Oasis Zoo Run: CR holder Rachel Hannah returns for the win

It was a warm, late summer day yesterday as runners lined up for the 10K, 5K and Cub Run races through the undulating terrain of the Metropolitan Toronto Zoo, many of them in costume. The Zoo Run is now in its 17th iteration, while Canada Running Series, of which it is a part, is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Rachel Hannah and Wendimu Adamu were the winners of the 10K, in 36:03 and 31:35, respectively.

Aly Drynan (37:03) and Adam Hortian (32:00) were second (Hortian fresh off his Longboat Island Run 10K win on September 8), and Katrina Allison (37:20) and Colin Murray-Lawson (32:26) were third.

Hannah set the course record of 33:10 here back in 2014, and had not raced here since then until yesterday. She has had a great season on the roads this year, winning the Pride and Remembrance Run and taking second at the lululemon Toronto 10K and fifth at the Edmonton Half-Marathon, after struggling at the Ottawa Marathon in the spring and despite dealing with two different foot injuries during the summer.

“I didn’t do the mileage that I wanted to in the summer,” she told us, “but I’m taking the opportunity to run some shorter races to work on some speed. The Zoo Run is a hilly and challenging course, but I was really happy to be back there. It had been since 2014! I had a lot of fun and am grateful to race pain-free.”

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In the 5K, it was Alexandra McDougall and Gaetano Pocchi who broke the tape, in 20:27 and 17:21. Maria Sandor (20:37) and Steven Pederson (17:33) were second, and Jessie Cook (20:47) and Bernie Hogan (17:43) were third.