Travis McKay was blown away by the accomplishment of winning the 25th annual St. Albert 10-Mile Road Race.
“It’s so cool to be part of history,” exclaimed the Edmonton runner after breaking the tape in a time of 53 minutes and one second. “It’s a great race. It’s obviously been going for awhile but I didn’t realize how huge it was, so to win it is tremendous.”
McKay, 24, entered the 10-miler on the advice of Brian Torrance, last year’s champion and Edmonton Thunder Track and Field Club teammate.
“I heard so many good things about the race and they were all true,” said the noted steeplechase competitor during his collegiate career at Mississippi State University. “This is a great one. It’s a nice course. It’s run really well. They have everything co-ordinated. Having a pace car and mile markers the whole way is awesome. I’ve run some less-than-stellar organized road races where I’ve got lost on occasion because the course wasn’t marked or I almost get run over by cars. It really was great to see the road blocked off and the police helping us by stopping traffic.”
The six-foot-two string bean looked incredibly fresh and fit in the post-race interview after beating the runner-up, Andrew Carruthers, by 50 seconds.
“I feel good. In a race like that, after about five minutes you get your breathing back OK but the legs are shot,” said the University of Alberta law student. “I don’t run a ton of 10-milers and my best time is around 53 flat so I’m happy with my effort.”
At the start line McKay was still sore from running the steeplechase earlier in the week at the Mt. St. Antonio College Relays in Walnut, Calif.
“I tried to go out easy through the first five or six miles and then I picked it up throughout the rest of the race.”
At the 10-K sign in front of the Perron Bridge, McKay and Carruthers matched stride for stride. Nipping at their heels was Paul Tichelaar, the Canadian Olympic triathlete who snowplowed his way to victory in the 2008 race blizzard.
“Through six miles we started to pick it up,” said McKay as the frontrunners charged up the course’s legendary hills. “Mile eight was definitely a killer. It’s all uphill so I was working hard on that one and then once you got to mile nine you tried going all out from there. The last mile is basically all downhill. You’re flying but you’re not working that hard.”
Carruthers, 26, settled into third spot behind McKay and Tichelaar on the return leg past St. Albert Place.
“I was pretty much done at 10 K and I just hung on,” said Carruthers, who is affiliated with the Running Room Athletic Club but trains on his own. “I’m not used to running more than 10 K and after the 10-K mark we went right up the hills and I didn’t have the legs to go home with those guys. Fortunately for me, Paul kind of blew up in the last two miles and I was able to pick him off.”
Carruthers would go on to finish 30 seconds ahead of Tichelaar at 53:51.
“For the amount of miles I have in my legs right now I’m pretty happy with how I did. I was injured most of the winter and I just got back into running again in the last month,” said the Calgary painter. “To be honest, the time was a bit slower than I expected but it’s a pretty hilly course.”
He decided to give the distance a shot since the 10-miler is sanctioned by Athletics Alberta and is part of the TIMEX Canadian Road Race Series.
“I want to qualify for the 10 K road championships in the fall.”
Carruthers vowed his first St. Albert 10-miler wouldn’t be his last.”
“I want to come back and move up a place.”
As for McKay, he is anxious to make up for lost ground after taking a couple of years off after completing his undergraduate studies in marketing and economics and a master’s in business administration.
“I’m excited for the track season this year. I’m hoping for good things,” said the Harry Ainlay High School alumnus who last won a 10-miler in Biloxi, Miss. while at university.
His previous highlight before Sunday’s big win was competing at the 2007 NCAA championships in the steeplechase.
“I really liked what I did today,” said McKay, who finished six seconds off his personal best in the steeplechase heats at Mt. San Antonio College.
FAST TRACKS: Torrance finished ninth overall in defence of his race title at 56:26 after posting a winning time of 54:25 last year.
The second-fastest under-19 male was former Bellerose Bulldogs’ tailback Will Richardson at 1:08:47 for 67th place overall.
Among the notable St. Albert finishers were elite-level triathletes Marc Meunier (12th place at 57:59 for fifth spot in the male 30 to 39 age group) and Ryan Kohlenberg (15th place at 59.14 for sixth spot in the male 20 to 29 division) and elementary school teacher Glenn Mack (19th place at 1:02:13 for sixth spot in the male 40 to 49 division).
Race results are listed on page 58, as well as online at www.resultscanada.com
