Sydenham_fall_race

Jeff Green | Nov 16, 2006

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Sydenham fall race

by Derek Spafford

The Sydenham Fall 5km race took part on Sunday, November 12 in downtown Sydenham. The weather was cool, but the competition was hot! The race started at the track and headed down Wheatley Street to George Street before going along the north shore of Sydenham Lake on the Cataraqui Trail. Runners then completed a loop along Clearwater St before returning on the Cataraqui Trail and finishing on the track.One hundred and fifty five runners competed in this year’s race. In the men’s race, defending champion Scott Takala from Sydenham led a tight pack of lead runners through the halfway point of the race before making a strong surge near the 4km point to pull away for the win in a new course record of 16:21.9. Josh George finished second in 16:42, followed closely by Matt Setlack in 16:48 for third. The women’s race was a great duel right to the end, with Jodi Wendland just holding off Suzette Taggart by 1 second at the line in another new course record time of 19:14.3. Margarita Sviajina finished third in 19:58. A $50 cash bonus was awarded to race winners Scott Takala and Jodi Wendland who both broke last year’s course records! The top masters competitors (over 40) were Bruce Pardy in 17:12 and Karen Millson in 20:09. Complete results are listed at www.healthandadventure.com We, once again, had an awesome selection of draw prizes to give out, which definitely made it worth staying until the end of the awards ceremony! The coffee and treats are always a hit too. Live music was provided by ‘The Marcatos’ who did an excellent job at entertaining the crowd. A big thank you goes out to all of our wonderful sponsors who helped to make this a great event. No race could be held without the volunteers. An extra special thank you to everyone who helped out leading up to and including race day. Many of the volunteers were members of the Parr Christie Singers, who benefited from proceeds of the race. Thanks again to everyone for participating and we look forward to seeing you back in Sydenham again next year! female race winner Jodi Wendland