Running success

Despite the golden performance, seasoned runner Keli Cristofaro says she can do better.

Cristofaro won gold at the second Lakehead Thunderwolves Indoor Marathon on Sunday. The 37-year-old ran her 16th full-marathon with a time of 3:43:14, a few minutes slower than the 3:38:58 she recorded last year.

While glad she took first, she said she hoped to shave off a few minutes next year.

Cristofaro said she wanted to participate again because the event helped support the Thunder Bay Children’s Centre Foundation. About 270 runners competed this year, up 127 participants from the previous year. With all those people running, Cristofaro said the marathon became more of a mental challenge.

However, with support from the crowd cheering her on, she said she was able to push through.

"Some days you have a nice, clear head and other days you aren’t feeling as well," Cristofaro said. "Today was a little bit of an off day for me. It was tougher this year. Training was hard this winter because it has been so cold."

Cristofaro works as a therapeutic recreationist at St. Joseph’s Care Group. She said she preaches physical activity every day and stresses the importance of keeping active.

The team named Got the Runs took first place for the relay race, with a final time of 2:40:59. Team captain Sandy Lougheed said the team was formed through work and expanded to a few friends. Nigel Black joined the team along with Mike Curry, Vic Tremblay and his sons Michael and Erik.

"We had a great time," Lougheed said. "I think we will come back next year. Summertime is a busy time for some of us, but this is a perfect time of the year to do something like this."

Tremblay said it was a good opportunity to get some exercise and a chance to run with his two sons.

"We enjoyed the run," Tremblay said. "There were a good number of guys on the team and they didn’t get too tired."

Besides getting up at 6 a.m., Black said the most challenging aspect of the run was the change between runners and navigating through all the other runners.

John Friday finished his full-marathon with a time of 3:46:29.

Friday, director of management services with the Children’s Centre Foundation, said the marathon this year was a bigger success than last year with more runners and more teams in attendance.

He said he expected the event to raise more than $12,000 for the Children’s Centre.

"We solve out the event," Friday said. "We had 31 teams, people from the U.S.A. across Ontario and also from Quebec. We’re really inspired on how the running community came together. The Children’s Centre’s services funding has really been frozen for the last 10 years. It’s causing significant pressures in our ability to provide services."

Money raised will go toward the walk-in clinic and public education and prevention, he said.