Runners celebrate Valentine’s Day with First Half in Vancouver
Eric Gillis and Dayna Pidhoresky won the men's and women's races at Vancouver's First Half on Sunday morning.
Your @VanFirstHalf top 3 women! Congrats ladies! #fhhm16 #bcsuperseries pic.twitter.com/15FsI4q8is
— BC SuperSeries (@BCSuperSeries) February 14, 2016
Vancouver’s Dayna Pidhoresky and Eric Gillis, a Guelph, Ont. resident, won the Vancouver ‘First Half’ half-marathon on Sunday morning in wet conditions. The 21.1K event was hosted by Pacific Road Runners and competitors ran the perimeter of Stanley Park before finishing downtown.
The race was part of the BC Super Series, a collaboration between the provincial governing body and some of the province’s top road races.
Top-10 women (gun time)
1. PIDHORESKY, Dayna — 1:15:11
2. DUCHENE, Krista — 1:16:20
3. BURRETT, Erin — 1:16:30
4. TULLOCH, Karen — 1:17:26
5. WATKINS, Catherine — 1:18:08
6. MADDEN, Anne-Marie — 1:18:37
7. WILKIE, Sabrina — 1:19:07
8. GREENWOOD, Ellie — 1:19:55
9. CHAPPELL, Ellen — 1:20:16
10. GUSTAFSON, Kate — 1:20:37
Pidhoresky rebounded nicely from a DNF at the Houston Marathon to post a time just north of 75 minutes for the half-marathon. Duchene, who has the Canadian Olympic marathon standard, finished second while Erin Burrett was third. All three podium finishers raced in Houston, either in the half-marathon or the full 42.2K.
Top women in @VanFirstHalf congrats to @DaynaPidhoresky and @kristaduchene hope you warm up soon. #fhhm16 pic.twitter.com/q3BH2x26uu
— L-G Road Runners (@LGRoadRunners) February 14, 2016
Top-10 men (gun time)
1. GILLIS, Eric — 1:05:46
2. WATSON, Robin – 1:07:39
3. COFFEY, Kevin — 1:08:21
4. KANGOGO, Kip — 1:09:09
5. ROOTS, Logan — 1:09:39
6. O’CONNOR, Kevin — 1:10:10
7. FINLAYSON, Jim — 1:10:27
8. SETLACK, Matt — 1:11:28
9. MCGRATH, Tom — 1:11:46
10. HOLTHAM, Elliot — 01:12:24
And it's @EricGillis42_2k for the win!!! 65:47 #fhhm16 #bcsuperseries pic.twitter.com/8oaXhdgLMN
— BC SuperSeries (@BCSuperSeries) February 14, 2016
Gillis, who already has the Olympic marathon standard, won by nearly two minutes (1:05:46) over Rob Watson. Watson, a Vancouver resident, recently committed to the London Marathon. Kevin Coffey came third while Pan Am Games marathon competitor Kip Kangogo finished fourth.
Catherine Watkins, Canadian Running‘s Master of the Year, and Kevin O’Connor were the top masters on Sunday.
Some non-competing athletes were surely nervous that they would displaced on the Athletics Canada rankings (see below) for the IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships but cool and wet conditions slowed the race considerably on Sunday.
The qualifying cut-off date (for Canadians) for the world half-marathon championships in Wales is March 7. The championships will be held is on March 26.
Full results from Sunday’s race can be found here.
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