the richest race – in regards to prize money – in the Carribean, according to the event’s website.