Calgary’s Graham Diehl scorched the revised 2011 Melissa’s Road Race half marathon on Saturday (Sept. 24), finishing in a time of 1:13:25.
Challenged by an arguably tougher, yet slightly shorter, 20.87 kilometre race, Diehl finished three minutes ahead of his closest competitor.
“I was just trying to get a good race in and focus on the effort,” he said.
A steep climb up to The Banff Centre and a headwind for much of the return slowed him down, but he still managed a pace of one kilometre every three-and-a-half minutes.
“The wind is always a little challenging. You just keep the rhythm. There’s a final big hill, but you have to expect it,” Diehl said.
He was followed by Don Bambury (1:16:25), also of Calgary and Cory Sellers (1:17:7) of Lethbridge.
He had run the 10 km run before, however, this was his first attempt at the longer distance. Racing, though, isn’t new to Diehl, as he already has a fifth place finish in the Calgary Marathon under his belt.
“It’s pretty good. It’s organized well. They had an excellent bike leader, which is good because sometimes you forget where you’re going.”
Andrea Glover was the top female finisher, stopping the clock at 1:29:30. The Nanton runner won the race in 2008, but then took two years off to raise her three kids.
“It’s my favourite race. Where it is, the atmophere, the people, is nice,” Glover said.
Leading up to the run, Glover was clocking more than 60 km a week and wanted to be under an hour and a half. She beat that goal by 30 seconds.
“It was tough. We had a headwind the whole way back,” she said. “But I know my pace, I know what I can maintain – I just trust it.”
The Melissa’s race was only her third of the season. She also clocked a seven mile race the previous week, and a 10 km Canada Day run in July.
The top Banff finisher in the half marathon was Jonathan Thery. Thery finished in a time of 1:25:39, good enough for 11th overall. Other local finishers included Kevin Wallis (42nd), Sylvia Watson (44th), David Parkin (59th), Gene Steacy (71st) and Jodi Etcheverry (96th).
Ellie Greenwood was the top Banff finisher in the 10 km race. The ultra-marathon runner who usually runs 10 times the distance, finished in a time of 37:59. Other local finishers included Gregory Thaczuk (75th) and Yuki Matsumoto (98th).
This was the 31st running of the Melissa’s Road race, which has become one of the most popular events in the province.
