Heavy heat for Tely 10 road race
Fewer takes top men’s spot; Bazeley earns top women’s in 87th Tely 10
Colin Fewer climbed into second spot amongst all-time Tely 10 winners, but otherwise, it was the women who made news Sunday morning in the 87th running of The Telegram 10-Mile Road Race in St. John’s.
Kate Bazeley, who has aspirations of earning a spot on Canada’s marathon team for the 2015 world track and field championship, came within eight seconds of setting a new course record en route to her third Tely title.
The 30-year-old St. John’s native now living in Corner Brook finished in 55:54, almost breaking Nicola Will’s time of 55:47 established in 1986. Bazeley’s placing was the 10th best in Sunday’s field.
Fewer had an easy time winning the race, stopping the clock in 50:50. Nova Scotia’s Dan McNeil, the 2013 winner, was second with a time of 51:58.
Four thousand, one hundred and eight-one runners and walkers — an all-time registration high for the Tely 10 — signed up for the race, and about 3,800 of those showed up at the start line in Paradise.
When it was all said and done, 3,774 people finished the race — 2,224 women and 1,550 men.
Another Nova Scotia native, Lee McCarron of Halifax, was third in 53:37 followed by David Freake of St. John’s in 54:01 and Peter Power of Paradise in 54:05.
Power surpassed Ben Johns’ Canadian record for 10 miles in the 50-54 age group, established in 1986.
Power’s time will be designated as a downhill record on a point-topoint course. His record time, according to local running coach and Tely 10 veteran Art Meaney, will be pending until ratified by the Canadian Master Athletic Association.
Julia Kawamoto, the former Simon Fraser University sprint star from St. John’s, finished second to Bazeley in 59 minutes, for 17th place overall.
Caroline McIlroy, who won the race in 2005, was third in 1:01.21, Alison Walsh was fourth in 1:03.24 and Jennifer Murrin placed fifth in a time of 1:03.41.
Bazeley, Kawamoto and McIlroy all finished among the top 25 racers.
The race was run under clear skies and a blazing sun. Temperatures were already reaching 20 degrees at the 8 a.m. start, quickly soaring to the mid-20s halfway through the race.
Despite the weather conditions, not exactly suited to a road race, George Stanoev of the Newfoundland and Labrador Athletics Association reported there were no major problems on the course, although water was in great demand by the runners crossing the Bannerman Road finish line.