Posted: June 24, 2006

Athletics: Marathoner Stevenson Sprints to 5K Victory in Ottawa

Toronto's Nicole Stevenson enroute to victory - Photo: RunnersWeb.com

Nicole Stevenson of Toronto, Canada's #2 ranked female marathoner took the lead just after the 1K mark and never relinquished it as she won the first RunnersWeb5k.com Race for Women run from the Aviation Museum in Ottawa this morning in a time of 16:28.
Nicole won $1,050 for her performance, $750.00 for winning the race and $300.00 in "primes" for leading the race at the 2, 3 and 4K marks. She ran a PB 2:32:56 marathon this January in Houston and represented Canada in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Nicole is planning on running a fall marathon, likely New York.

Emily Tallen of Kingston was second ($500.00) in 16:39 improving on her previous PB of 16:43 set when she won the Ottawa Race Weekend 5K earlier this year.

Sarah Dillabaugh ($350.00) of Greely finished third in 17:00.1 after collecting the $100.00 prime for leading at the first K in 2:56.

Liz Maguire ($500.00) of Osgoode was the first Master, and fourth overall, in 17:48. Agathe Nicholson ($300.00) of Perth Village and Janet Wynands ($200.00) of Lyn were the second and third Masters in 18:41 and 18:50 respectively.

202 women completed the race, of which 35 were under 20:00!. By comparison, the Ottawa Race Weekend had 3500+ women of which only 9 broke 20:00.

The Ottawa Athletic Club Racing Team won the team competition with Liz Maguire, Michelle Schuler (17:56 - a PB) and Annie Robitaille (18:24 - a PB) scoring. The OAC placed 17 women in the top 41 finishers.

Pre-race favourite Olympian Emilie Mondor did not start due to an Achilles tendon injury suffered in training earlier in the week. She tested her Achilles in the warm-up and was not able to run without risking further injury. She vowed that she would come back next year to support the event.

The race was sponsored by RunnersWeb.com, a leading running and triathlon resource portal, and organized by Somersault Events, Eastern Ontario's'leading multisport event organizer.

Top 10 - RunnersWeb5K.com Race for Women - Ottawa, ON

1 0:16:28.7  3:18  168   Stevenson, Nicole      Toronto            
2 0:16:39.6  3:20  172   Tallen, Emily          Kingston           
3 0:17:00.1  3:25   42   Dillabaugh, Sarah      Ottawa           
4 0:17:48.3  3:34  109   Maguire, Liz           Ottawa           
5 0:17:52.6  3:35  230   Amy, Schreeberg        Ottawa             
6 0:17:53.0  3:35   66   Gold, Leslie           Montreal           
7 0:17:56.0  3:36  157   Schuler, Michelle      Ottawa             
8 0:18:01.0  3:37  222   Danais, Marie          Ottawa            
9 0:18:02.4  3:37  187   Vogler, Nicole         Montreal         
10 0:18:03.6  3:37  214   Koszegi, Anne Marie    Ottawa            

Quote:
“I want to promote road racing in Canada. I’ve always been impressed with Ken Parker and his support of the sport. When Ken talked to me about coming back to Ottawa for the RunnersWeb5K.com, I decided to go for it.” - Emilie Mondor

Emily Tallen - Kingston, ON - Second - Photo: RunnersWeb.com

Sarah Dillabaugh - Greely, ON - Third - Photo: RunnersWeb.com

Liz Maguire, Osgoode, ON - First Master - Photo: RunnersWeb.com

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