Finishing the St. Albert 10-miler as the fastest female for the second time in six years was a major milestone for Alexandra Gordichuk.
“I really had to work for it so it means a little bit more actually,” said Gordichuk, the eighth overall runner out of 91 to go the distance Sunday morning. “It also means more as you get older.”
Gordichuk, 29, was clocked at one hour, three minutes and four seconds, compared to her 2013 winning time of 1:02:47 for 25th place.
“It feels a lot better because I had a lot of trouble just getting back into my fitness again the past few years and this time it don’t come as easy,” said Gordichuk, the third-place female in last year’s snowstorm at 1:12:49 for 15th place. “I just wasn’t really training last year because of some injuries. I didn’t really race but I’ve had some good races in my past."
This year a healthier Gordichuk was in control of her own destiny on the sun-drenched and windy course.
“I had a lot of help the first six miles with Spencer Peterson (seventh-place finisher at 1:02:11). He just pulled me along and helped me through and then I was just trying to chase the guys down. It was kind of my game plan,” said the Edmonton Triathlon Academy competitor. “I was in a race with a lot of really good athletes and I just wanted to stay honest and work really, really hard and have the best time that I humanly could.”
So, was Gordichuk happy with her time?
“You know it’s not really about time, that will come later in the season. It’s more so just about getting a really hard effort in, this early in the season. I’m a triathlete so the goal was just to finish the race and do as well as you really could,” said the female winner in the 2013 St. Albert Triathlon sprint distance. “But of course I’m always happy, always grateful.”
The windy conditions didn’t slow down the first of 44 females to cross the finish line.
“You really feel the headwind, sometimes it feels like you’re running up against a wall, so when I’m into a headwind I kind of get lower and I just try and get a little bit stronger at that point,” Gordichuk said.
When asked if there was any part of the rolling course – it winds into a figure eight through the Sturgeon River valley and the Lacombe and Grandin neighbourhoods – that contributed to the fast finish, Gordichuk replied: “It wasn’t that kind of race today, it was just a grind from start to finish.”
Gordichuk is the first runner, female or male, to achieve championship status on the old and new 10-mile routes. The switch was made three years ago as the runners now tackle the southern loop first – summitting the Heartbreak Hill portion on Sir Winston Churchill Avenue instead of tackling the mile seven section in past races – before turning left onto Levasseur Road and then left onto Grandin Road for the downhill descent on St. Anne Street for the original first section of the race that crosses the Perron Street Bridge before swinging left onto Mission Avenue for the north portion of the course that veers off onto McKenney Avenue before swinging left onto Dawson Road and then another left onto Giroux Road before eventually whipping around Larose Drive and making the return leg down Mission and past St. Albert Place to the finish line.
Gordichuk had no preference which course was the best.
“To be honest it doesn’t really matter to me. It might be a weird answer but I like to work hard this early in the season and the more challenging the course, the more I get out of it so I liked it,” said the Edmonton-based runner and triathlon coach who plans to do “just a bunch of triathlons locally, nothing too crazy,” this season.
As for the 10-miler, “I love racing here. You guys always do such a good job of blocking the roads off and the volunteers are so amazing," said Gordichuk, who made her 10-mile debut in 2012 as the fourth-best female for 39th place at 1:05:05.
This year's female runner-up, Jennifer Norminton of the Running Room Athletic Club, decided to give the 10-miler a go because her husband, Matt, set the course record of 50:46 in 2007.
“I told him I was going to try and break his record for about five K,” said Jennifer, who covered the course in 1:07:56 for 12th place. “I tried to go out not too fast, just conservative, and then tried to hold it the whole time but when I got to five miles it felt really long and I had to keep going.
"It was a very nice course but pretty hilly though.”
Jennifer, 34, was satisfied with her showing.
“My goal was probably to be in the top three women and try and run a 4:30 pace but I ran faster than that so I was happy,” said the Edmonton runner who clicked along at 4:14. “I’m not in the best shape but It's good for where I’m at right now.”
FAST TIMES: The third-place female was Lisa Graves at 1:13:11 for 22nd overall, followed by Emilie Josh at 1:15:03 for in the 23rd spot.
Visit www.stalbertroadrace.com for results.
The top female last year in the heavy snow was Kelly Marcotte, a St. Albert Catholic High School alumna, at 1:11:10 for 10th place out of 105 finishers (53 females and 52 males).
