Cambridge Harriers Running Club

​A couple of recent races to report, and both had the same Harrier in first place.
  Jacob Zerko was first in the Casablanca 8Km Road Race in Hamilton on November 11th. He won by approximately 90 seconds with a time of 25:51, ahead of 75 other runners.
 A week earlier, Jacob took top spot in the Run Waterloo 5Km Remember Run In Riverside Park. 116 runners competed. In that one he posted a time of 16:33. Other Harriers in the race included Brenda Cassel who was the top 70+ female in 39:46. Mike Hammond was 4th in 19:33, Gary Cassel junior was 16th in 22:15 and Rick Earl was 104th in 39:24.

​Another good race and another personal best for Jacob Zerko. At last week's Cambridge Fall Classic in Riverside Park, Jacob was 11th in the 500 runner field, posting a time of 15:42. Mitch Ubene and Max Turek, both from Hamilton, were 1st and second  overall in 14:21 and 14:22. Cambridge's Sevanne Ghazarian was 1st female with a time of 16:42. Some other club and Cambridge results included: Marcus Noble 20th in 16:59, Rob Brouillette, 27th in 17:38, Mike Hammond, 87th in 20:34, Gary Cassel junior, 91st in 22:08, Dave Johnson, 148th in 25:15, and Katherine Willis,154th in 26:39. Katherine was 1st in the 65-69 category.

Jacob Zerko picked a big race to run his second fastest 5K race to date. He placed 7th in the field of 2100 runners at Sunday's Toronto Waterfront Marathon 5K and crossed the finish line in 15 minutes and 48 seconds. Hamilton's Ryan Tyrell won the race in 14:35. Also in Toronto, Doug Rivera posted a time of 3:43:25 in the full marathon. Rob Brouillette paced the Canadian Women Marathon Champion.
  At last week's Bank Of America Chicago Marathon, Mike Hammond came agonizingly close to breaking the three hour barrier, finishing in 3:00:30. He was 3,374th out of the 48,000 competitors.
 Next Sunday morning, October 22 will see the Run Waterloo Fall Classic 5K take place here, in Riverside Park, on a very flat course. If it hasn't sold out yet, it will soon, so check it out.

The usual suspects did some more racing recently. Jacob Zerko snagged another race win, this time in the Steelway Railway City 10km in St. Thomas. He beat 192 others to take the win in 33:35.
  At the Oasis Toronto Zoo 10km, Margaux Yvernogeau posted a time of 44:14 and Douglas Rivera crossed the line in 45:42. Rob Brouillette was third in a field of 129 runners at the Willibald Pasture Dash 10km in Ayr with a time of 35:25.
   A couple of local events coming up are the Run Waterloo Fall Classic 5km and the Run Waterloo Remember Run, both in Riverside Park.

At the recent Run Waterloo EndurRun, Rob Brouillette came from behind to overtake the points leader on the final of the seven race days (in one week). He ran a 2:48 marathon at the end of the 100 miles of racing to squeak out a 19 second margin of victory. Well done. Mike Hammond competed as a guest runner in the 10K event at the EndurRun and was 6th overall in 42:10.
  At the Foxtail 25K trail race in Dundas, Jacob Zerko took top spot, covering the distance in 1 hour, 32 minutes and 21 seconds. Margaux Yvernogeau was third female, running 2:07:46. There were 50 competitors. 
                           

Jacob Zerko took first place overall in the field of 143 runners, posting a time of 16:25. Dave Johnson was 59th and took third in the 70+ category with a time of 26:15. ​

Rob Brouillette placed 4th in the Sulphur Springs 50K trail race last month. He covered the hilly route in 3:52:19. Rhys Desmond from Cambridge was 3rd in 3:46:08. 200 runners were competing.
  At Moon In June 5K in Burlington on June 10th, Jacob Zerko ran 16:13 to place 3rd although he remembers only one runner being ahead of him. There were 500 runners in that event.         
Jacob Zerko took first place for the first time in a Sarnia race that he has participated in since he was a kid - The Huron House Boys Home Run 10K. He had a 2 minute margin of victory with a winning time of 33:25. He beat 120 other runners.
  Margaux Vernogeau ran 44:35 in the Under Armour 10K in Toronto, placing 415th overall out of 5800 runners.
   At the 46th annual Waterloo 10K on Sunday, Rob Brouillette ran 35:47 in 14th place after placing third in 17:21 the night before in the Classic 5K. Back in the 10K, Mike Hammond ran 41:49 to take top spot in the men's 50-54 category, while Katherine Willis was 2nd in the women's 60-64s with a 57:14 clocking and Richard Moran ran 50:03 in137th place. There were over 500 finishers.

Jacob Zerko had another impressive result for the second week in a row. At the annual Brooks Spring Run Off in Toronto's High Park on Saturday, he competed in the 5K event and beat all the other 4,000 competitors to the finish line, crossing the line at the top of a very big hill in 16 minutes and 27 seconds.. Second place was 30 seconds behind and Jacob was interviewed by a television crew after the race (pictured).  ​

The annual Around the Bay Race is in the books now. Several Harriers competed, all but one were in the 30K event, and Jacob Zerko ran the 5K where he finished 4th in 16:16. Unfortunately, the leader of the 5K who was headed for a sure win in a fast time, followed the lead vehicle off course, taking a few other top runners with him. Those guys ran close to 5.8K. Jacob, however, stayed on course. The attached photo shows the start of the race with Ryan Tyrrell #10376 (the off-course guy) at the left and Jacob #10011 a bit farther back.
 In the 30K, Mike Hammond was our top finisher in 308th with a 2:16:07 clocking. Doug Rivera and Margaux Yvernogeau finished together in 2:32:42, and Heather Chan crossed the finish line in 3:43:51. Rob Brouillette finished 17th with a time of 1:50:30. 
 Blair Morgan was the men's winner, running the entire race on his own at the the front of the field of nearly 3500 runners and finishing in 1:37:46. The female winner, Sasha Gollish placed 8th overall and set a female masters record of 1:48:03. She was ahead of the first male master (over 40) as well. Former Harrier, Wayne Gagne, ran the 30K in 3:16:54.