Congratulations to Laura Anderson and Janet Charlebois from Sudbury who took part in the first ever Toronto Women's Half Marathon and 5k. Laura took on the 1/2 (2:14:45.8) and Janet the 5k (27:53.8).

All Results at Sportstats

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From the Organizers:

Thanks to everyone for making the first Toronto Women’s Half Marathon and 5k run an overwhelming success.

Thanks to your generosity we raised over $30,000 for POGO (Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario). As well, all of your feedback about the event and stories about your experiences on and off the course have been tremendously supportive and helpful to us as we plan for next year.

Why a Women's Race
Our mission is to create a women’s event that motivates and inspires women to get active, fit and involved. For some women participating in this race, the motivating factors are the opportunity to run in a supportive and friendly environment and to socialize with other women runners.

Competitive female runners tend to feel that they are the “chase” group. An all women’s race lets them experience the rush of being first across the finish line instead of being the first woman across the finish line.

Regardless of what motivates you to cross the finish line, it is the collective power of the group all supporting one another that will make this race so unique and memorable.

    Sara McIlraith on her way to winning The 2008 Minnow Lake 10k

A combination of factors set Sara McIlraith's athletic career back on track.

McIlraith is the fastest master's woman competing in, and for, the Sudbury region. She was the top local finisher at the half-marathon event of the Sudbury Rocks 2009 celebration of running in early May. She was third, setting a personal best time of one hour, 33 minutes, and claimed prize money. She won the 2008 Ramsey Tour, another half marathon. She is training for shorter distances, like the Walden Firecracker five-kilometre run July 1, where she hopes to break 20 minutes.

Watch her run past -- you'll need to be quick about it -- and you'd think she has always been running. Which isn't the case. McIlraith was active throughout her elementary school years, competing in cross-country skiing and track and field. But once she entered high school, things changed. For a year, she joined the track and swim teams, but that was it. She was busy, though. Her parents, Joan and Don, encouraged outdoor adventure like camping and canoeing. Don, a long-time teacher at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary, was an Outers Club leader. But it wasn't the running she now does up to seven times a week.

Even in university, McIlraith didn't think she could run. Like so many men and women, she did not consider herself a runner or, by logical extension, an athlete. McIlraith says it wasn't until her daughter, Kate now nine, that she got active again. She was also turning 30 and gaining a bit of weight. She decided to try running again when Kate was two.

 

How Many Calories Are You Really Burning?
Don't believe everything you read
By Jackie Dikos, R.D.
As featured in the Web Only issue of Running Times Magazine
print mail
Hustle to the locker room—there’s less than an hour to spare. Strapping on a heart rate monitor as you head to the front door, you notice the rain clouds have turned into a storm. The multiple flashes of lightning and the forceful crash of thunder suggest running outside just isn’t worth the risk. Too bad there’s not enough time to wait out the storm. Looks like a day for the treadmill.

As you plug away, you can’t help but notice the calorie expenditure window on the treadmill making its climb. Slowing the treadmill for a cooldown walk you read nearly 800 calories burned. “Fabulous,” you would like to think, but you have reason to be confused, given that your heart rate monitor claims you burned more like 550 calories.

Those who rely on that calorie window at the gym for daily caloric goals may end up feeling only disappointment. It’s not uncommon to be deceived by the calorie expenditure reading of your favorite piece of equipment. For starter, the caloric tally is often based on the average 150-pound male. Moreover, even if you fit this build your calorie expenditure could be quite different.

There are many factors that go into how many calories or energy you burn on a run. I can recall trying to regain my fitness after the birth of my first son. At the conclusion of my 2 hour, 30 minute training runs my heart rate monitor read in the ballpark of 1,600 calories burned. About one year and much more fitness later, my heart rate monitor read nearly 200 calories less for the same 2:30 run. Evidently my fitness level and running efficiency played a role in how much energy was required to complete the run.

Last year, the Journal of Athletic Training reported a comparison (PDF) of calorie expenditure among elite distance runners. The study compared body mass, respiratory quotient, and fast-twitch muscle fibers among the runners in relation to their energy expenditure and carbohydrate requirement. It found nearly a 700-calorie-per-day difference among the runners. Those with the higher body mass, respiratory quotient, and a greater percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibers burned an average of 3,750 calories per day, as compared to the lower body mass runners, who burned closer to 3,100 calories per day. Similarly, the higher body mass group required more carbohydrates versus the lower body mass group.

It goes to show that, even at the highest level, no two runners are alike. Body composition, training, and metabolism are too varied to say there’s a set amount of calories burned on a run. Watching the calories-burned window on any given piece of equipment may be a poor representation of how much energy you’re expending.

Having a heart rate monitor with your personal data, such as weight, height, and age, entered into the system is a much better start in targeting how many calories you burn during a bout of exercise. That said, try not to obsess over those numbers. Listening to your body is still very important. All too often calorie counting becomes so much of a concern that good nutrition falls by the wayside. This may take shape in starving the body to achieve a lower body weight. Or, just the opposite by having frequent splurges on meals such as French fries and double chocolate cake because you burned “X” amount of calories.

Sure, use the calorie expenditure on your heart rate monitor as a guide. Even compare it to the workout equipment at the gym. Knowing your general caloric expenditure can be an eye opener in knowing how much or how little you burn in a workout. However, don’t place too much emphasis on these numbers. Stay tuned into good nutrition, hunger cues, and proper fueling for your individual training program.

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Jackie Dikos, RD, is a 2:45 marathoner and mother of two. All of her Fueling the Runner articles can be found at http://runningtimes.com/fuel.