Base runners win gold, silver at nationals

Lieutenant Anabelle St-Martin received top CAF Female Athlete Award in the 5K race. All photos provided.

Peter Mallett
Staff Writer

Runners from CFB Esquimalt captured two gold medals and three silver medals at the Canadian Armed Forces Running Championships on May 27 in Ottawa.

Lieutenant (Lt) Anabelle St-Martin of Transport and Electrical Mechanical Engineering (TEME) received the Top Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Female Athlete Award and first overall female among military runners with a time of 19:02 after placting second out of 3,342 female runners in the 5K race.

“I was not expecting to finish first female among military members in this race and winning the top Female Athlete Award was also an unexpected added bonus,” said Lt St-Martin. “It’s a nice reminder to me that all those early morning runs, late-night runs and running alone in the rain do pay off.”

Participants in the CAF Running Championships were competing against civilian runners in 5K and 10K categories at the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend. The event brought together nearly 30,000 competitors and volunteers.

Petty Officer First Class Trevor Scoville who won the CAF silver medal in the 5K race in the Men’s Senior (48+) category. Photos provided

Lt St-Martin finished 46 seconds behind runner-up Maia Watson of Ottawa, who was the top overall female finisher in the 5K race with a time of 18:16. Sailor First Class Amanda Polus of the Personnel Coordination Centre finished second in the CAF Female category with a time of 19:56.

Sailor First Class Amanda Polus (centre) finished second in the CAF Female category in the 5K.

The other gold-medal winner from CFB Esquimalt was Master Sailor (MS) Mark Ritchie of Naval Reserve Unit HMCS Malahat. MS Ritchie was the top CAF finisher in the 10K race in the Men’s Senior (48+) category with a time of 42:40 and placed 222 of 6,485 runners.

Master Sailor Mark Ritchie was the top CAF finisher in the 10K race in the Men’s Senior (48+) category.

Silver medal winners included Petty Officer First Class Trevor Scoville of Personnel Coordination Centre, who won the CAF silver medal in the 5K race in the Men’s Senior (48+) category with a time of 19:30. MS Bailey Toupin of HMCS Malahat won a silver medal in the Women’s Open 10K category with a time of 39:55.