Toronto -- (Sunday April 19th, 2009) Outclassing the field in the Montreal Half-Marathon this morning, Windsor Ontario's Matt Loiselle won his first National Championship in a BCMP record time of 1:04.09. Loiselle ran away from a who's who of Canadian long distance runners, including former Olympians and National Champions, stamping his footprint on the Canadian marathoning scene. The win earned Loiselle a trip to Birmingham Great Britain for the World Half Marathon Championships in October. It also sets him up perfectly for his goal competition, the Ottawa marathon on May 24th. Also setting a personal best time was BCMP member and last year's winner Andrew Smith finishing second in a time of 1:05.07.
On the women's end, reigning Champion and BCMP member Tara Quinn-Smith handily reclaimed her title bettering her nearest competitor by over 3 minutes. Her time, 1:12.08 is a personal best and new Canadian record. Tara will also make the trip to Birmingham to represent Canada at the World Championships this fall.
For full results go here: SportStats.ca.
Matt Loiselle on how the race unfolded:
"Andrew and I led the first 5k or so at which point two of the African runners moved into the lead picking up the pace. I took a gamble and decided to go with them and I'm glad I did because it ended up paying off. We hit 10k around 30:15 and by then there was only 2 of us. It was noticeably windy and it seemed like I was doing most of the leading when we were heading into the wind. We traded surges until 2k to go when he made a move and pulled away into the final stretch. Since it was my first half, I'm pleased with the effort but next time I might make some changes tactically."
About the Brooks Canada Marathon Project: Now in its second year, the Brooks Canada Marathon Project provides distance runners with the opportunity to train with the goal of qualifying for the Olympic Games and World Championships. Thanks to a $1.5-million commitment from Brooks Canada founders Mike and Paul Dyon, the athletes train and live together in a house in Toronto's west end provided by the Project. They also receive medical and travel support, and performance-based financial incentives. For more information, please visit BrooksRunning.ca.
Tara Quinn-Smith of the Brooks Distance Project led from start to finish with a blistering 1:12:08 that knocked out the 14 year-old record set by Danuta Bartoszek- Photo: Canada Running Series
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