A couple of new names have been added to the list of open men’s and women’s champions in Yarmouth’s annual Sheila Poole 10K, which was held this past Saturday morning in sunny and very warm conditions.
On the men’s side, Graeme Allardice of Halifax (40-to-49-year-old male division) led the way, posting a time of 36:23 and placing first overall in a field that had 93 finishers.
Bryan Hipson of Yarmouth County was second in 37:27. Hipson (50-to-59-year-old male division) won the race three straight years between 2015 and 2017 and was second last year to local runner Hudson Grimshaw-Surette, who didn’t run it this year.
Jeff Ratushny (40-49 male division) of Conquerall Mills, Lunenburg County, was third overall in 37:46.
Next was Paula James of Windsor (40-to-49-year-old female), the new Sheila Poole women’s champion. She succeeds Denise Robson of Cole Harbour, who had won it the last seven straight years and has 12 Sheila Poole titles to her credit.
James posted a time of 38:42 to lead all female runners this year, with Robson just over a minute behind.
Ethan Cunningham of Dayton, Yarmouth County, was fifth overall and first among male runners 19-and-under in 39:20.
He was followed by Robson, the defending women’s champ. The Yarmouth native ran 39:48 to place sixth overall and first in her division (50-to-59-year-old female).
Dave Nevitt of Dartmouth (50-to-59 male) was seventh in 40:02.
Ashley Robson, Denise Robson’s daughter, was next in 40:55, which put her first among female runners 20-to-39 and eight overall.
Evan Saulnier of Arcadia was ninth, his time of 43:11 putting him second in the male 19-and-under category.
Rounding out the top 10 was Aaron LeBlanc of Dartmouth, who ran 44:12, first among male runners between 20 and 39 years of age.
This was the 35th year for Yarmouth’s annual summertime 10K, an event first held in 1985 and known as the Human Race for its first 13 years before being renamed in memory of local runner and former Human Race women’s champion Sheila Poole.
The event is part of the Run Nova Scotia Road Race Series, whose next event is the Nova Scotia Marathon in Barrington, which will be held Sunday, July 28.
For full results of this year's Sheila Poole 10K, click here.
