Yorkville 5K to host national championships Sunday

For the second year, the Band and Olufsen Yorkville Run will host the national 5K championships in the downtown Toronto neighbourhood on Sunday.

Some of Canada’s top road racers and track runners will meet, some rebounding from recent performances at the Pan Am Games and world championships.

In the women’s race, Toronto’s Rachel Hannah will race again for the first time since her fourth-place finish in the Pan Am Games marathon. She’ll take on Pan Am Games teammate Natasha Wodak, who raced the 10,000m in Toronto and at the record world championships, and Pan Am Games 1,500m bronze medallist Sasha Gollish.

The men’s race will see Canadian steeplechase record-holder Matt Hughes challenged by Lucas Bruchet. Hughes recently won the Pan Am Games in the steeplechase and finished eighth at world championships. Bruchet represented Canada over 5,000m at the Pan Am Games.

The course follows the same route at the Yorkville run, but will be held before to allow runners to watch the action. The race begins on Bay Street at the Four Season Hotel and runs south the Dundas before turning west and then north again up University Avenue, around Queen’s Park to Davenport and back to Yorkville.

The championships will begin at 9 a.m. The Yorkville run is scheduled for afterwards at 9:45.