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APRIL 20, 2001 RUNNING REPORT
FRASER BERTRAM – STILL STRIVING FOR HIS GOALS
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Fraser
Bertram has represented Canada many times in the past few years, but that
does not prevent him from still having some goals and dreams to strive
for. Bertram represented Canada for
the first time in 1993 after winning the Canadian Cross-Country Championship. This race was memorable for Fraser as he
was quite surprised of the outcome.
When he found himself into the lead, he was not quite sure what to do,
but like all great competitors, he kept the pressure on and came away with
the win. His performance spurred him
on and he carried his accomplishment to the World Cross-Country Championships
that year where he was the first Canadian across the finish line. Since then, he has represented Canada at
the World Cross-Country Championship a few more times. Bertram
started running in High School in Lennoxville, Quebec as part of the track
and field team. He feels very
fortunate to have met his high school coach at the time, as the commitment,
expertise and dedication of the coach to his student motivated Fraser to
pursue running at a higher level. The
love of running instilled by his coach spurred him to run at the University
of Western Ontario where, though he stumbled initially, he progressed as a
runner. After university, his love of
the sport kept him running and he has not stopped since. Bertram has been ranked close to the top
of the road running rankings at basically all distances. He has clocked times of 14:04 for 5,000m,
28:54 for 10,000m, 1:04:42 for the half-marathon and 2:20:00 for the marathon. Bertram attributes his versatility to his
determination and steadily increased training and racing regiment. Though he might not be quite as fast as
when he clocked his PBs, Bertram feels that as he focuses on his goals,
things tend to fall into place, even if sometimes this is accompanied by a
bit of good fortune. Now at
31, Bertram is just as determined.
Recently, he competed in the Hamilton Around the Bay Road Race 30K
where he finished 3rd overall behind the leading Kenyan Joseph
Maina and American Mark Andrews. This
was an improvement on his 4th place finish in 1998. Bertram went out cautiously as his
training had not been too extensive yet.
Bertram was part of a pack of 10 who ran together till the 10K mark,
after which, a group of 4 broke away.
Bertram was left in 5th position, leading the trailing pack
by the halfway mark. The windy and
chilly conditions made for a tough day on a tough second half. Bertram though persevered and caught the 4th
place runner by the 19th km and was gaining on the 3rd
place Kenyan. As all runners who have
competed in the Around the Bay 30K, the “hill” is a landmark to be feared or
conquered depending on how you feel.
Bertram actually felt like dynamite as he powered with strength up the
hill. He was then able to catch the
Kenyan and go on to place 3rd overall. The
strong performance in Hamilton bodes well for Bertram as he is training for a
spot on another Canadian team. He
hopes to qualify for the marathon team that will represent Canada at the
World Track and Field Championships in Edmonton in August. He thus plans on running in the Ottawa
marathon in May where many top Canadians and other international runners will
be competing. His preparation
training includes 100-120 miles per week with lots of fartlek and road
intervals. While his work as an
athletic director for a boys school only allows him to train either early in
the morning or later after school, Bertram is often found running in the dark
during the winter days. In the
summer, his teaching allows him to spend more time training, which should
help him get ready for Edmonton if he qualifies. With races on the track,
in cross-country, on the roads, and at all distances from the 5k to the
marathon, Bertram has gained a tremendous amount of experience. Despite his many years of running, he
still feels the excitement of achieving something good. His recollection of races and events are
filled with words like “thrill”, “surprise”, “spurred on”, “dream” and
“wow”. His first marathon in Detroit
in 1998 was one of those exciting event in Bertram’s life where he was
thrilled to be running with people that he did not expect to beat. He finished 2nd overall in that
race. Come May and then hopefully
August, Bertram will probably still be thrilled to be striving for his goals. |
HAMILTON
AROUND THE BAY ROAD RACE
For any road runner getting ready for a Spring marathon, there are few preparation races that equal the Hamilton Around the Bay Road Race 30K. The race was held on Sunday March 25th in the steel town of Hamilton, Ontario. The race is the oldest race in North America and has been run by many legendary runners. This year, there was the return of Joseph Ndritu of Kenya as the overall champion. Ndritu won by over 2 minutes over American Mark Andrews. Mixing it up with international level athletes was Fraser Bertram who came in 3rd after passing two runners in the last third of the race. David O’Keefe was the Masters winner. In the women’s race, Marine Corps Marathon winner Elisabeth Ruel beat Veronique Vandersmissen, last year’s winner of the event. They were followed in 3rd by Danuta Bartoszek, one of Canada’s most accomplished marathoner. Louise Voghel, winner of the Quebec City Marathon last year, was the Masters winner. The accompanied 5K was won by Stephane Gamache and Tambra Dunn.
