Sunday’s forecast is warm weather and fast times for more than 200 runners at the Landrex St. Albert Road Race.
Online registration ended Thursday, with 149 confirmed for the 31st annual Tech Shop 10-miler, 38 for the second annual Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club 10 kilometres and 35 for the Active Physio Works five km.
Registrations will also be accepted today at the package pick-up at the Tech Shop between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. and Sunday at the St. Albert Curling Club, the race day venue headquarters, between 7:30 and 9 a.m. Cash payments are required to register at package pick-ups.
Last year, 239 runners finished the 10-miler, 53 completed the 10 km and 59 did the five km, which replaced the six-km race the last two years.
Two years ago, 326 individuals went the distance in the 10-miler and there were 16 six-km finishers.
The 10-mile registration record of 976 was established in 1998.
Sunday’s start time on Sir Winston Churchill Avenue in front of the curling club is 9:30 a.m. for the 10-miler and 9:35 a.m. for the 10 and five km races.
It’s the second consecutive year for the new 10-mile route, which was switched around from the previous layout through the streets of St. Albert. Runners now tackle the southern loop first by summiting the Heartbreak Hill portion on Sir Winston Churchill instead of grinding it out on the mile seven section in past races. After turning left off Levasseur Road for the downhill descent on Grandin Road onto St. Anne Street, runners hook up to the north loop, the original first section of the race that crosses the Perron Street Bridge before swinging left onto Mission Avenue.
The 10 km, a shortened version of the north section of the 10-miler, and five km routes go the opposite direction than the 10-milers from the start line.
Last year’s 10-mile winner was Dusty Spiller of Red Deer at 53 minutes and 17 seconds and the fastest female was Emily Setlack of Cold Lake at 59:34 for 10th overall. They were among 11 runners finish under one hour.
The top male and female in the 10 km was Matt Setlack of Cold Lake at 32:37 and Jodi Nesbitt of Red Deer at 39:33 for 10th overall.
St. Albert runners’ Luke Hanson (16:47) and Abby Wilson (19:42, ninth overall) swept the five-km male and female titles.
Spiller and Setlack will not be back to defend their 10-mile crowns.
William Madsen of the University of Alberta Bears and Lewis Kelly are among the elite runners to watch in the 10-miler.
The top three males and top three females in the 10-miler receive cash prizes of $500, $300 and $100 for first, second and third, respectively.
Results will be posted on www.resultscanada.com.
The course record of 50:46 was set by Matt Norminton in 2007 and Aster Demissie established the female record of 54:36 in 2005.
The inaugural 10-mile male and female winners in 1986 were Dennis Colburn, a five-time champion, at 54:12 and Anne Galloway at 58:54.
The road race, formerly known as the St. Albert 10-Mile Road Race, is hosted by the St. Albert Road Runners and Triathlon Club.
Visit www.starrt.wildapricot.org for more information.
The St. Albert Skyhawks will play for medals in the metro Edmonton high school badminton division three finals Monday.
The semifinal winners advance into the gold/silver match and the losing teams compete for bronze.
The semifinal matches at 4:30 p.m. feature the third-place Skyhawks (16-5) against the second-place O’Leary Spartans (19-2) and the host Fort Saskatchewan Sting (20-1), the top division team, against the fourth-place Oscar Romero Ravens (15-6).
In Wednesday’s quarter-finals, the Skyhawks beat the sixth-place Austin O’Brien Crusaders (8-13) 3-2 at the SkyDome.
The Bellerose Bulldogs hosted the Strathcona Lords in Thursday’s division two quarter-finals but the score was unavailable at press time.
The Bulldogs (7-1) ranked third in pool C and Lords (6-4) placed second in pool D.
The winner qualifies for Monday’s finals at the highest-ranked school in the semifinals.
The St. Albert Bowling & Rec Centre will be represented by five bowlers at the Youth Bowling Canada national championships next month in Calgary.
The junior girls’ team of Kamryn Collins, Alexandria Hahn, Kaylie Mak and Sarah Schnepf and junior boy Tyson Brooks qualified for the May 7 to 9 fivepin tournament after winning performances at the YBC 4 Steps to Stardom provincials last February in St. Albert.
Eight junior girls’ teams and 12 junior boys in singles will throw strikes at nationals.
At provincials, Brook rolled scores of 227, 175, 182, 324 and 222 for a 226 average.
Schnepf (632), Hahn (645), Collins (854) and Max (765) rolled four games for a team average of 724.
Meanwhile, a silent auction fundraiser in support of the bowlers starts Sunday and runs for a week at the bowling centre. Items include a $300 chefs table from Earls in Clareview, $359 table for 20 at Molson Brewhouse, $119 fountain from RONA and donations from Famoso, Bubbles Carwash, Mr. Lube, Schanks and Midas.
