Over the weekend, Athletics Ontario hosted our very first virtual race, the 10k challenge! The purpose of this challenge was to commemorate the 2020 Ontario 10k track championship, that was scheduled to take place on Friday, May 8th. We received nearly the same number of participants for the virtual challenge as the 2019 championship.
Throughout the weekend, athletes were asked a series of questions on social media regarding the 10k track championship and outdoor season. One question asked those who planned on participating in the 2020 championship what their goals would have been for the race. Last years competitor, Joey Stel of Newmarket Huskies, replied that his goal for the 2020 10k track championship was to beat a time of 30:30s. Lauren Cameron of London Legion Track and Field Alliance stated her goal was to run a sub nineteen-minute 5k.
Other athletes provided their plans for redemption during the 2021 season. Many athletes shared common goals of setting new personal bests, qualifying for OFSAA or Nationals, winning a Provincial medal, and/or making the Olympic team!
AO members of all ages competed in the 10k challenge, putting up some fierce times. Due to the nature of the event, results were not separated into age categories, instead all entries were scored as an open age division. The top five performances from each gender are highlighted below:
Female
1st Place – Maddie McDermott, Unattached Ontario, 40:55s
2nd Place – Olivia Hendrikx, Boost Athletics Club, 47:24s
3rd Place – Ainsley Vasarhelyi, London Western T.F.C, 49:11s
4th Place – Natsuki Iwano-Rivers, Boardwalk RC, 49:57s
5th Place – Madeline Chapman, Boardwalk RC, 50.02s
Male
1st Place – Phil Parrot-Migas, London Western T.F.C., 29:51s
2nd Place – Hunter Andrin, London Western T.F.C., 32:12s
3rd Place – Cohen Ledger, Hamilton Olympic Club, 37:45s
4th Place – Simon Rayner, University of Toronto Track Club, 39:44s
5th Place – Jimmy Semmes, Boardwalk RC, 39:53s
To view the full results and event details visit https://raceroster.com/events/2020/31776/athletics-ontario-virtual-10k-challenge.
Thank you and congratulations to all who participated in the virtual 10k challenge! Stay tuned, as Athletics Ontario plans to continue hosting virtual events of this nature for our members.
