Weekend recap: Kangogo wins first race as a Canadian citizen

Kip Kangogo won the Times Colonist 10K in a quick 30:11 on Sunday morning, his first win as a Canadian citizen.

The 34-year-old Kenyan-native is a longtime resident of Lethbridge, Alt., and is no stranger to winning on Canadian soil. This was his third TC10K win in as many years and he has been a regular threat on the Canadian road running scene for even longer, but this was only his second race as a Canadian citizen and his first win as one.

Jane Murage of Kenya won the women’s race in 33:55 and Eritrean-Canadian Lemlem Ogbaselassie, who gained citizenship in 2008, finished second. Ogbaselassie made a big jump up to the 10K from her usual 800m event on the track, a distance she represented Canada in at the 2011 world championships.

In Vancouver, the Sun Run, Canada’s largest 10K, attracted top Canadian talent in the men’s and women’s events. The women’s race was won by hometown star Rachel Cliff in 33:14, follow by Lindsay Carson, who currently lives and trains in Whitehorse, Yukon.

Paul Kimugal, a Kenyan regular on the Canadian road race circuit, bested top-marathoner Dylan Wykes, a Kingston, Ont. native who lives in Vancouver, by 12 seconds to win in 28:59.

The Canadian half-marathon championships took place in Montreal on Sunday, with Eric Gillis, who trains with Speed River track club in Guelph, Ont. winning his third-straight title. Toronto’s Rachel Hannah won her first half-marathon title. Krista DuChene, the defending champion, suffered a fracture femur during the race but still finished.