Around the Bay 2015 draws thousands to Hamilton
Toronto's Paul Kimugul wins men's 30K race for the second year
Thousands of runners and spectators streamed into Hamilton on Sunday for the annual Around the Bay Road Race.
The 30K race — which drew 9,000 runners — kicked off the event at 9:30 a.m., on York Boulevard in front of FirstOntario Centre. Another 2,500 participants took part in the 5K race, which started 15 minutes later around the corner on Bay Street North.
- Around the Bay 2015 road closure, race info, weather
- Firefighters running Around the Bay race wearing 70 pounds of gear
The latest edition of the century-old event took place under clear skies. After a brutal winter for those training for the big day, the race-day weather was rather uneventful. Temperatures hovered around –5 C at the start of the race and creeped up to just above freezing around noon.
In the women’s 30K field, Vancouver’s Dayna Pidhoresky set the pace with a winning time of 1:50:47. Former course record holder Lioudmila Kortchaguina, from Thornhill, Ont., finished second at 1:53:40.
For the second year in a row, Paul Kimugul from Toronto finished first in the men’s 30K race. With an apt bib number of 1, Kimugul clocked a time of 1:33:48, almost two minutes faster compared to his last year’s time.
Alberta's Daniel Kipkoech came in just one minute later, finishing second place at 1:34:33.
For the 5K race, Alex Genest and Genevieve Lalonde, both from Guelph, Ont., were the fastest man and woman. They clocked a finish time of 12:37 and 16:25, respectively.
In a press release issued Sunday, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Foundation President and CEO Sera Filice-Armenio said the race had raised "about $450,000 so far with a few donations still to come in over the race weekend.” Not far off their goal of $475,000.
Next year’s Around the Bay race is scheduled to take place on April 3, 2016.