On the women’s side, Allison Hobeika hung on for a 3:08:46 win. Cambridge’s Julie Cummings was second and Daniela Fiumara third.

Jhon Quispe Sanchez won the half marathon in 1:08:45, followed by David Kipsang. Kipsang also finished fourth in the previous night’s 10K event. Mississauga’s own Steve Koziarski was third. Ottawa’s Mary Davies continued her remarkable spring season with a 1:14:04 win. She won the Sporting Life 10K two weeks ago, and the 21km de Montreal on April 18. Lucy Njeri Muhami was second, following her win in Saturday night’s 10K. Canadian marathon veteran Nicole Stevenson was third in 1:17:11.

Congratulations to everyone who crossed the line in the weekend’s marathon, half marathon, 10K, 5K and 2K races!

Just a quick heads on an upcoming movie that will soon join Air Bud and Wildcats in the pantheon of sports films.

Over a third of the field (60 of 179) ran Boston qualifying times at yesterday’s Fredericton Marathon in New Brunswick.  Chris Brake and Maggie Johnson, both past winners, led the men’s and women’s fields respectively.

At what is by far Canada’s biggest single running event (and one of the 20 biggest in the world), the Vancouver Sun Run, Kip Kangogo was first among nearly 40,000 finishers in a time of 29:01.  Despite the overall vibe of the event as celebration of participatory running, the Sun Run also attracts a Who’s Who of Canadian racing.  Kangogo won the Vancouver Half Marathon just last week, while others in the top ten included Eric Gillis (winner of last month’s Spring Run Off 8K in Toronto), Willy Kimosop (winner of last week’s Sporting Life 10K in Toronto), Matt Loiselle (winner of April’s 21km de Montreal), Rejean Chiasson (runner-up at last year’s Niagara Falls Half Marathon) and Steve Osaduik (two-time winner of the Royal Victoria Marathon).

Everyday I spend 10 or 15 minutes cleaning the iRun blog comments of hardcore spam. Cialis, Verne Troyer sex tapes, you name it. So I sez to myself… if this is going to happen anyway, I might as well post up some clips of people taking off their shirts, using questionable judgment, while their friends make amateur videos out of it.

I linked to some good parkour videos back in November.  Here are a few more favourites.  Get out there and try some of this stuff.  Nobody lives forever!

Superathletes + ‘Shrooms

Damien Walters 2010 Showreel:

Tampa-based Kenyan Thomas Omwenga ran away and hid on the field at Sunday’s BMO Vancouver Marathon, winning by just under 9 minutes (2:16:55) over BC’s own Jason Loutitt. This is Omwenga’s third win, adding to his ‘07 and ‘08 titles. He has enjoyed a fair bit of success on the Canadian circuit over the years, having also won the Around The Bay 30K last year and the Niagara Falls Marathon in 2007.

The women’s marathon was won by Emmah Muthoni Kiruki (2:37:16) over BC’s Sharleen Jackson (2:50:12) and Suzanne Evans (2:52:58).

Each champion took home $2000. This year saw over 3400+ marathon finishers.

The half marathon’s 6500+ runners were led by Lethbridge’s Kip Kangogo (Kan He Ever!) in 1:06:33. Kangogo is a former NCAA All American who once trained under legendary Ed Eyestone at Brigham Young University, before transferring to Texas Christian in 2004. Kip’s younger brother Ed posted a 9th place finish (1:13:29).

On the women’s side, Ontario’s Krista Duchene (1:16:40) won easily. Duchene was third at this spring’s Around The Bay 30K and won both the Hamilton and Mississauga Marathons in ‘09. Lisa Harvey edged Heather Gallagher for second place and the extra $250 in prize money ($750 vs $500). The two finished with identical 1:19:15 chip times, but Harvey started 2 seconds ahead of Gallagher so she also finished 2 seconds ahead. (In major road races, awards go by gun time, not chip time.)

Congratulations to all who braved the elements for yesterday’s races!

I came across this priceless video montage of all the “Has this ever happened to you…” clips from various infomercials.  You know, the major challenges of modern life that ___________ can solve for $19.99.  Like pouring a glass of juice.  Or cracking an egg.  (My favourite is the woman who needs a product to help her drape a beach towel over a chaise lounge.)

With racing season -- and consequently expo season -- upon us, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the gauntlet of product displays and demos we walk through to pick up a bib and timing chip.  I always find it such a contrast between the sport of running itself -- quite assuredly the simplest athletic endeavour there is -- and the many goods available to help us perform it.

Anyway, enjoy!

This year however things are somewhat more uncertain, with Bekele and Tadese absent.  Speculation seems to have young Paul Tanui as a favourite after his convincing win at the Kenyan Championships.

On the distaff side, former champ Dibaba will vie for her fifth title.  Young Linet Masai will be gunning for her though, having already taken Dibaba’s 10000m World Championship last summer in a sick closeout on the final straight.

Regina’s Simon Bairu carries Canada’s best hopes.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Grumbling gourmet Gordon Ramsay was forced to drop out of the LA Marathon this weekend due to a calf injury. A veteran of many marathons, Ramsay’s actually in pretty good condition and made it through 20K in 1:42… pretty sharp for a 43 year old with a crazy schedule.  He was on track for a chance at a PB.

Ramsay had planned to run April’s London Marathon, so hopefully he can get healthy in a hurry.  Persistent calf issues can be tricky in that they often lead to other problems (achilles injuries, plantar fasciitis, etc), but they can also be worked out pretty quickly.

Organizers of the Lisbon Half Marathon in Portugal were not disappointed by their aspirations of hosting a world record dash, as Eritrean Zersenay Tadese smashed his own PB by 36 seconds en route to both new half marathon (58:22) and 20km world records (55:21).

Take a moment to marvel at that math. He ran 20km at 2:46/km, then accelerated over the final 1.1km (2:45/km) to beat Samuel Wanjiru’s half marathon mark.

The Lisbon Half Marathon, which has arguably become one of the world’s foremost half marathons, has attracted an exciting field to this Sunday’s start. Six of the men have broken 60 minutes, most notably Jaouad Gharib who ran 59:59 in Lisbon last year… and lost by three seconds(to Kenyan great Martin Lel). However it will be Eritrean Zersenay Tadese, he of the 58:59 PB (seventh fastest all-time), who will be paced to a world record attempt.

Jaouad Gharib is probably best known to North Americans for his part in the most BONKERS marathon finish imaginable at Chicago ‘07. Check it out: