After eight races in seven months, and with 58,429 participants, the 2014 Canada Running Series came to a climactic finish October 19th following its flagship event, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

Eric Gillis ran a personal best time of 2:11:21 in the IAAF Silver Label race – good enough for an impressive 9th place – to earn him the CRS title for the first time in his career.

“It is the first time I have won it,” Gillis admitted. “I actually tied last year and Kip (Kangogo) got me on the tiebreaker. It does feel quite nice. I got the Oasis Zoo Run 10k (Canadian 10k championship) for the first time this year, the Toronto Yonge Street 10k for the first time, and now CRS for the first time.”

Gillis earns an additional $2,500 for being the Series Champion with 165 points, to go with the $12,800 he won in his 5 CRS races this year. He admits his performance at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon capped the best season of his career. Besides winning the national 10k title at the Oasis Zoo Run, the 34 year old also won two other CRS races – the Banque Scotia 21km de Montreal, which doubles as the Canadian Half Marathon championship, and the Toronto Yonge Street 10k. It was his third consecutive victory in Montreal.

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