03-05-2011, 06:26 PM
Some years, the line-up of confirmed elite Canadian women athletes for the 10k race doesnââ¬â¢t leave a lot of doubt about who will place in the top five. The 2011 womenââ¬â¢s 10k race might be a nail biter.
Toronto-based Megan Brown is an up-and-coming champion. Fresh on the heels of setting a Canadian indoor 5,000 metre record in February (15:42) and winning the April 17 Montreal half-marathon in 1:14:08, the 26-year-old will be one to watch. Her best 10k time is 33:40 (Ottawa), but sheââ¬â¢s improving fast and could place in the top five overall, if not the top three.
Brown will get competition from Emily Tallen, a Kingston-based elite performer who comes to Ottawa with a respectable 34:31 finish time from this yearââ¬â¢s Vancouver Sun 10k race. Tallen placed 7th in Ottawa last year.
Or audiences may be surprised by Carp resident Joanna Brown, only 18 but likely to improve her 10k personal best time of 35:39, run in Ottawa.
Not to be dismissed are master class athletes Paula Wiltze (ran 33:35 in Toronto in 2004) and Tania Jones, a former Ottawa resident who has stood on the podium at the Ottawa Race Weekend in both the 10k and marathon distances. A winner of the 10k race in 1995 and 1996, Jonesââ¬â¢ best time of 33:21 was posted in Vancouver in 2000.
Toronto-based Megan Brown is an up-and-coming champion. Fresh on the heels of setting a Canadian indoor 5,000 metre record in February (15:42) and winning the April 17 Montreal half-marathon in 1:14:08, the 26-year-old will be one to watch. Her best 10k time is 33:40 (Ottawa), but sheââ¬â¢s improving fast and could place in the top five overall, if not the top three.
Brown will get competition from Emily Tallen, a Kingston-based elite performer who comes to Ottawa with a respectable 34:31 finish time from this yearââ¬â¢s Vancouver Sun 10k race. Tallen placed 7th in Ottawa last year.
Or audiences may be surprised by Carp resident Joanna Brown, only 18 but likely to improve her 10k personal best time of 35:39, run in Ottawa.
Not to be dismissed are master class athletes Paula Wiltze (ran 33:35 in Toronto in 2004) and Tania Jones, a former Ottawa resident who has stood on the podium at the Ottawa Race Weekend in both the 10k and marathon distances. A winner of the 10k race in 1995 and 1996, Jonesââ¬â¢ best time of 33:21 was posted in Vancouver in 2000.