Vancouver Eastside 10K Elite field announcement
Rob Watson, a staple on the Canadian Marathon scene, will be joining a strong field of runners for the 2nd annual Vancouver Eastside 10K coming up Saturday, September 13th. Rob and fellow BC Endurance Project athlete, Kelly Weibe, will be using the event as a final tune up for the upcoming Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 19th where they will face stiff international competition. Last year Rob finished 11th at the Boston marathon (2:15:33), won the Canadian Marathon title in Ottawa a month later (2:18:34), raced to a 20th place finish at the IAAF World Championships in steamy hot Moscow in August (2:16:28) and then recorded his personal best time at the Toronto race. Weibe, who was the 2012 Sun Run champion and 2014 Pioneer 8K winner Geoff Martinson of Victoria, are expected to give Watson a tough race on Saturday.
“There is so much support for Canadian athletes,” said Rob Watson “Alan Brookes, Clif Cunningham and the whole Canada Running Series team do a really good job taking care of us. It’s a nice relaxed vibe and all you have to do is go out there and run.”
The women’s race promises some equally tasty battles. Defending Eastside 10K champ Lioudmila Kortchaguina of Toronto is coming back to challenge for two in a row. Lioudmila, a fixture in Canada Running Series races will also be gunning to improve her course record that she established during last year’s inaugural race (33:57). She may need to do so to fend off a very strong contingent of BC challengers led by Natasha Labeaud (Personal Best 32:44) and Sabrina Wilkie (PB 34:05).
“We are so pleased with this year’s field of elite athletes,” said Race Director Clif Cunningham. “We look forward to providing a top notch event for all of our competitive runners and for those who are just running for fun. We have some really distinctive finishers’ medals and quality technical t-shirts for everyone, not just the fast people up front.”
The race Starts and Finishes Downtown at Dunsmuir & Beatty, next to the Armoury and SkyTrain station. It heads East over the Dunsmuir viaduct into the Eastside, past Strathcona Park, along Raymer and Powell, before circling the historic Gastown district, past the Steam Clock and Gassy Jack, then heading back to Dunsmuir and Beatty . The event’s Official Community Charities are the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, Watari Counselling & Support Services, and the Greater Vancouver Food Bank
The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre empowers women and children living in extreme poverty; Watari Counseling and Support Services, supports people working with poverty, housing, systematic abuse, alcohol and drug issues, mental illness and more; and the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, provides food and related assistance to those in need, helping nearly 27,000 people weekly.
For more information and online registration please visit us at www.eastside10k.ca.
