Today I ran the 8 km cross country race for Masters in Guelph, Ontario. Great fun! I’m the 2nd guy in this picture. Doesn’t it look like we are enjoying these conditions?
I think I did pretty good in my first attempt at Nationals. I placed 6th overall with the time 27:07. That is a good time for me, especially considering the difficult conditions. I was 18 seconds away from 3rd place.
The weather was brutal; windy and lots of wet snow coming down. When the conditions are – grass that is wet, slippery and slushy, long spikes is must. I screwed in 12 mm spikes in my shoes, which gave me better traction. It was still tricky, because the fresh soft snow was thicker than 12 mm, even when packed, so footing was difficult.
The event was very well organized, and the course was good. It was easy for spectators to view the race since it’s a 2 km loop.
Next year, Nationals will be in Vancouver and I’m already excited about that. I definitely want to go then, as long as I can stay in good shape. A dream would be to place among the top 3, and hey, there is nothing wrong with aiming high, right?
Video
Check out the lovely conditions for this race! You can watch the video here!
Results
Masters Overall
1 Richard Minichiello 42 M 1 40-44 26:24.1
2 Padraig McCluskey 41 M 2 40-44 26:36.4
3 Steve Boyd 47 M 1 45-49 26:49.1
4 Colin Dignum 44 M 3 40-44 26:52.4
5 Alex Coffin 42 M 4 40-44 27:00.5
6 Robert Renman 40 M 5 40-44 27:07.1
7 Craig Odermatt 40 M 6 40-44 27:11.5
8 Kevin O'connor 43 M 7 40-44 27:23.2
9 Warren Ringler 34 M 1 0-34 27:25.8
10 David Tepper 35 M 1 35-39 27:41.3
Females Junior
1 Victoria Coates 17:42.0
2 Ciara Kary 17:48.8
3 Caroline Pfister 17:49.6
4 Annie Leblanc 17:57.4
5 Emily Driedger 17:58.9
6 Jaclyn Rollins 18:02.5
7 Fiona Benson 18:22.6
8 Cerise Thompson 18:30.4
9 Natalie Kannenberg 18:33.1
10 Maria Bernard 18:37.1
Men Junior
1 Ross Proudfoot 24:27.7
2 Lucas Bruchet 24:37.1
3 Robert Denault 24:40.1
4 Connor Darlington 24:42.4
5 Paul Janikowski 24:46.2
6 Andrew Kowalsky 24:47.2
7 Xavier King 24:55.2
8 Daniel Piticariu 25:05.2
9 Benjamin Raymond 25:06.4
10 Jeremie Bourget 25:11.6
Senior Women
1 Kate Harrison 23:43.5
2 Dayna Pidhoresky 24:04.3
3 Kate Van Buskirk 24:11.1
4 Dana Buchanan 24:17.3
5 Natasha Wodak 24:27.2
6 Kate Vaughan 24:27.7
7 Geneviève Lalonde 24:35.8
8 Sarah-Anne Brault 24:41.2
9 Victoria Fratczak 24:46.0
10 Lucy Smith 24:54.4
Senior Men
1 Cameron Levins Comox Valley Cougar 28 M 29:25.7
2 Robin Watson Team Ontario 336 M 29:49.0
3 Reid Coolsaet Team Ontario 315 M 30:04.7
4 Kelly Wiebe Team Prairie 460 M 30:10.0
5 Kip *Kangogo Team Prairie 286 M 30:22.7
6 Alex Genest Equipe Quebec 528 M 30:35.4
7 Barry Britt SJTC 306 M 30:44.5
8 Yves *Sikubwabo Team Ontario 234 M 30:44.8
9 Derek Snider Speed River TFC 328 M 30:50.0
10 Matthew Hughes Team Ontario 393 M 31:10.7
Well done Robert. I watched the posted videos, the masters race looked a bit tougher with the snow coming down than in the later races. Would have been cool if the video feed was live.