Point Grey Track and Field Club Masters Athletes Look Forward to Canadian Cross Country Championships

When: November 24, 2012
Where: Jericho Beach Park, Vancouver, BC
Time: 10:00am


The Canadian Cross Country Championships features top runners from across the country in Junior, Senior and Masters age groups.

Point Grey TFC Masters Rob Watt and Carey Nelson have been training this fall for the Canadian Cross Country Championships Masters division. They've been running at the University of British Columbia track facility under head coach Marek Jedrzejek.

The Canadian Cross Country Championships is held this year at Jericho Beach Park in Vancouver.  The master's race recognizes the placing of women and men's age groups in five year increments over the age of 35. Cross country is an individual and team sport as well. Individual finishing places are added together to make up team standings in various age groups.

The Master's women and men's race is 8km which is four loops of the 2km course in Jericho Park. The Senior men's race distance is 10km and Senior women's is 7km.

Rob Watt, a 38:18, 10km runner who finished second in the 2012 Lower Mainland Road Race Series in his age group, is excited about racing his first cross-country race with the club. Carey Nelson a 1988 Olympian in the 5000m and a 1996 Olympian in the Marathon was Canada's top cross country runner for a few years in the early 1990s. "It's a good course with some, grass fields, trails, a bit of mud and hills," said Nelson.

He added, "The 2km loop course great for spectators because they can see the runners go by in different stages of the race. The Cross-Country Nationals will be held in Vancouver in 2013 and 2014 as well, and we are looking to recruit more masters to the Point Grey TFC so that we can take the championships team title in the future. Another nice thing about the event is that there is a Community 5km race which is open to anyone who wants to try out a cross country race and see what it's like. Most of the local races are road races so this gives you a chance to tryout a different kind of running on grass and mud."

The Canadian Championships starts with the Master's race first at 10am followed by a day of exciting races. More information about the event can be found at the Athletics Canada cross country website: <http://www.xcountry.athletics.ca/>www.xcountry.athletics.ca