Record turnout for Times Colonist 10K

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Victoria, B.C. - Kip Kangogo turned the tables on Kenyan compatriot Willy Kimosop in the 2010 Times Colonist 10K today. Kangogo, second last year to Kimosop, won this year in 29 minutes and 35 seconds. Kimosop was second this time around in 29:50. Kibet Rutto completed the Kenyan sweep of the podium positions by taking third place in 29:58. Top Canadian was Scott Simpson of Victoria in fourth place at 30:00 with Olympic gold- and silver-medallist triathlete Simon Whitfield of Victoria rounding out the top five in 30:12. “I’m excited by my performance,” said Kangogo, who like Kimosop is currently based in Lethbridge, Alta. “I wanted to win this race and I knew I was going to win it. I am shooting to run at London in 2012 [Summer Olympics]. The fan support along the route here was so wonderful.” Karolina Jarzynska of Pozna, Poland, won the women’s race in 33:25. Defending champion and 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympian Lisa Harvey of Calgary was second in 34:37 and Kristina Rody of Burnaby, B.C., captured third place in 34:43.
Victoria runner and six-time champion Lucy Smith was fourth in 34:58 and Natasha Wodak of Port Moody, B.C., fifth in 35:18. The annual event broke a glass ceiling on Sunday, handily breaking the 10,000-mark for the number of runners completing the race with 10,850 tallied up by the noon. More than 13,500 had registered.
Sylvan Smyth with Race Headquarters manages the results system. He said the previous high was in 2009 when 9,484 ran, walked or rolled through the TC10K.
“The increase has been in the neighbourhood of 20 per cent over the past two years and that’s a really good sign, especially in this slowed economy,” Smyth said. Simpson, a Victoria physiotherapist and former Canadian 10,000-metre champion, said he passed Whitfield at the 7-kilometre mark. “It always makes a runner feel good to pass an Olympic champion,” said Simpson. Simpson’s top place finish for a Canadian was particularly sweet as today is the birthday ofwife Alysha who reached over the security fencing to hug her husband at the finish. Whitfield tweeted this morning that he thought he’d catch Kangogo:“That was hard. gang was running fast today. surging like Gomez. 5th@ #tc10k 30:10 Kip Kangogo won in 29:34. I thought I had him @5k” The official number of people registered for this spring tradition was 13,508, up over last year’s sign-up of 12,600.
The crowd buzzed with energy as people waited for the official start. Ron Coutre, 42,and Coulton Coutre, 13, were running the TC 10K together for the first time. The teenager said his goal was to run the course in under 50 minutes.
“I feel pretty good,” he said as the pair lined up for the start. Along the route, the thousands of runners and walkers were encouraged by cheering supporters and the pulsating music from bands roadside. Over at the medical aid station, Dr. Steve Martin said volunteers were busy reating sprains, cuts and bruises primarily from people getting pushed over in the crowd. The biggest pack of runners the race has seen has resulted in the medical station’s busiest year,he said. But at 9:30 a.m., Martin was happy to report no serious injury or heart issues yet. The station is manned by 12 volunteers include three doctors or medical students, and nurses. Today's event, one of two major annual runs in the city, along with the Royal Victoria Marathon, is the second-largest road race in Canada behind the Vancouver Sun Run, which, with more than 60,000 participants, is ranked fifth in the world. That race is May 9. More to come.