2009 Saucony Run Alberta Cross Country Series

[HHH]

The 2009 Saucony Run Alberta Cross Country series is locked and ready to go! Same individual prizing as the 2008 series and we are looking at trying to get some team prizes as well.

For the 2009 series, there will be 6 races but a runner's best 4 races will be used for their overall series points. There is no mandatory race for the 2009 series, ties will be broken as per the rules indicated on the webpage below.

For more information, please visit:

runningsolutions.shawwebspace.ca/pages/view/2009_saucony_run_alberta_cross_c/

Hope to see some of you out at the races!

Matt

[HHH]

Change of venue for race #1, it will now be at Hawk Ridge Centre in Calgary and no longer at Confederation Park.

Hawk Ridge Centre is one of the best cross country venues in the province so be sure not to miss this!

Matt

[HHH]

The battle for Alberta XC team supremacy began on Saturday at Hawk Ridge Ranch in Calgary. Lethbridge College took the ladies team title with 26 points, lead home by Winnie Cheptogok in 4th place. Running Room AC finished in 2nd place with 52 points. RRAC athletes Tara Struyk and Jennifer Kemp actually took 1st and 2nd place in the ladies race but we were forced to take last place +1 and last place +2 for their next scorers as they weren't able to get out a full team. Augstana college rounded out the top 3 with 54 points lead by Emily Cole in 9th place. Heather Sim of CALTAF rounded out the top 3 individuals.

The mens team competition has began where it left off last season, with Lethbridge College taking the top spot with 32 points and Running Room in 2nd with 35 points. As they were in the ladies, the Augustana men, lead by David Ariel in 6th place, rounded out the top 3 teams with 44 points. The individual competition has also started off as the 2008 Saucony Run Alberta XC series ended with Kip Kangogo (RRAC) defeating Willy Kimosop (LCC). Andrew Carruthers (RRAC) continued his strong summer form finishing in 3rd place overall.

Full results and information on the series can be found at:

runningsolutions.shawwebspace.ca/pages/view/2009_saucony_run_alberta_xc_seri/

Race number 2 goes this Saturday in Edmonton's goldstick park.

[HHH]

Results from race #2 held in Goldstick Park in Edmonton are up along with series standings after 2 races.

runningsolutions.shawwebspace.ca/pages/view/2009_saucony_run_alberta_xc_seri/

Chantell Widney, the 2008 series champ and national XC team member, won her first race of the series over Tara Struyk of Edmonton. Heather Sim and Jennifer Kemp traded places for 3rd and 4th respectively. The ladies team competition won was won again by Lethbridge with Augustana finishing in 2nd.

Mens top 3 were the same again with Kip Kangogo, Willy Kimosop and Andrew Carruthers leading the way. Mens team competition was won by RRAC with just 13 points followed by the Augustana men.

Race #3 is in Calgary on Oct 10th.

[Sharratt]

The times seem slow for the top 3 guys. How hilly was the course?

[HHH]

Um yeah, that was my fault. I was a bit off in my measurement of the 3k loop, at least an extra 1/2km but also a very tough course.

I'll get it right for the series champs.

Matt

[ronb]

Great work on that series, Matt. It sounds like a great initiative !

[HHH]

Please note the new start times for the Stewart Cup:

5km race: 12:00

10km race: 12:35

Thanks!
Matt

[HHH]

Race #3: The Battle of Alberta results are now up along with the series standings after 3 races:

runningsolutions.shawwebspace.ca/pages/view/2009_saucony_run_alberta_xc_seri/

Chantell Widney from the Edmonton Thunder won her 2nd race in the series over Ciara Kara from UCAC. Top 3 was rounded out by the UofA's Hayley Degaust who lead her team to a big win over the UofC and Lethbridge Kodiaks.

Series standings after 3 races see Tara Struyk from the Running Room leading followed by Heather Sim from CALTAF and Jennifer kemp from the Running Room. Runners are currently ranked according to the # of races they have run and then by their points so look for Chantell to top the standings after she finishes another couple of races in the series. Lethbridge Kodiaks lead the team standings followed by the Running Room and CALTAF.

The mens race saw the same top 2 as the first 2 races in the series go 1-2 again with Kip Kangogo of the Running Room winning over Willy Kimosop from the Lethbridge Kodiaks. Geoff Kerr from the UCAC cracked the top 3 in his first race of the series. The team result saw the UofA run a very impressive and disciplined race to win easily over the Running Room Athletic Club with the UofC just one point behind in 3rd place.

Mens series standings see no change with Kip Kangogo (RRAC) leading Willy Kimosop (LCK) and Andrew Carruthers also from the Running Room athletic club. The team standings see the Running Room on top followed by Augustana College and the Lethbridge Kodiaks.

