Jason Jama had enough gas left in his tank to win the 28th annual St. Albert 10-miler after running on empty last year.
The 22-year-old King of the Road champion put the pedal to the metal on Heartbreak Hill to pull away from his closest challengers to complete Sunday’s road race in 54 minutes and two seconds.
“It’s a great achievement. It was a big, big goal of mine coming into the season,” a fresh-looking Jama told the Gazette after crossing the finish line.
The national duathlon team member from Edmonton corrected last year’s mistake that dropped him into fourth place at 55:12.
“I raced it last year for the first time and I made some tactical errors. I essentially went out too hard so this year I tried to do the opposite,” he said. “The decisive factor in this race is the hill on Sir Winston Churchill. If you can get to the hill as fresh as possibly you can and then make a move on the hill itself, that is where the race is won and lost and that’s what I did this year. Once I got to the foot of the climb I just gave it one surge and then the second surge I was on my own after that.”
Thirty-four minutes into the race, the trio of Jama, Francois Leboeuf and Graeme Law were grouped together as the lead pack as they sped past the 10-kilometre sign at the foot of the Perron Street Bridge on the return leg through the downtown core.
“Things really started to get hard along the seventh mile. We hit that big hill and Jason really put in a solid attack. I was able to stay with him for about halfway up the hill and then I started to get quite tired at that point. He dropped me and then we kept that same ranking at about the same distance for the rest of the race,” said Leboeuf.
The runner-up at 54:47 finished six seconds ahead of the Law in the race to the podium.
“I’m pretty happy with my time for this time of the year because it’s kind of the first big race of the year,” said Leboeuf, 28.
It was also his first 10-miler in St. Albert and the first time in the City of Cultivate Life.
“It’s nice to run. I really enjoyed it. I’m going to do it again for sure,” said the Ecole Holy Cross Elementary/Junior High School teacher. “I moved to Edmonton five years ago and it’s my first time in St. Albert so it’s actually a nice way to see the city a little bit and also meet my running friends and also do 10 miles. I’ve done quite a few 10Ks and quite a few half-marathons but there is not too many 10 miles, which is kind of in-between. It’s nice to test yourself on a different distance and at this time of the year it’s good because it’s the first good test to prepare for my other races later this year (at the Edmonton Police Foundation Half-Marathon on April 28 and the 10K or half-marathon next month in Calgary).”
Eleven runners covered the course in less than one hour, compared to 17 last year.
“It’s by far one of the best courses I’ve ever run,” said Jama of the hilly figure-eight loop through the Sturgeon River valley and the Lacombe and Grandin neighbourhoods. “It’s technically challenging. Every aspect of that race is not easy. The first 10K through the Sturgeon River is not easy. There is rolling hills and there is false flats so it’s not something where you can simply turn your mind off. You had to be conscious throughout the entire race and where you are in the pack. You don’t want to overreach yourself too early. The way the race is designed, especially with the climb at the end, there is nothing like it in Alberta.”
The pre-race forecast of a sloppy track was inaccurate, as runners dodged potholes instead of snowdrifts.
“It actually wasn’t that bad. For me the biggest concern was whether there was going to be snow on the ground, but it was good pavement and you dressed for the conditions,” Jama said. “The beauty of it is everyone has to run the road in the same weather. It’s an even playing field and it makes for an interesting race.”
Sunday’s result for the Edmonton Triathlon Academy athlete bodes well for the upcoming season.
“It was great. I felt good throughout. I can’t complain. It was a good sign where my fitness is and where I’m about to go for the rest of the year,” said Jama, who will race in the ITU Edmonton Triathlon in June.
Last year the member of the Alberta Golden Bears’ cross-country team finished 11th as the top Canadian in the U23 men’s division at the ITU Duathlon World Championships in Nancy, France.
“It was an unbelievable race. It was by far the hardest race I did last year but by far the most rewarding as well,” said the Ross Sheppard High School graduate.
FAST TIME: Marc Meunier was the fastest St. Albert runner in the 10-miler at 58:05 for eighth place overall out of 218 males and 385 total finishers.
Meunier, the two-time defending Leading Edge RunWild Marathon winner, was the runner-up in the male 40 to 49 age group behind Jack Cook, a noted long-distance runner from Edmonton who placed fourth overall at 56:34.
The top-10 finishers included former King of the Road champions Travis McKay (2010 and 2011) of Edmonton at 57:48 for sixth place and Brian Torrance (2009) of Edmonton in seventh place at 58:02.
Greg Meiklejohn of Edmonton set what was believed to be a Canadian male 50 to 50 age group 10-mile record of 58:21 for ninth place.
John Machney joined fellow Paul Kane High School teacher Meunier in the top 10 at 59:51 for second place in the male 30 to 39 age group.
Visit www.resultscanada.com for the overall and age group race results.
