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THE SRI CHINMOY |
in Sri Chinmoy Six Hour Race
Karin Westfahl captures women's title
By David Blaikie
Ultramarathon
World
Kingston, Ontario (UW) - Victor Hickey took the lead early and held it all the way to win the sixth annual Sri Chinmoy Six Hour Race, run on a scenic one-kilometre loop course at the historic Royal Military College here Saturday.
The 41-year-old Meaford, Ont. serviceman defeated 20-year-old Ryne Melcher of Waterloo as the two athletes continued their battle for the overall lead of the Ontario Ultra Series. Hickey logged 81.180 kilometres while Melcher covered 70.000 kilometres. The most "colorful" ultrarunner in Canada, Melcher showed up for this race with dazzling yellow hair, matching the bright shorts he wore during the race and the long-sleeve Boston Marathon t-shirt he wore to the awards ceremony.
Ron Gehl of Kitchener, Ont., placed third with 68.538 kilometres after winning the Sri Chinmoy 10-Day Race in New York less than a month ago. Karin Westfahl, who placed second in the 10-day, won the women's division, with a final distance of 64.156 kilometres. Westfahl also lives in Kitchener and trains with Gehl.
Prapti Jensen of Ottawa, who runs a vegetarian restaurant in the nation's capital called Perfection-Satisfaction-Promise, was second in the women's division with 63.131 kilometres. Jarka Sykorova, a Yugoslavian runner who now lives in Ottawa, finished third with 63.000 kilometres.
It was Hickey's first race since the IAU 100-Kilometre World Challenge May 15 in France, where he finished 24th overall (the first North American) with a time of 6:57:58. A smoker for more than 20 years before he became a competitive runner, Hickey set a personal best by more than an hour at Chavagnes-en-Paillers in Western France. Several other Canadians who ran in France also competed Saturday at Kingston.
He just missed breaking the eleven-year-old six-hour Canadian record for runners over 40 - 82.054 kilometres (50 miles, 1736 yards) set by Terry Martin of Barrie. Hickey was 874 metres (543 yards short). "I wish I'd known I was that close," he said afterward. "I could have gone for it."
Most of the race was run in brilliant spring sunshine on the shore of Lake Ontario. The temperature was about 15C at the 9 a.m. start, rising into the 20s as the day progressed.
The course was a rolling loop over paved trails at historic Point Frederick on the campus of Canada's Royal Military College, a strategic site during the War of 1812. The point is named after Sir Frederick Haldimand, governor of Quebec from 1778-86.
"On Nov. 10, 1812, the Fort Frederick Battery took part in repulsing an American naval squadron under Commodore Isaac Chauncey," reads a plaque circled by the runners.
(1 km loop, Royal Military College, hot sunny weather, 15-25C)
(50km, 60km, 40mi and 50mi splits)