With temperatures rising to 10 degrees Celsius, blue skies and puffy clouds above, it was a perfect, picturesque day for the scores of runners criss-crossing the the grounds of the Valley Course at Blackbear Resort in Langford, British Columbia at the 2020 Pan Am XC Cup. For Lions runner Kevin Robertson, it was the ideal setting for his debut in a Team Canada singlet.
The Syracuse University freshman toed the line yesterday in his first international race yesterday in the Victoria suburb of Langford after placing third at the Canadian Championships last November. Lined up with the some of the best runners in the Western Hemisphere, Robertson was 19th across the finish line, completing the 8-kilometre course in 29 minutes and 17 seconds. Robertson picked up two medals as a member of Team Canada as the U20 men earned NACAC silver and Pan Am bronze.
Robertson wasn’t the only one with a Lions connection participating in Saturday’s event with current coach Kirk Dillabaugh and alum Christian Weber taking part in the Can Am Masters XC race. The pair teamed up as part of the Old Ottawa South Harriers team where they placed 18th and 15th respectively. Weber, who ranks among the top five runners in Club history at both 5,000 and 10,000 metres, completed the five kilometre course in 22 minutes and 6 seconds while Dillabaugh crossed the line 41 seconds later in 22:47.