Running News Daily

Blair Morgan and Sasha Gollish take wins at Around the Bay Road Race

The 2023 edition of the Around the Bay Road Race (ATB) was held on Sunday, and thousands of runners took to the streets of Hamilton to race the 5K, 30K and relays. Ottawa runner Blair Morgan and Toronto’s Sasha Gollish were the top men’s and women’s finishers in the 30K, both grabbing the first ATB wins of their careers. Morgan finished in a winning time of 1:37:46, and Gollish crossed the line in 1:48:03 for the women’s win and eighth overall. 

ATB 30K 

Morgan took control of the race early on in the run, and by the time he recorded his opening 10K split of 31:40, he had already built a lead of one minute over the next-closest runner. By 15K, the gap had grown even bigger, and Toronto’s Romain Carette sat in second place more than two minutes back.

Morgan passed through the 20K checkpoint in 1:04:07. Two and a half minutes behind him were Carette and fellow Torontonian Eric Bang, who were separated by just a few seconds. Morgan’s lead got up to three minutes before the finish, and he stopped the clock in 1:37:46. Bang put a lot of time into Carette in the closing 10K, finishing a minute ahead of him in 1:40:40 to secure second place. Carette held on for third in 1:41:42. 

The women’s race was much tighter than the men’s, with Gollish battling alongside Rachel Hannah of Port Elgin, Ont., for more than half of the run. The two women covered the first 10K in identical splits of 35:39, and they passed through 15K a couple of seconds apart, both hovering just under 54 minutes. Over the following 5K, however, Gollish managed to pull away from Hannah, and by 20K she had a lead of about 40 seconds. 

Gollish’s lead only continued to grow in the final 10K, and by the time she made it to the finish, she was close to three minutes ahead of Hannah. She won the race in 1:48:03, followed by Hannah in second in 1:50:41. Third place went to Kingston, Ont., runner Teagan Robertson in 1:58:11. 

The 5K 

Aaron De Jong of Mississauga, Ont., won the 5K race in 15:56. He was followed closely by Sam Richter of Port Sydney, Ont., who finished in second in 15:59. A few seconds back in third place was Caleb Beland of Sudbury, Ont., who crossed the line in 16:02. 

In the women’s 5K, Etobicoke, Ont., athlete Brittany Moran won in 17:33, close to a minute ahead of second-place Carley Somerset of Guelph, Ont., who stopped the clock in 18:26. Not far behind Somerset was Mississauga’s Jessica Kellar, who rounded out the podum in 18:49.

Around the Bay Road Race plans to return in March of 2022

Today, the Around the Bay 30K road race announced that in-person racing will return, for its 127th edition, in March of 2022.

The in-person 30K race in Hamilton, ON, will take place on Sunday, March 27, 2022. There will also be a virtual 2K, 5K, 10K and 15K offered for all who cannot make it to Hamilton or are not ready to return to in-person racing. The virtual race submission period runs from March 1, 2022, to March 26, 2022, and the 2022 virtual times will be included in the official race results.

“It’s been quite the journey but it looks like there is a light at the end of this tunnel, and we are looking forward to welcoming runners back to the historic Around the Bay race in March 2022,” said organizers in the press release.

Although this edition of the race will be different than the 126-editions before, race organizers will try to provide a memorable Around the Bay experience filled with history and tradition for runners.

The course and field size of the in-person race still has to be determined, depending on the public health parameters in the new year.  Registrants can expect an announcement on the logistics of the event closer to race day.

There will be restrictions on registration for Around the Bay, and those who chose to defer their entry in 2020 and 2021, get the first opportunity to register for the 2022 Bay race