Canadian women sweep the podium at NACAC Half Marathon Championships

On Sunday morning at the NACAC Half Marathon Championship in San Jose, Costa Rica, the Canadian trio of Sasha Gollish, Laura Desjardins and Colleen Wilson swept the women’s podium.

Gollish won the race in 1:17:55, while Desjardins took second in 1:19:51 and Wilson was third, 15 seconds behind Desjardins in 1:20:06. Gollish has been on a roll as of late, placing second at the Canadian 10,000m Championships last weekend, then winning the Toronto Sporting Life 10K the weekend before. She will be back on the start line again next weekend in Ottawa for the Canadian 10K Championships.

The course in San Jose was far from flat for the Canadian contingent, as they had to deal with over 225 metres of elevation gain over 13.1 miles. The city of San Jose also sits 1200m above sea level, so the delivery of oxygen through red blood cells to your muscles is a percentage slower than it would be at sea level (0m) to 500m.

In the men’s race, Lee Wesselius of Mountain Ont. was the top Canadian in his national team debut, taking the bronze in 65:02. Kieran Mcdonald of Halifax, N.S. was the second Canadian to cross the finish line in sixth (66:34), and Phil Parrot-Migas of London, Ont. came in behind Mcdonald for seventh in 67:05.

Results from NACAC Half-Marathon Championship in San Jose, Costa Rica??

Women – Team GOLD
?Gollish – 1:17:55
?Desjardins – 1:19:51
?Wilson – 1:20:06

Men – Team SILVER
?Wesselius – 1:05:02
6 – McDonald – 1:06:34
7 – Parrot-Migas – 1:07:05

RESULTS: https://t.co/PvHPmzRdTl pic.twitter.com/g2WoWl5xzK

— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) May 22, 2022

Alberto Gonzalez Mindez of Guatemala took gold in the men’s race in a speedy 63:29, while Daniel Johanning Cordero of Costa Rica was second in 64:43.