Those who still need convincing that a diverse sports background produces stronger athletes should look at the results of the 5 Peaks Running Series trail race from Saturday (June 14) at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
Olympic cross-country skier Devon Kershaw blew apart the field, finishing the tough 12-kilometre course in 51:14. The climb up the Long Ride To Ruin section gave him some difficulty, but he still managed to keep a 4:17 per kilometre pace to gap the field.
Trail running was one of his favourite sports growing up in Sudbury, Ont. and he credits his diverse sports background with shaping him into the world class athlete he is today.
“When you’re young, the more sports you can do and the more races you can compete in, the better. It’s supposed to be fun and I was a competitive little kid. I did a whole bunch of sports, whether it was tennis, running or cross-country skiing,” Kershaw said.
Cross-country ski training calls for a great deal of cross-training, and Kershaw relishes long trail runs to get in long workouts.
“I always do a lot of trail running, but nothing fast. I run slower than a 12-year-old dog when I’m training,” Kershaw said.
Chris Woolhouse finished second (52:12), while Jesse Cockney, another Olympian, finished third (53:17).
Cockney kept a conservative pace early on, as he said the team rarely clocks 12 kilometre trail runs. He battled teammates Kevin Sandau and Graeme Killick throughout the course and stayed ahead of them with a strong finishing kick into the stadium.
“I save it for the final five kilometres, but at the same time I don’t feel like I buried myself, but had that consistent hurt the entire way,” Cockney said. “The hardest part was running downhill on the Georgetown. (Sandau) put a huge gap on me on the downhill, so I had a lot of work to do to catch up.”
Donna Steckler was top female (1:01:16) in the endurance race. Nadine Mueller was second (1:01:57) and Deb Russell was third (1:04:46).
Heidi Widmer was the fastest runner in the sport division by a long shot. She ran the six km distance in 39:27, well ahead of second place finisher Nick Monette (42:07). Sabrina Grecu was third (45:04). Monika Owczarek was the third fastest female, and fourth overall.
“Today was all about pushing myself individually, since I was alone for the last four kilometres,” Widmer said. “It’s nice in the spring, we can be more varied in our training, so we get to do a few running races.”
In a race where the women outclassed the men, Blake Mauer was the second-fastest male (45:32), followed by Thomas Yip (46:34).
