Magdalinski motors
The fastest female in the fourth annual Leading Edge RunWild half-marathon was inspired by her five-year-old son Cohen to finish Sunday's race in a blaze of glory.
"He wanted me to get first and at the end when I was dying I thought about him," said an excited Sarah Magdalinski, who roared into victory lane with a time of one hour, 34 minutes and 47 seconds for sixth place overall out of 272 finishers.
"It's pretty exciting. I'm pretty proud."
The NAIT accounting instructor wasn't expecting to do as well as she did.
"When we picked up our race package my son said, 'Are you going to be first?' I said, 'Well, maybe fifth,'" Magdalinski said with a laugh.
Hot on Magdalinski's heels for the female title were Jessica Khubyar-Ebert at 1:36:03 for ninth place and Amanda Van Brabant at 1:36:59 for 12th place.
"The ladies (course marshals) along the way were like, 'You're the first girl,' and that encourages you to keep going," said Magdalinski.
Her goal was to be under 1:40.
"I felt good out there," said the St. Albert mother of two. "The course was kind of rolling so that's kind of where I excel."
Magdalinski, 31, credits training sessions with her Sinster 7 race team for Sunday's winning form.
"It's a team of seven girls and we usually run in the (Edmonton) river valley. We're going to win this year too," Magdalinski said of the 161-kilometre race in the Rocky Mountains in July with a 30-hour time limit to complete.
The winter-like weather conditions didn't slow Magdalinski down in her RunWild debut.
"It was cold but once you get out there it's not so bad," she said. "I train in the cold so this feels OK. I actually overdressed."
The last big race for Magdalinski was last year's Edmonton Police Foundation half-marathon and in the female 30 to 39 age category she placed sixth at 1:39:29.
When asked if half-marathons were her specialty as a runner, Magdalinski replied: "I'm not a specialist at anything."
Record for Stuermer
Fifteen-year-old Riley Stuermer tore up the 5K course in a record time at the fourth annual Leading Edge RunWild.
The Grade 9 Richard S. Fowler Falcon was the first RunWild runner to dart through victory lane in a blistering 18 minutes and 48 seconds.
The RunWild record of 19:23 was set in 2012 by Dan Vigliatore of Pickering, Ont.
William Ross was this year's runner-up at 19:07.
The fastest female was Christina MacKinnon at 23:15 for 13th place.
A total of 450 runners and walkers finished the 5K event. Last year 392 participants went the distance.
In the 10K event Nicolas Wang was the top runner at 38:06 and Corey Halabi placed second at 38:17. Halabi was last year's winner with a course record of 37:22. Wang was the 2012 champion at 37:51 and Halabi placed third at 39:46.
The leading 10K female this year was Christina Lynn at 41:38 for fifth place.
There were 341 10K finishers, compared to 379 runners and walkers last year.
RunWild race kudos
Anita Cassidy, race director for the fourth annual Leading Edge RunWild, declared the 2014 event a huge success.
"This is always a great day and it blows my mind how it all comes together. With all these volunteers everything goes really smooth, everyone has a good time and it's just a good community event," Cassidy said of the 400 volunteers who braved the elements to ensure a record 1,980 registered runners and walkers in five events enjoyed the day.
"Despite the weather everyone has come out. It's actually been great weather for runners. The volunteers are a little cold but we dressed warm," Cassidy said. "It's just been a great day. It's really gone super well this year."
Fourth annual Leading Edge RunWild
Top 10 five-kilometre results
Name Category/Rank Time
1. Riley Stuermer M U19 (1/91) 18:48.7
2. William Ross M 20-29 (1/7) 19:07.2
3. Dale Aceron M 30-39 (1/20) 20:24.7
4. Nathaniel Waniandy M U19 (2/91) 21:11.2
5. Zachary Paquin M 20-29 (2/7) 21:13.5
6. Evan Kohut M U19 (3/91) 21:31.1
7. Connor Halpin M U19 (4/91) 22:07.5
8. Chandler McMurdo M U19 (5/91) 22:07.7
9. Cody Laliberte M U19 (6/91) 22:10.4
10. Jack MacKinnon M U19 (7/91) 22:58.6
Total finishers: 450
Visit www.zone4.ca for complete results
Fourth annual Leading Edge RunWild
Top 10 10-kilometre results
Name Category/Rank Time
1. Nicolas Wang M 30-39 (1/27) 38:06.8
2. Corey Halabi M 20-29 (1/19) 38:17.6
3. Jason Durance M 30-39 (2/27) 39:23.2
4. Shaif Jetha M 40-49 (1/32) 41:36.9
5. Christina Lynn F 30-39 (1/85) 41:38.9
6. Stephanie Matheson F 20-29 (1/55) 42:41.4
7. Mitch Kruk M U19 (1/8) 43:05.5
8. Kathy Durell F 30-39 (2/85) 43:29.8
9. Stuart McCormick M 40-49 (2/32) 43:34.8
10. Phil Beauchamp M 30-39 (3/27) 44:03.1
Total finishers: 341
Visit www.zone4.ca for complete results