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Male |
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Female |
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1. Joseph Ndritu (KEN) |
1:36:40 |
Elisabeth Ruel |
1:54:20 |
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2. Mark Andrews (USA) |
1:39:13 |
Veronique Vandersmissen |
1:54:46 |
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3. Fraser Bertram |
1:40:37 |
Danuta Bartoszek |
1:57:22 |
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4. Paul Aufdemberge (USA) |
1:40:46 |
Allison McKenzie |
2:03:32 |
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5. Charles Subano (KEN) |
1:40:47 |
Nicola Wilberforce |
2:03:44 |
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6. Shane Lavell |
1:43:18 |
Suzanne Pribaz |
2:06:14 |
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7. David O’Keefe |
1:44:39 |
Margaret Watson |
2:07:55 |
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8. Guy Murray |
1:45:51 |
Kelly Knoll |
2:08:38 |
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9. Mario Iozzo |
1:46:06 |
April Boultbee |
2:08:39 |
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10. Jeffrey Day |
1:48:24 |
Louise Voghel |
2:10:34 |
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Masters |
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1. David O’Keefe |
1:44:39 |
Louise Voghel |
2:10:34 |
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2. Peter Drake |
1:51:56 |
Carolyn Silvey |
2:13:26 |
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3. Glen Martila |
1:52:46 |
Mary Hanley |
2:18:29 |
5K
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Male |
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Female |
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1. Stephane Gamache |
15:19 |
Tambra Dunn |
17:01 |
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2. Jeff Haller |
15:23 |
Nicole Stevenson |
17:26 |
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3. Taylor Murphy |
15:24 |
Seanna Robinson |
18:22 |
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4. Kyle McLean |
15:28 |
Jessie Bastian |
18:33 |
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5. Curtis Desroche |
15:52 |
Mandy Vyce |
18:58 |
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6. Chris Hendershot |
15:56 |
Karen MacKenzie |
19:33 |
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7. Josh Morrison |
16:02 |
Gale Grant |
19:35 |
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8. Dan Michaluk |
16:03 |
Lynn Kobayashi |
19:53 |
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Masters |
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1. Paul Root |
16:36 |
Karen MacKenzie |
19:33 |
WORLD
CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
The World Cross-Country Championships were held in Ostend, Belgium on March 24 and 25. Initially slated fro Ireland, the Foot and Mouth” outbreak caused the cancellation of that event. Belgium quickly filled the shoes and put up a great event. As in the past, Canada sent a full team of 36 athlete to compete at what some call the most competitive races in the world. The only sad part of having athletes represent Canada is that they had to pay their own way there.
Canada had solid results as some of our best runners tested themselves against the bests. The strongest performances were from runners who are either very well established, or up and comers. In the short 4 K event, Kevin Sullivan and Tina Connelly were the top Canadians, while in the junior events, Lauren King was the first Canadian in a strong 26th place finish. In the Junior men’s race, Ryan Hayden was in 27th place. For the long courses, Lisa Harvey and Graham Cocksedge were top Canadians.
Junior
|
Female 6 K |
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Male 8K |
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26. Lauren King |
23:37 |
27. Ryan Hayden |
27:07 |
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31. Patricia Nolan |
23:47 |
28. Nathan Brannen |
27:08 |
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73. Michelle Carson |
25:00 |
30. Simon Bairu |
27:17 |
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80. Carolyn Henry |
25:09 |
86. Joseph Dionne |
28:33 |
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82. Megan Metcalfe |
25:00 |
104. Brandon Young |
29:02 |
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112. Stephanie Hirtle |
26:46 |
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Senior Short Course 4K
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Male |
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Female |
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29. Kevin Sullivan |
13:27 |
28. Tina Connelly |
15:53 |
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44. Joel Bourgeois |
13:33 |
46. Leah Pells |
16:12 |
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52. Sean Kaley |
13:37 |
51. Robin Meagher |
16:18 |
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62. Jeremy Deere |
13:45 |
69. Carmen Douma |
16:41 |
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78. Matthew Kerr |
13:57 |
89. Tracy Robertson |
17:24 |
Senior Long Course
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Female 8 K |
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Male 12K |
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56. Lisa Harvey |
31:26 |
75. Graham Cocksedge |
43:12 |
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57. Sarah Dupre |
31:29 |
95. Peter Cardle |
43:59 |
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58. Sherri Smith |
31:36 |
103. Alex Hutchinson |
44:39 |
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62. Courtney Babcock |
31:51 |
104. James Finlayson |
44:48 |
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69. Andrea Bertoia |
32:23 |
105. Mark Bomba |
44:49 |
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76. Deborah Buhlers |
32:46 |
116. Andy Hahn |
45:22 |
This 8K race is a Spring debut for many top athletes in the Toronto area. The race held on April 7 also attracted a bevy of Kenyans who cleaned up as this was the first race in the Canada Running Series this year. The first Canadian was Olympian Bruce Deacon who came in 4th, while Isabelle Ledroit, fresh off her Italian marathon win, was the first woman.
