Monday was Patriot’s Day in the United States – a holiday celebrated on the third Monday of April commemorating some of the first battles of the American Revolutionary War. For running fans, it’s more commonly known as the day of the Boston Marathon.
This year’s event in the Massachusetts capital featured a number of current and former Lions in action. Leading the contingent was Josh Cassidy, a mainstay at the event for more than a decade. The two-time Paralympian was 19th to cross the finish line on Boylston Street, stopping the clock in 1 hour 47 minutes and 2 seconds.
While Monday’s result was Cassidy’s worst performance at Boston, he still managed to find the silver lining. “Coming down Boylston for the final stretch with the incredible support as always is emotional,” expressed Cassidy on Instagram following the race. “Even after a rough one, thousands of people patting you on the back, to say well done.”
The other two current Lions in Boston runners were a pair of masters runners – Liz Maguire and Rob Muir. Maguire finished Monday’s race in 3:18:16 to finish an impressive 10th among the women’s 55-59 age category. In the same age grouping, Muir finished 109th among the men with a time of 3:10:18.
In other road running action, Nicholas Pedersen and Jay Sneddon ventured their way across the country to take on the Vancouver Sun Run Sunday morning. Pedersen, who was battling a nagging injury heading into the race, posted a time of 33 minutes and 59.0 seconds to place 67th in the race of more than 25,000 runners. Nico was 9th in the men’s 19-24 category.
For Sneddon, the Sun Run is always a bit of a homecoming for the man who originally hails from nearby Tsawwassen. The 30-year-old cracked the top-100 as he crossed the line in a time of 34 minutes and 34.0 seconds to placed 84th overall.
Closer to home masters runners Fritzlor Auguste and Gilles Frenette were in action at the Course Saint Laurent 5k in the Montreal suburb. Auguste, a silver medalist at last year’s Canadian Cross Country Championships, placed 45th overall with a time of 18 minutes and 36.0 seconds. Teammate Gilles Frenette was 58th across the line, stopping the clock at 19:12.0.
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