Weekend recap: CCAA Cross-Country Championships and Tunnel Hill 100
Many of the big names in ultrarunning showed up at the Tunnel Hill 100 miler
On Saturday afternoon, Calgary’s St Mary’s College hosted the 2021 Canadian CCAA Cross-Country Championships. Leonard Chesoo of Concordia defended his 2019 title, winning the men’s 8K in 24:44. Makenna Fitzgerald of SAIT Trojans won the women’s 6K by one minute, which led to her first CCAA title.
Fitzgerald had to battle the harsh winds to finish the race in 21:40, 62 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Juliette Belanger of the Gaillards de Jonquiere. Rounding out the podium was Elodie Hebert of the Sherbrooke Volontaires, who was third in 23:26.
Leonard Chesoo takes gold at CCAA cross-country championships
In the men’s race, Chesoo made the best of the conditions and blazed through the 8-km course in a time of 24:44. Chesoo was in control of the race from the start, pushing the pace in the early stages. Chesoo’s margin of victory was 32 seconds ahead of the second-place runner, Nolan Turgeon of Victoriaville College, followed by Seth Marcaccio (25:22) of the Fanshawe College.
This is the second straight year Alberta has hosted the championships, which once again made for unusual conditions. In 2019, the championship runners had to deal with a blizzard and a foot of snow during the race. Although there was no snow this year, runners had to face 30-40/km winds and freezing temperatures.
Tunnel Hill 100
In Vienna, Ill., many of the big names in ultrarunning showed up at the Tunnel Hill 100, a 100-mile run across 1,400 feet of elevation gain. The winner of the race receives an automatic qualifying spot for next year’s Western States 100.
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Course record holder from 2018 Zach Bitter found himself in the group of leaders in the men’s race early on, with local Illinois runner Taggert VanEtten and Phil Young from Iowa. VanEtten, who was 10th at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon seven days prior, faded from the lead pack around mile 70. Young, who owns a running store, gained three minutes on Bitter over the final three miles to win in 12:47. This was the first time in the history of the race that the top two runners both ran under 13 hours.
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The women’s race
The 2021 USATF 100-mile road champion Stefanie Flippin took care of business at the Tunnel Hill 100. Flippin improved her 2019 winning time by an hour (14:04) and was two and a half hours faster than the second and third-place finishers. Flippin will look to continue her success at the USATF 100 Mile Trail Championships in Texas three weeks from now.
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