A half-marathon didn’t equate to a half-baked effort by Melissa Armstrong.
The Fort Frances distance runner tore up the pavement in Winnipeg on Sunday, taking second place in the women’s division of the half-marathon event at the 25th running of the Manitoba Marathon.
Armstrong repeated her runner-up finish of last year by posting a time of 1:28.01. She came in 29th overall in the co-ed field of 2,902 runners.
Other Fort Frances entrants in the half-marathon included the husband-and-wife duo of Jodi and Jason Easton, who crossed the line together with a clocking of 2:01.20 (1,054th and 1,055th, respectively).
Greg Ste. Croix came in at 2:23.54 (2,240th) while Ted Brockie completed the course in 3:01.12 (2,821st).
In the full marathon, Lavana Fox was the top local with a personal best time of 4:02.49 to finish 425th overall out of 1,175 runners—shaving a full half-hour off her time from last year.
“I’m really excited about my time,” said Fox. “I would have like to have come in a minute under four [hours], though.”
Other local participants in the full marathon included Char Bliss, who posted a time of 4:27.51 (709th), and Armand Jourdain, who came in at 4:57.18 (974th).
More than 11,000 runners overall competed in five different events at the Manitoba Marathon, which was run in ideal conditions with low humidity accompanying above-average temperatures.
In related news, five local runners will head south to take part in the annual Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Mn. this weekend.
Christina Tolen will compete in the full marathon while Kerri Tolen, Mary-Beth and Bob Tkachuk, and Megan Ross will run the half-marathon.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