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Male |
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Female |
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1. Benson Ogata (KEN) |
23:41 |
Jackline Torori (KEN) |
26:44 |
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2. Joseph Ndritu (KEN) |
23:56 |
Edna Kiplagat (KEN) |
26:54 |
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3. Gilbert Koech (KEN) |
24:07 |
Isabelle Ledroit |
28:14 |
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4. Bruce Deacon |
24:44 |
Nancy Tinari |
28:17 |
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5. Ivan Celic |
24:48 |
Nicole Stevenson |
28:20 |
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6. Fraser Bertram |
24:53 |
Angie Graham |
29:05 |
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7. Kyle McLean |
24:55 |
Danuta Bartoszek |
29:07 |
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8. Nick Tsioros |
25:00 |
Seanna Robinson |
30:28 |
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9. Charles Subano (KEN) |
25:02 |
Kim Webb |
30:33 |
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10. Matthew McInnes |
25:14 |
Jessie Bastian |
31:06 |
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Masters |
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1. Clive Hamilton |
25:56 |
Nancy Tinari |
28:17 |
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2. John Holliday |
26:39 |
Sharon Crawford |
32:23 |
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3. Jerry Kooymans |
27:21 |
Berverley Coburn |
33:24 |
RESULTS
March 18 –Pioneer 8K, Victoria
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Female |
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Male |
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1. Barbora Brych |
29:02 |
Steve Osaduik |
24:35 |
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2. Andria Dyck |
29:16 |
Craig Odermatt |
25:30 |
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3. Nancy Baxendale |
29:53 |
David Matte |
26:36 |
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4. Kathy Rung |
30:18 |
Steven Royer |
26:47 |
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5. Ulla Marquette |
30:28 |
Alex Coffin |
26:57 |
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Masters |
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1. Nancy Baxendale |
29:53 |
Rob Reid |
27:01 |
April 1, – Merville 15K, Victoria
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Female |
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Male |
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1. Nancy Baxendale |
58:09 |
Rob Harmsworth |
50:55 |
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2. Kathy Rung |
58:47 |
Steven Royer |
51:23 |
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3. Melissa Spooner |
59:13 |
Chad DePol |
53:07 |
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Masters |
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1. Nancy Baxendale |
58:09 |
Keith Wakelin |
54:55 |
April 8 – Paper Chase 10K, Port
Alberni, BC
|
Male |
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Female |
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1. Rob Harmsworth |
33:17 |
Catherine Gill |
38:20 |
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2. Steven Royer |
34:14 |
Nancy Baxendale |
38:36 |
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3. Dean Baldwin |
34:31 |
Susan Williams |
39:47 |
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Masters |
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1. Phil Nicholls |
34:43 |
Nancy Baxendale |
38:36 |
April 14 – Jordan
5K, Jordan, ON
|
Male |
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Female |
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1. Joseph Nderitu (KEN) |
14:12 |
Edna Kiplagat (KEN) |
16:23 |
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2. Benson Ogato (KEN) |
14:14 |
Suzanne Pribaz |
18:08 |
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3. Shane Lavell |
15:27 |
Karen MacKenzie |
18:31 |
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4. Curtis Desroche |
15:29 |
Stephanie Smith |
18:34 |
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5. Peter Drake |
15:57 |
Diane Disher |
18:57 |
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Masters |
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|
1. Peter Drake |
15:57 |
Karen MacKenzie |
18:31 |