Aylward wins Bobs Half Marathon; Port aux Choix native getting primed for Toronto Marathon

CORNER BROOK - Dean Aylward looks the part of a runner. His long, lean physique was built by running and built for running.

He got a chance to do more than look the part this weekend at the Corner Brook Bob's Half Marathon. The half marathon is a qualifier for the New York City Marathon for the first time this year.

Aylward, who is from Port aux Choix, completed the 21.1-kilometre course in 1:14:51, while Rhonda Mitchelmore of Corner Brook won the women's division with a time of 1:44:28.

Darren Stone of Corner Brook (1:25:20) finished second among the men ahead of Aubrey Sanders of Corner Brook (1:26:01). Michael Greene (1:28:35) and Rob Curnew (1:29:31) of Stephenville Crossing rounded out the Top 5.

The course started on Park Street and ran with traffic up Park Street and down West Street. Runners turned left on Main Street and followed Riverside Drive out to the Trans Canada Highway (TCH). They then proceeded along the TCH to a turn-around point and returned to the finish line at the parking lot of the Commerce Court Building on Main Street.

Aylward is presently getting primed for the upcoming Toronto Marathon on Oct. 19, an event he placed sixth in last year and is hoping to improve on this year. He said the course was a little windy, but was happy with his time.

"I am going back to try and get a better time and a better placing," he said. "It would be nice to get in the Top 3. I'll see how it goes. There are so many people and so many good runners. I just have to push myself. That is mainly what it is for me; it is just trying to get better each time out."

Aylward won the BMO Financial Group Downtown Dash earlier this summer, but slipped from second in 2007 to fifth at this year's Tely 10 Road Race at the end of July in St. John's.

'You have your good runs and your bad runs," Aylward said. "My goal this year is the marathon in Toronto and I have been training for that like crazy all summer and I didn't really taper for some of the other races.

"It was nice just to be a part of this," he said. "It is a nice race on the west coast."

The Top 5 women included second-place runner Suzanne Mills of Corner Brook (1:48:10), while Tracey Mackey-Nelson of Massey Drive (1:49:15) placed third. Rounding out the top five, were Belinda Barney of Pasadena (1:50:57) and Jacqueline Neville of Corner Brook (1:52:33).

A total of 64 runners completed the race, which organizer Michael Coyne, who measured the course and is responsible for getting the race approved as a qualifier, said is an improvement over previous years. Coyne, who has been a long-time advocate for a running track in this city, said this year's half marathon shows the sport is growing in the city. He feels this is key to getting the required investment in infrastructure.

"They compare (Corner Brook) to some of the smaller places in Newfoundland where they have running tracks and nobody uses them," he said. "But I don't think you can compare us. We have a large community of runners and historically Corner Brook has had a very athletic population. You go out any day of the week and you can see people on the move."

The following runners, starting with the fastest times, all qualified for the New York City Marathon: Dean Aylward, Darren Stone, Michael Greene, Brian Patrick Dunphy of Stephenville, Colin Power of Grand Falls-Windsor, Nick Soper of Gander and Neal Oram of Corner Brook.