Kenyans not slowed by cold

Ryan Hayden, top Canadian man at the Vancouver Sun Run, loved yesterday’s chilly conditions and was even hoping for a blast of arctic wind to help slow his Kenyan competition.
“The colder the better,” said Hayden, 26, of Cresent Beach in South Surrey, who finished in third place behind Kenya’s Festus Langat and Philip Koech.
“There was no wind today though,” he added. “I was hoping for some wind, hoping that they wouldn’t push the pace so early in the race.”
In all, more than 59,000 participants braved the cold yesterday to take part in the Sun Run, an annual event that has been held in Vancouver for the past 24 years.
The race has a $21,000 purse, with the top male and female each getting $3,000.
Hayden, who finished third for the second year in a row, said the cold definitely slowed the Kenyans and allowed him to stay in the race.
Langat, 23, who hails from Kenya’s Rift Valley, finished the 10-kilometre run in 29:26 — 10 seconds faster than Koech and 12 seconds ahead of Hayden.
“It was very cold,” said Langat. “When you are cold, you never run a good time.”
Koech, 21, said the cold tightened his muscles so that he couldn’t swing his arms properly.
Top Canadian woman, Lisa Harvey, 38, of Calgary, who finished second behind Ethiopian Genet Gebregiorgis, described the running conditions as “just perfect.”
-jeff.hodson@metronews.ca