While the focus for many Lions runners may have been on cross country championships over the past week, a little five kilometre road race along the Rideau Canal enticed a few runners to lace up their shoes Saturday. The free cookies at the finish line of Run Ottawa’s Great Big Cookie run may have also helped.
The top of the podium had some very familiar names with Adriano Padoin-Castillo taking top spot in the men’s race with a personal best time of 16 minutes and 16.0 seconds. Clearly the Immaculata student still had some juice in the legs following Thursday’s run at the NCSSAA Cross Country Championships.
Also cracking the top-10 were Jay Sneddon and Gavin Westbrook who placed sixth and seventh respectively. Sneddon edged out Westbrook by just two seconds, finishing in 16 minutes and 47.0 seconds. Another notable finish goes to Jason Dunkerley and guide runner Alex Berhe who finished 14th and 15th with equal times of 17:25.
On the women’s side, it was former Lion and current CTV Ottawa journalist Leah Larocque taking top spot in 18 minutes and 7.0 seconds. She was followed by 15-year old Lion Grace Streek in second with a time of 18:21.0. It was the second race in three days for Streek as the grade 10 student had finished third in the junior girls cross country race at the City Championship to earn a spot at this week’s OFSAA Championship.
Full results from the Great Big Cookie Run can be found on Sport Stats.