Longboat at Robbie Burns

Sunday saw the first results of our training to date - the Robbie Burns 8k race in Burlington. Longboat Roadrunners sent thirty eight runners to Burlington, most of whom traveled on the bus organized by Bob Nagle - Thanks Bob!

I didn't have high expectations this early in the season, since our training has focussed on aerobic base building, with only a few long intervals at sub-anaerobic threshold. The results were therefore somewhat of a surprise - more than half the runners ran personal bests (PBs)and quite a few placed in their age group.

Here are some noteworthy performances:

Robert Campbell knocked more than a minute off his previous best time and ran the race in 28:47 just 9 seconds shy of the Longboat record for males 50-54 years old. There was some consolation though as Rob won the Grandmasters trophy for the first runner over 50 to cross the line, beating last year's winner by just 10 seconds.



John Chou ran 39:14 to take a massive six minutes off his previous best time.

Maureen Mancuso, the one time teen marathon sensation, ran a PB 36:13 to place first in the women 55-59 category.

Claire Prest was also the first woman across the line in her 65-69 age group.

Kim Diamond and Chris McPeake both took 4 minutes off their previous best times, running 48:55 and 34:50, respectively.

Daphne Tran managed to finish in 38:51 to knock three and a half minutes off her previous best.

In addition to Maureen, new members Charlotte Brooks, Kelly Chase and Wendy Chen all ran personal bests in the race.

Results for all Longboat runners can be found at Longboat Express.

With the first race of the season over and our base building complete, we will start the strength phase of training in preparation for the Peterborough half marathon in February and, in particular, for Around the Bay in March. There will be lots of hill running over the next two months to prepare our runners for the hills of Burlington.

Well done to all those who ran so well at Robbie Burns, it bodes well for the upcoming road racing season.