Weekend wrap-up: May 23-24

Ottawa Marathon breaking plenty of records

Canada’s busiest race weekend, the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend, saw a few records broken Saturday and Sunday in the nation’s capital. First, Kenya’s Glady’s Cherono won the women’s 10K in a record 30:56:25. The top Canadians were Eric Gillis and Lanni Marchant, running 28:58 and 31:59, respectively, to win national 10K road titles.

The next morning Girmay Birhanu and Aberu Zennebe, both of Ethiopia, won the marathon in 2:08:14 and 2:25:30, respectively. Rob Watson and Rachel Hannah were the top Canadians.

The race also set records for attendance and fundraising dollars.

Toronto Women’s Run Series kicks off

The first Toronto Women’s Run of the year was held Sunday. The event saw a 5K and half-marathon in Sunnybrook Park, where all of the runs are held. The race series is one of the most popular in the city and the Sunday race raised over $20,000 for the the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario.

The top finishers were Jolee Vanleuven in a 1:24:41 half-marathon and Erin McClure Robb, who ran a 17:29 5K.

Top Canadians race 1,500m in Windsor

Many of Canada’s top 1,500m men raced what could be a  preview of the national championships later this summer. Defending champion and two-time Olympian Nate Brannen was beaten by Charles Philibert-Thiboutot and Jeremy Rae, two younger up and coming elites. Philibert-Thiboutot won in 3:40.38.