Olympian Natasha Wodak leads field for Under Armour Eastside 10K
A stellar lineup at the Under Armour Eastside 10K as several IAAF World Championships competitors return to the roads from their summer track stints
By Paul Gains
A sold-out field of more than 2,750 runners will take to the Vancouver streets in the Under Armour Eastside 10K on Saturday, a race which features some of Canada’s top distance talent including 2016 Olympians Lanni Marchant and Natasha Wodak and 2012 Olympian Dylan Wykes.
The local duo of Wodak and Rachel Cliff are returning from an August appearance at the World Championships in London. Leslie Sexton, the 2016 winner, is always a strong contender and will definitely push the pace as she prepares for the 2017 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October. (The defending men’s champion, Eric Gillis, is not racing.)
In the men’s race, two past UA Eastside 10K winners, Geoff Martinson and Wykes, are the favourites.
Though cautious of being considered the favourite, Wodak is just that. She ran 31:55.47 to finish 16th at the IAAF World Championships and is the course (and Canadian 10,000m) record holder, having run 33:04 at the CRS event.
“I took a week off after the world track and field championships and have been doing some easy running.” she says. “It [training] has been going well. I have been listening to my body and it is feeling good right now.”
Cliff, who ran a personal best 10,000m of 32:00.03 at the world championships, is among the challengers along with Sexton, Marchant and Scotland’s Sarah Inglis, who placed fourth at the 2017 Canadian 5K Championships/B&O Yorkville Run. Cliff is the 2017 Canadian 10K champion, awarded at the Ottawa 10K.
Marchant, the Canadian marathon record holder at 2:28:00, signed an endorsement contract with Under Armour in May undergoing surgery this year to remove kidney stones. Since then she has kept her cards close to her chest and pulled out of the world championships where she had been entered in the 10,000m.
The men’s race features 2015 Eastside champion Martinson of the high-performance training group B.C. Endurance Project, a former Canadian 1,500m international, who has been tearing up the roads the past few years. He has a 10K best of 29:26 (2016) on the roads and has run considerably faster, 28:48.33, on the track.
The race, which has been sold out for a couple of weeks, doubles as the B.C. championships hence the excellent turnout of local talent. Justin Kent (30:26 PB) and Kevin Coffey (30:13 PB) should also be contention for the prize money. Both train with the B.C. Endurance Project under Richard Lee, as do Wykes and Cliff.
The UA Eastside 10K champions collect $1,000 for the win with $600 and $400 going to second and third overall. The top B.C. runners will collect a further $400, $300 and $200 as part of the provincial road race championships.
The Under Armour Eastside 10K is part of the seven-race Canada Running Series (CRS), a circuit of road events (open to all) across the country, which next month features the Canadian Marathon Championships as part of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
Full start list
Men
Bib # Last Name First Name City Province
2 Martinson Geoff Vancouver BC
3 Wykes Dylan Vancouver BC
4 Justin Kent Burnaby BC
5 Coffey Kevin Vancouver BC
6 Hunt Theo Vancouver BC
7 Ngeno Benard Surrey BC
8 Mutai David Eldoret UG
9 Gravel Christian Vancouver BC
10 Watson Robin Vancouver BC
14 Wilkie Mark Vancouver Bc
15 Brockerville Ryan Coquitlam BC
16 Shahmirzadi Camron Menlo Park CA
17 Bauer Jesse Edmonton AB
18 Browne Nicholas Vancouver BC
19 Logue Robert Vancouver BC
20 Michie Tom Vancouver BC
21 Nicholson Drew Surrey BC
22 Loewen Ronald Langley BC
23 Blazey Paul Vancouver BC
24 Gomez Inaki Vancouver BC
25 Dunfee Evan Richmond BC
26 Hopwood Jeremy Richmond BC
27 Amundson Gus Vancouver BC
28 Kimura Kyle Vancouver BC
31 Lonergan Killian Thun Switzerland
32 Bradford Keith Calgary AB
33 Odermatt Craig Victoria BC
34 Napier Chris Vancouver BC
35 O’Connor Kevin Vancouver BC
36 Barth Chris White Rock BC
37 Adkins Tim Vancouver BC
38 Hatachi Tatsuya Coquitlam BC
39 Newby James Squamish BC
40 Portman Bryan Nanaimo BC
41 Ptucha Stephen Richmond BC
Women
Bib # Last Name First Name City Province
F1 Sexton Leslie London ON
F2 Wodak Natasha North Vancouver BC
F3 Cliff Rachel Vancouver BC
F4 Marchant Lanni London ON
F5 Inglis Sarah Langley BC
F6 Wilkie Sabrina Vancouver BC
F7 Lewis-Schneider Meg Vancouver BC
F8 Elmore Malindi Kelowna BC
F9 Moroz Jen Vancouver BC
F10 Therrien Brittany Vancouver BC
F12 Lee Andrea Vancouver BC
F13 Moore Katherine Vancouver BC
F14 Longridge Corri Vancouver BC
F15 MacGregor Meredith Vancouver BC
F16 Cherak Stephana Calgary AB
F17 Lee Kirsten Port Coquitlam BC
F18 Pepin Cheryl North Vancouver BC
F19 Zimmer Lissa Vancouver BC
F21 Watkins Catherine Vancouver BC
F22 Lovig Christy Kelowna BC
F23 Kassel Melanie Chilliwack BC
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