Lalanne and Rushton win Cape Breton Fiddlers Run half marathon races
Copyright © 2015 Cape Breton Post Oct 18, 2015
SYDNEY — A pair of first time champions were crowned at the end of the longest race in Sunday's Cape Breton Fiddlers Run.
Justin Lalanne and Kelly Rushton crossed the finish line ahead of all other competitors in their respective categories to win 21 kilometre half marathon portion of the annual race through the streets of Sydney.
"We had a good group that went out and there was a few of us in the lead," said Lalanne, a Coxheath native, moments after crossing the finish line.
"There was a bit of a headwind so it was good to have a group to run with and I kind of pulled away at the halfway mark and was lucky enough to hold on."
Lalanne finished in a time of 1:19.38, while Rushton's official time was 1:30.55 (unofficial).
"It's a little off the PB (personal best) I ran (1:29) at Johnny Miles the past year but I'm happy with it," said Rushton, who now lives in the Northside East Bay area.
"There was a few of us around the same time but I think maybe around the turn around point at 14 kilometres I started to pull away a bit."
Last year, she competed in the 10 kilometre portion of the Cape Breton Fiddler's Run and started doing half marathons this year.
"It feels great," said. "It's a nice way to start the day."
It was just Lalanne's second time competing in the half marathon portion of the Fiddlers Run and he edged out a few friends in winning for the first time.
"I'm lucky that they focus more on triathlon than running because otherwise I don't think I would have won today," he said.
"I was worried it was going to be too windy today but the winds were OK and it was a flat course so that's all you can ask for."
In Sunday's 10 K race Dean Abbass outpaced everyone with a time of 40:20.96, while Lee Ann Astephen was the top women's competitor and finished the race in 46:40.95.
Other race winners on Sunday included David Farmer who took the 5K race in a time of 19:30.28. Leah-Raiche-Marsdon was tops in the female 5K category with her time of 21:20.13.
Go to http://limitlessracetiming.com/event/44 for complete race results.
Photo caption: Cape Breton Fiddlers Run participants make their way down the Esplanade in Sydney on Sunday morning. Copyright © 2015 Cape Breton Post
Copyright © 2015 Cape Breton Post
