Posted: October 13, 2007

Athletics: Wykes and Metcalfe claim Canadian 10K Titles

By Lynne Bermel On a day better suited to relaxing on the couch with the remote, Dylan Wykes of Kingston, Ontario achieved a three-second victory over Guelph’s Taylor Milne to win the TransCanada National 10k championships in Ottawa. Wykes and Milne were shoulder-to-shoulder heading into the final stretch in front of Canada’s War Museum when the Providence University graduate unleashed a powerful kick that left Milne unable to respond. Wykes’ winning time of 29:49.5 was a personal best. “It feels great to win a national championship, “said Wykes, who works in obesity research at Providence’s Brown College. “The $3000 prize money doesn’t hurt either.” The cold, rainy conditions didn’t seem to affect women’s winner Megan Metcalfe of Edmonton. She pulled away from the field with 2k to go and cruised to a cushy 14-second win over Puslinch, Ontario’s Megan Brown in a time of 33:26. “This was my first competitive 10k on the roads so I’m delighted, said Metcalfe, who won gold at the recent Pan American games in Rio de Janiero in the 5000m. “I kept looking back to make sure no one was going to come at me in the final stretch.” Multiple Paralympic and World Champion, Chantal Petticlerc of Montreal took the women’s 10k wheelchair championship while Michel Filteau of St-Jean Baptiste won the men’s title. It was the first time that Athletics Canada ran the national wheelchair and 10K open championships together. Top 5 Men 1. Dylan Wykes, Kingston, Ont. 29:49 2. Taylor Milne, Guelph,Ont. 29:52 3. Andrew Smith, Toronto,Ont 30:00 4. Richard Mosley, Toronto, Ont. 30:02 5. Kurt Benninger, Chepstow, Ont. 30:21 Top 5 Women 1. Megan Metcalfe, Edmonton, Alta. 33:26 2. Megan Brown, Puslinch, Ont. 33:40 3. Tara Quinn-Smith, Waterdown, Ont. 33:50 4. Lauren King, Toronto, Ont. 35:07 5. Lanni Marchant, Ottawa, Ont. 35:15 Dylan Wykes (right) runs shoulder-to-shoulder with Taylor Milne (Steve Bower) Megan Metcalfe (132) starts to pull away from Megan Brown and Tara Quinn-Smith (Steve Bower) Tara Quinn-Smith runs into Ottawa’s fall colours (Steve Bower) Start of the National 10k Wheelchair Championships (Steve Bower) © Copyright 2007 Lynne Bermel Lynne Bermel, a former world-ranked pro Ironman competitor, is a senior marketing & PR consultant living in Ottawa.. She is also a freelance writer and TV sports show host. You can reach her at: lynnebermel@rogers.com. You can access previous columns by Lynne at: LB_Columns Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest