All-star Canadian women’s team to race Athletics Canada 42K relay challenge

The Athletics Canada 42K relay challenge has announced two highly competitive teams: an all-women’s team called the Quarantine Queens and a mixed-gender team dubbed Random Track Club.

The Quarantine Queens consist of Canadian marathon record holder Malindi Elmore, 2:29 marathoner Emily Setlack, Canadian 10,000m record-holder Natasha Wodak and 2018 Canadian marathon champion Kinsey Middleton. The Random TC club will see Canadian steeplechase record holder Matt Hughes, (Canadian Running’s own) Kate Van Buskirk, Madie Davidson, and Paddy Birch work together. 

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Hughes is coming off a European racing stint where his steeples were unsuccessful (by his standards), but his 1,500m races went quite well. He ran two personal bests within days of each other, coming home with a new lifetime best of 3:37.20. As for the Quarantine Queens, Wodak was the most active on the racing scene this summer, running a series of track and road time trials to work on her speed. Her best result from the summer was a 15:33 5,000m on the track (only a few seconds off her personal best). 

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The teams will take to the road on the weekend of October 17 and 18, when STWM would’ve run originally. Within these teams, runners can split up the distances however they choose, as long as everyone covers a minimum of 5K and the total equals a marathon. Runners have all weekend to complete their distances and can upload via Garmin Connect or Strava. The virtual aspect will also make teams extra competitive, as runners don’t need to be in the same city to participate on the same team. 

To enter, see here. 

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