March 29, 2010 - The 2010 Harry's Spring Run-Off will feature one of the most competitive men's fields in the 32-year history of the event, Saturday, April 3 at Toronto's High Park. The race starts at 10 a.m.
Canada's top-ranked marathoner, Eric Gillis fresh off a 2:13:52-clocking at the Chevron Houston marathon in January, will test his speed over the shorter eight-kilometre distance.
Gillis is from Antigonish, NS, but now trains in Guelph, Ont. He represented Canada in the 10,000m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and is now a full-time marathoner with the goal of wearing the Canadian singlet in the event at the 2012 Games in London.
Although Gillis will be racing a distance that many observers might consider to be out of the comfort zone for a marathon runner, don't be fooled. The 30-year-old athlete has some wheels, with personal bests of 13:36 for 5,000m, and 28:07 for 10,000m.
Some of his stiffest competition will come from his teammates at the Guelph-based Speed River Track and Field Club.
Speed River has five runners on the elite start list, Gillis, Taylor Milne, Rob Watson, Cleve Thorson and Alex Genest.
Milne is coming off an impressive 5 km at the Around the Bay race in Hamilton, where he broke the course record with a 14:10 clocking on Sunday. If the race comes down to a sprint finish, Milne will be the odds-on favourite for gold. He represented Canada in the 1500m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and has run a world-class 3:36.00 for the distance.
Milne finished second at the 2009 Harry's Spring Run-Off.
Over the past few years, Speed River has dominated the Canadian distance running scene. But Toronto's Matt Loiselle, the 2009 Canadian half marathon champion (1:04:09), will hope to assert his dominance on his home course.
Loiselle is part of the Brooks Marathon Project, a group of elite runners who train and live close to High Park.
Josephat Ongeri, originally from Kenya, but now lives in Burlington, Ont., is also expected to be among the leaders of the 2010 HSRO 8 km. The only question might be fatigue, since he would have had only six days of rest after running a hard 30 km at Around the Bay, where he finished second in 1:35:24.
Ongeri works full-time for a pharmaceutical company in Burlington, but still manages his time to fit in gruelling training sessions with elite marathoners, including 2009 Canadian champion Reid Coolsaet.
The women's race doesn't have the same depth as the men's elite field, but Lucy Njeri of Kenya is the front-runner. She's the defending champion, and is coming off an impressive victory at Around the Bay in 1:48:58.
The top three women's finishers from the 2009 HSRO are all returning this year. Brockville's Paula Wiltse finished second last year, and was just 11 seconds behind Njeri.
The Spring Run-Off was the first Canadian road race to offer prize money for the top finishers.
This year, the winners of the men's and women's races will each earn $1000 – the top five will receive cash awards (2nd - $500, 3rd - $300, 4th - $200, 5th - $100). The course records are held by Daniel Komen (men's 22:35, 1994) and Jill Hunter (women's 25:56, 1990).
The race has been sold-out for weeks, with about 5,000 competitors of all levels ready to run over the hilly and challenging course, entirely on pavement that will be blocked off to traffic.
For the first time, the race will be broadcast online at CRStv.ca. Commentators Mihira Lakshman and Dave Reid will call the race, and provide post-race interviews with the top finishers and other notable celebrity runners.
The HSRO 8 km is the first event of the 2010 Canada Running Series, a prestigious collection of races, attracting elite and recreational athletes from across Canada.
For further information on the Harry's Spring Run-Off, visit CanadaRunningSeries.com.
Eric Gillis at the Chevron Houston Marathon
Lucy Njeri winning Harry's 8K 2009.
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