Canada Running Series (CRS) has announced that Eric Gillis and Krista DuChene are the overall male and female winners of the 2016 CRS Championships. Titles are awarded based on a runner’s three best performances in CRS organized races, one of which must be outside of their home province.
According to the official release from CRS:
Olympians Eric Gillis and Krista DuChene capped off their 2016 racing seasons with the news they have each won the Canada Running Series overall titles.
Gillis, a three time Olympian and 10th place finisher in the Rio Olympic marathon, won the Series for the third consecutive year.
DuChene meanwhile, collected enough points from winning the Banque Scotia 21k de Montreal, the Toronto Waterfront 10k and the Canadian championship (run concurrently in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon) to win her second ever overall CRS title.
On the men’s side, Kip Kangogo secured the runner-up position with victories at the Banque Scotia 21k de Montreal and the Vancouver Half Marathon and a 2nd place finish among the Canadian men at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (STWM).
Dayna Pidhoresky followed behind DuChene with 2nd place finishes at the Toronto Waterfront 10K and the Vancouver Eastside 10K as well as a 3rd place finish at STWM. (Note: All results refer to finishes among Canadian competitors. Full race results are available from Canada Running Series).
Mississauga’s Kevin Smith and Montreal’s Sandra McLean were awarded the official master’s titles.
Gillis says, “There is not a lot of guaranteed money in this sport. Until I finished that race in Toronto – you have to finish all three races – so you can’t take anything for granted. It gets myself out racing on Canadian soil which I enjoy. It’s definitely a help to have that $5,000.”
DuChene says that CRS races played a major role in her stellar year, remarking, “I think the three races that I won, that allowed me to win the series, all three were pretty important. The Montreal Half Marathon was where I proved my fitness to get the (Athletics Canada) stamp of approval for Rio. And it was the first time I had run the course since I broke my leg on the course. So that was pretty special.”
Check out the full release from Canada Running Series here.
– Ravi Singh
Our Magazine
