The marathon is perhaps the toughest and most grueling of all official road races anywhere in the world. It's not something you automatically think of doing when you wake up first thing in the morning.

Yellowknife's version of the great race happened this past Sunday as the Overlander Sports Yellowknife Marathon took over the city's streets. There were three different races for runners to tackle SA国际影视传媒� a full marathon, half-marathon and a 10-km run SA国际影视传媒� with a total of 137 competitors from Canada, the U.S. and even Ireland taking the plunge.

The men's full marathon was a Yellowknife sweep, led by Steve Griffith-Cochrane winning it all in a time of two hours, 50 minutes, 24.7 seconds.

He said the goal was to break the three-hour barrier, which he did, but that was secondary to him wanting to beat his previous best time when he ran the marathon five years ago.

SA国际影视传媒淚 was way off,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淭hat was two hours, 42 minutes. I crashed pretty hard on the final lap of the course on the highway.SA国际影视传媒�
That's known as hitting the wall in runners parlance, he added.

The course for the full marathon saw runners start at Somba K'e Park and complete two figure-eight loops of the city through areas such as Back Bay, Old Town and the airport for a total of 42.1 kilometres.

Having run the course before, Griffith-Cochrane said he knew where the tough spots would be.

SA国际影视传媒淭he toughest spots are going up School Draw Ave. and the hill on (Highway 3),SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淓ven though I knew them, I still found them hard. I knew what I was getting myself into, though.SA国际影视传媒�

The race conditions were chilly and cloudy, the sort of conditions marathoners love because there's no heat and Griffith-Cochrane agreed.

SA国际影视传媒淚t wasn't too hot so that was nice,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淚t made things go a bit faster.SA国际影视传媒�

Doug Townson is another local who is always in the mix when it comes to the full marathon and he ended up in second place this time around, finishing with a time of two hours, 56 minutes, 10.9 seconds.

Griffith-Cochrane said he ran with Townson, who's using this race as a tune-up for one of the biggest marathons anywhere in the world.

SA国际影视传媒淗e's training for the New York Marathon,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淗e's been training pretty hard.SA国际影视传媒�

William Buckland finished in third with a time of two hours, 58 minutes, 47.3 seconds.

In the women's full marathon, Tracy James of Edmonton ended up as the winner in a time of four hours, 10 minutes, 39.7 seconds while Andrea Baum of Acton, Massachusetts was second in four hours, 19 minutes, 4.8 seconds. Jenna Wickham of Ladysmith, B.C. rounded out the top-three with a time of four hours, 19 minutes, 5.7 seconds.

Wickham and Baum spent almost the entire race running together.

In the half-marathon, which was one loop of the figure-eight course, Zander Affleck won the men's race while Celine Erickson of Vancouver took the women's title. The 10-km race was run as an open event with no divisions and it was Ian MacNiven who crossed the finish line first.

FACT FILE SA国际影视传媒� Race results

(Runners from Yellowknife unless noted)

Women's full marathon

• 1 st SA国际影视传媒� Tracy James (Edmonton), 4:10:39.7
• 2 nd SA国际影视传媒� Andrea Baum (Acton, Massachusetts), 4:19:04.8
• 3 rd SA国际影视传媒� Jenna Wickham (Ladysmith, B.C.), 4:19:05.7

Men's full marathon

• 1st SA国际影视传媒� Steve Griffith-Cochrane, 2:50:24.7
• 2nd SA国际影视传媒� Doug Townson, 2:56:10.9
• 3rd SA国际影视传媒� William Buckland, 2:58:47.3

Women's half-marathon

• 1st SA国际影视传媒� Celine Erickson (Vancouver), 1:37:30.5
• 2nd SA国际影视传媒� Leslie Gray, 1:44:28.6
• 3rd SA国际影视传媒� Julianna Neudorf, 1:50:04.8

Men's half-marathon

• 1st SA国际影视传媒� Zander Affleck, 1:28:23.8
• 2nd SA国际影视传媒� Timothy Harden, 1:30:46.8
• 3rd SA国际影视传媒� Daniel Wilkinson, 1:32:21.4

10-km run

• 1st SA国际影视传媒� Ian MacNiven, 41:20.0
• 2nd SA国际影视传媒� John Sauve, 43:25.9
• 3rd SA国际影视传媒� Tonya Huck, 43:51.2

source: Zone 4