Tania Jones had a spectacular run in the Coca-Cola 5 Miler in Richmond, VA on Sunday November 14. She won the race by over 30 seconds when she finished in 26:53. Tania, 30, was the winner a couple of weeks ago of the Compugen 10K. Tania consider her first victory in the U.S. as sort of a breakthrough. She has been training to qualify for the Olympic marathon team and decided to add some short races to get her speed up. Her performances bode well for her as she led the race in Richmond after the 3 mile mark.

WORLD HALF-MARATHON CHAMPIONSHIP

The IAAF World Half-Marathon Championship was held on September 29 in Palermo, Italy. The race is one of the most, if not the most competitive half-marathon in the world. Athletes from around the world gather to test their speed on the road. Apart from marathons, this is basically the only road race in the world that gathers this much attention. This year, CBC covered the race, even though it was only shown at midnight on a Sunday. The race was quite exciting to watch. Unfortunately, we did not have any Canadians to cheer. Canada has never sent an athlete, let alone a team to the half-marathon championship. This is a sad situation, especially as this distance suit many road racers in Canada. It will be a proud moment when a full team represents Canada at these Championships.

CHICAGO MARATHON - CANADIANS PERFORM WELL

The Chicago Marathon, held October 24^th, has become one of a handful of mega-events in the world over the last few years. It is now in the same league as Boston, New York, London, Rotterdam and Berlin. It is also now known as the place to set records. The performance this year of Khalid Kannouchi was nothing short of spectacular as he past Moses Tanui late in the race to set a new world record of 2:05:42. The women's race was just as exciting as last year's winner, Joyce Chepchumga barely held of newcomer Margareth Okayo.

For Canadians, this race is where they can make their mark, like Danuta Bartosezk did when she placed 3^rd a few years ago. This year, some of Canada's best attempted to set personal bests and maybe even qualify for the Olympics. In the men's race, Janik Lambert and Steve Boyd were on pace for a 2:14 at half-way. This would have qualified them for the Olympics. Unfortunately for Steve Boyd, he had to drop out a little later. Janik Lambert persevered and even though he did not reach a qualifying time, he ran the fastest time for a Canadian this year when he finished in 2:17:55 to place 29^th overall. In the women's race, Veronique Vandermissen improved her time from the Quebec marathon and set the best mark for a Canadian woman when she finished 16^th overall in a time of 2:37:08. She also did not dip under the qualifying standard of 2:33, but her performance was remarkable nonetheless. Another Canadian who performed well is Sandy Jacobson who finished 21^st overall in a time of 2:42:27. In 35^th place, Brenlee Muska, winner of the Manitoba Marathon in June, finished in 2:48:31.

NEW YORK MARATHON - CANADIANS IN THE BIG APPLE

Thousands of Canadian come down to the Big Apple in early November to participate in this prestigious race. Now in its 30^th running, over 32,000 runners participated in the race. Usually, over 2000 Canadians run this race. This year was not different. In terms of top runners, Laurel Kjorlien placed as the top Canadian when she finished 18^th in a time of 2:59:16. She was immediately followed by another Canadian, Zita Mulligan, who finished in 3:00:35. Lois Medal finished in 3:02:15 to end up in 25^th place. In the men's race, Oliver Utting was the top Canadian when he finished in 2:23:54.

COMPUGEN 10 K - KENYANS OUT IN FORCE AGAIN

Once again a strong male Kenyan contingent showed up in Toronto on Sunday October 24 to race against Canada's best. This time, the top three places in th men's race was held by Kenyans. The first Canadian was Chris Weber in 4^th in a time of 30:17. In the women's race, Tania Jones made a very strong showing by beating some of Canada's best in a time of 34:11.

NIAGARA INTERNATIONAL MARATHON, OCTOBER 24, NIAGARA, ON

The Niagara Marathon is become more and more international every year. This year, there were runners from Japan, Kenya, and Bulgaria in the overall placing. In the women's race, Briko Asai, winner of the 1988 Olympic Marathon in Seoul won the event, just a few days after turning 40. In the men's race, Kenyan Smartex Tambala took top honours.

For those who were not following the news this month, Kathy Butler, Canada's most promising female middle distance athlete has decided to represent England in the next Olympics, as she has dual citizenship. Kathy has been representing Canada at major international events for the past few years. Her biggest accomplishment this year was placing 4^th in the World Cross-Country Championship race. She achieved this despite little support from Canadian government support. She receives her monthly stipend of less than $800 for being ranked top 8 in the world in her discipline, but this is not enough to sustain anyone in Canada. In order to perform for Canada at the Cross-Country Champrionship in Ireland, she had to pay part of the way there. This shows how low the level of support has dropped for Canadian athletes.

Though Kathy's departure will be a great loss for Canada, who can blame her. In England, she can possibly receive four to five times as much financial support. She would also be much closer to the European racing circuit which should allow her to compete against the best in the world. One benefit to Canada of Kathy's decision is that it is drawing attention to the plight of our athletes. Track and field has never received more press outside of the 100m coverage has with this news. Hopefully this will awaken decision makers and make them realise that there is a strong possibility of further athletic drain in Canada if support is not forthcoming.

The Championship race was held in Montreal on October 17. The 10 K race was part of la Course du Parc de la Fontaine, the longest running organized race in the province of Quebec,which celebrates its 50th Anniversary. The elite men's race included 22 runners representing 6 provinces, while for the women, 23 runners represented 7 provinces.

1. Tina Connelly - 33:25

2. Sarah Dillabaugh - 33:36

3. Courtney Babcock - 33:54

4. Carol Howe - 34:09

5. Isabelle Ledroit - 34:48

6. Véronique Vandermissen - 34:59

7. Nancy Tinary - 35:03

8. Stephanie Andrews - 35:08

9. Judith Leroy - 35:09

10. Patty Blanchard - 35:11

1. Dan Hennigar - 29:51

2. Janik Lambert - 29:56

3. Jeremy Deere - 30:14

4. Jean-Nicholas Duval - 30:43

5. Paul McCloy - 30:44

6. Hassan Zachary - 31:05

7. Neil Holm - 31:14

8. Tambala Smartex-G - 31:34

9. Miguel Sanchez - 31:38

10. Nicoll Christopher - 31:40

Ida Mitten ran well in this Southern race when she placed 10^th in a time of 1:00:22. She even beat competitive Bill Rogers by 24 seconds.

This invitational race in San Francisco attracted some of the best milers in the world, with a total prize purse of $30,000. In the women's race, Canadian Olympian Leah Pells came in second in 4:39.48, just behind winner Lyudmila Vasilyeva in 4:38.00. In the Master's race, Nancy Tinari, a previous Canadian 10K Champion, placed second in 4:56.12, second to Ruth Wysocki who came in at 4:49.14. In the men's masters race, Graeme Fell, Canadian steeplechaser Olumpian and record holder won the event in 4:17.96.

Danuta Bartoszek ran a second marathon this fall. She ran the Ocean State marathon in a time of 2:43:25. She placed 3^rd overall with this result.

Tina Connelly continues her strong 10 K performances with a 3^rd place finish at the New Times 10 K in Phoenix, AZ. She completed the distance in 33:57 and earned $1000 in the process.

Kim Webb placed 4^th in this classic Fall marathon where she finished in 2:47:56.