Race #4 of the series goes next weekend in Camrose where the 2009 College Cross Country Championships will be held.

[HHH]

Race #4 in the 2009 Saucony Run Alberta XC Series was held at the Stoney Creek Centre in Camrose on Saturday. We had the largest turnout so far in the series for both the mens and womens races.

The ladies 5k saw a new course record with Tara Struyk of the Running Room Athletic Club breaking running 18:40 on the tough XC skiing trails, a full 50s faster than last year's winning time. Heather Sim (CALTAF) and Jennifer Kemp (RRAC) renewed their intense rivalry with Heather again prevailing by 1sec and both ladies running 30s faster than last year's winning time run by 2008 series champ, Chantell Widney.

Tara continues lead the series followed by Heather and Jennifer. But with 2 races to go and 2008 series champ Chantell Windey having only run 2 races so far, much can still change.

Lethbridge college continued their winning ways with their 4th win in the series and pretty much locking up the team title. Red Deer and Augustana finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. RRAC and CALTAF rank 2nd and 3rd in the team competition as they have both now scored in 4 races.

On the mens side, Willy Kimosop took advantage of training partner Kip Kangogo's absence to win his first race of the series in fine style over teammates Ed Kangogo and Moses Kipkosgei.

Willy now takes the overall series lead followed by Matt Norminton (RRAC) and Devin Woodland (Aug) who have also both now finished 4 races. However there are a few guys with 3 race finishes who will be looking to overtake these two.

The team winners this week were Lethbridge followed by Augustana and Red Deer. Overall leaders in the team competition are currently RRAC followed by Lethbridge and Augustana who have only finished 3 races now.

Next race in the series is the Stewart Cup to be held in Edmonton this year on October 31st.

Full results and standings can be found here:

runningsolutions.shawwebspace.ca/pages/view/2009_saucony_run_alberta_xc_seri/

[HHH]

Series standings after 5 races are now up and runners are ranked according to their best 3 results. Runners who have not run 3 races are now dropped from the standings.

Last race Nov 14th at Goldstick park, should be a good one with lots on the line.

runningsolutions.shawwebspace.ca/pages/view/2009_saucony_run_alberta_xc_seri/

[HHH]

Final series standings are now posted:

runningsolutions.shawwebspace.ca/pages/view/2009_saucony_run_alberta_xc_seri/

Chantell Widney (Thunder) has repeated as the ladies champion of the 2009 Saucony Run Alberta XC series. Chantell completed 4 races with a perfect score with 4 wins. Lets hope she can repeat what she did at last year's national XC champs and we also wish Chantell good luck as she represents Canada at the Japan EIKIDEN relay. Tara Struyk (RRAC) finished 2nd in the series with 8 points followed by the great rivalry that featured Heather Sim (CALTAF) and Jennifer Kemp (RRAC). Heather triumphed in the end over Jennifer 12 points to 14 and both runners were named the Ironwomen of the series for completing all 6 races, never more than a place apart! 5th and 6th place were rounded out by Lethbridge Kodiaks Gladys Kochei and Purity Kandie.

Winnie Cheptogok (LCK) took the U20 division, Chantell Widney took the 20-29 age group while Jenn Wilson took the 30-39 age group. Lethbridge took the 5k team title followed by CALTAF and the Running Room athletic club.

Similar to the ladies, the mens series saw the 2008 champ repeat as 2009 champion as Kip Kangogo (RRAC) won the mens series; also with a perfect score of 4 wins. Willy Kimosop (LCK) repeated as series sliver medalist beating out RRAC teammates Andrew Carruthers and Matt Norminton who finished 3rd and 4th respectively. Devin Woodland from Augustana finished 5th while Abdelkader Dib from CALTAF rounded out the top 6.

Devin Woodland took the U20 series title, Willy Kimosop took the 20-29 age group, Kip Kangogo took the 30-39 age group and Mike Secker from the Edmonton Thunder took the 50+ age group. Running Room athletic club took the mens team title.

Thanks to everyone for coming out to race and also to our sponsors, Saucony, the Running Room and Soleus Watches. All the best to everyone heading out to Guelph to compete later this month and we hope to see everyone back out for the 2010 series!

Matt

[HHH]

Photos from the series champs are now up:

runningsolutions.shawwebspace.ca/photos/

We will also be covering the entry fees for 4 Alberta based senior athletes for XC nationals this year. It's not a lot, but it's a start. Priority will be given to those athletes who participated in the Saucony Run Alberta XC series. Interested clubs or athletes should contact myself.