© Copyright – 2019 – Athletics Illustrated
Hamilton, Ontario is characterized by a few things: wanting an NHL hockey team, a robust manufacturing sector and is the home to the longest-running distance road race in North America. It’s also a windy place this time of year.
Four-time winner of the ATB30K and defending champion, Dayna Pidhoresky, podiumed again on Sunday.
She finished second to Emebet Mengistu. Mengistu finished in the time of 1:45:57.2, while Pidhoresky crossed the line in 1:49:03.1. Salome Nyirarukundo was third in 1:50:03.9. The Rwandan, now living in Ottawa, owns a half-marathon best of 68:48.
Mengistu is a transplanted Ethiopian athlete who is currently living in Mississauga, ON.
The Vancouver-based athlete originally from Tecumseh, ON previously won in 2011, 2015, 2017 and 2018. Her fastest time is 1:47:14, while the women’s record is 1:44:40 by fellow Canadian Lanni Marchant from 2013.
It was apparently a windy day.
“We woke up to fresh snow and wind. Today was tough for me but proved to be a great opportunity to practice all my mental strategies so I can try to best overcome when things go awry,” said Pidhoresky. “Although I would have loved to get the win, I don’t think I could have challenged Emebet today in those conditions. She was very strong. “
They were together for the first 10K.
“The wind was challenging and made the hilly sections doubly hard. I knew I was a fair bit behind second (in third) as a few people were giving me updates. I was happy to move into second from third. I believe I was about 1-min 30-sec back with 8K to go so I was surprised to see her in the distance in the final four kilometres. I worked hard to catch her in the last 2K and I’m proud I was able to respond with a bit of drive despite the fatigue in my legs. All in all it was a perfect day to get in some marathon effort and work on both the mental and physical!”
Wasn’t a day for me to break the tape at @bayracerun but grateful to have a day where I could practice all my mental strategies to keep moving forward. Clawed my way back to 2nd place in the final kilometres – thank you for all the support out there! Onwards to @OttawaMarathon 🏃🏼♀️
— Dayna Pidhoresky (@DaynaPidhoresky) March 31, 2019
The 32-year-old will be running the Ottawa Marathon at the end of May, where she ran her personal best of 2:36:08 two years ago.
Dylan Wykes took third in the men’s race. For Wykes, racing the historic 30K was a bucket list event (elite athletes are permitted to bucket list). Although he was competitive, going for the win, he finished third overall.
“Today was very hard! It was my first time doing ATB,” said the 2012 London Olympian.
“The group went out very hard. I didn’t look at any splits until 5K, which we went through in under 15:00. So that made the rest of the race tough. I wasn’t planning to go out that fast. We had a tailwind early on but still, I wasn’t prepared to go out that quick. I wanted to win and figured it would take 1:34-35 to do so. Overall I’m happy. I didn’t find the wind to be a huge factor today. It wasn’t perfect out there, but people were still running fast! “
Wykes has run the marathon as fast as 2:10:47 and the half-marathon in 62:14. The 35-year-old does not have plans for important races at this time.
“This was the goal for the time being. I was just happy to be able to get through some good training and make it to another finish line. I’ll take some time off now and think about what might be a new exciting goal for me.”
Dennis Kemboi won the race in the time of 1:32:57.7. The Kenyan owns a half-marathon best of 63:59. The second place finisher was Kenyan Panuel Mkungo, who crossed the line in the time of 1:34:08.4. He owns a half-marathon best of 62:50
The Around the Bay 30K is the oldest and longest-running distance race in North America. It was started in 1894.
Full results available here: https://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.xhtml?raceid=100553
