Last year's King of the Road champion is playing the waiting game before defending his title Sunday at the 28th annual St. Albert 10-Mile Road Race.
"I doubt that I'll run the 10-miler this year. If I do happen to run it, I'll probably decide at the last minute," Taylor Murphy said Friday. "Winter training was minimal because of a fractured rib and my racing motivation is a little low. A few friends have been putting the pressure on me to race, but at this point it hasn't worked."
The Edmonton orthotist finished his first St. Albert 10-miler in 54 minutes and one second as the top male in the 30 to 39 category.
Andrew Carruthers of Calgary was the runner-up by 21 seconds.
This year's pre-race favourites are pair of Edmonton runners. Jason Jama was the fourth-fastest finisher in 2012 at 55:12 and Brian Torrance, the 2009 champion at 54:25, placed 10th overall last year at 56:51.
"I ran with Graeme Law (former Alberta Golden Bears' track captain) the other day and he seemed committed to racing and should be one of the favourites," Murphy added.
Also in the hunt is Marc Meunier of St. Albert. The two-time defending Leading Edge RunWild Marathon winner completed last year's 10-miler in 59:40 for 17th place overall after going 59 minutes for 11th place in 2011. The 10-miler is the last tune-up for the Paul Kane High School athletic director before the RunWild marathon May 5.
Last year 17 runners, all males, completed the 10-miler in under one hour.
Total finishers were 236 males and 189 females.
Female division
Tara Struyk – the fastest female in 2009 at 61:32 and 2010 at 63:01 – is the leading candidate to win her third 10-mile crown.
The Edmonton runner was last year's runner-up by 21 seconds behind Shannon Maisano's winning time of 63:03. Maisano, the first female winner from St. Albert in race history, will not run Sunday because of an injured left ankle.
Kerry Spearing and Alexandra Gordichuk of Edmonton, the third- and fourth-place females last year at 64:21 and 65:05, respectively, as the top two finishers in the 20 to 29 category will challenge Struyk.
Registrations
As of Monday, online registrations totaled 414 for the 10-miler and 21 for the second-annual six-kilometre fun run.
The 10-mile entry fee is $65 for individuals and $60 for school teams of three runners apiece.
The registration deadline is Saturday. Walk-up registrations on the morning of the race will not be accepted.
Visit www.starrt.com to register.
The 10-miler starts at 9:30 a.m. on Grandin Road across from Grandin Park Plaza and the finish line is on the road leading into the parking lot behind the mall.
The fun run will go about 10 minutes after the start of the main race or when the 10-mile competitors have passed through the starting gate.
Last year 554 runners registered for the 10-miler and fun run.
The all-time registration high of 976 for the 10-miler was set in 1998.
The 10-miler is hosted by the St. Albert Road Runners and Triathlon Club and is part of the Athletics Alberta Timex points race series.
