2013 î²ðÆ, ÂÆô 97 28 Â.Üàںشºð
TORONTO ARMENIANS
A Run To Remember 2013 A Very Special Day
Half marathoners after the race
5K group starting point
by Sam Manougian
train throughout the year and walk or run. The committee had organized regular group training sessions for possible walkers, runners and even for experienced runners. It also helped to train the ARS school cross-country team and encouraged the students to enjoy running. Also, the committe initiated and ran a monthly column on Health, Fitness and Nutrition in the TorontoHye newspaper. They also created internal competition among the ARTR team members to encourage participants (especially the younger ones) to run instead of walk. Their efforts in this area seemed to yield much better results this year as more participants especially the younger ones ran this year instead of walking. Our incredible group of athletes recorded very impressive results at this year s race. They all did amazingly well and we are proud to say that they all improved their time from last year. That is an amazing accomplishment for our athletes. All the results are posted online. Here are the results for ARTR-2013 team. The top Full-Marathoner (42K) was once again Vahan Mahdessian. Vahan was running the marathon in memory of his Dad Serop Mahdessian. Our Half Marathon runners produced some incredible results. In the men s division we had 5 runners all breaking the 2 hour barrier. Our top men s Half-Marathoner was Scott Staffen (1:38). Scott who was running in memory of his Dad also ran a personal best improving his time from last year by 7 minutes. Armond Shaverdian (1:45) was second and he was running for the victims of the Armenian Genocide. He was followed closely by Carin Yeghiazarian (1:50), a few seconds behind was Armen Saatjian (1:50) and just squeezing in under 2 hours was first time half marathoner Stephan Shatara (1:59). Our top women Half Marathoners also posted excellent times. In first place was Fadwa Samara (2:04). In second place was first time half marathoner Anita Behnessilian (2:09) and followed closely by Armineh Boyadjian (2:10).
This year with 318 participants, the A Run To Remember team was the largest group yet and once again one of the largest out of 185 charities participating in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Charity Challenge. Homenetmen Cambridge with 54 participants played a big role in the success of ARTR-2013. This year s race also had live coverage on CBC s website. The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon is one of the largest marathons in Canada with over 27,000 participants from 60 different countries. The youngest runner on the ARTR team was 5 year old Ashoun Gabajouzian from Homenetmen Cambridge. The most senior runner on the ARTR team was 77 year old Bedros Pilavdjian who placed 9th in his age group among 27,000 runners. ARTR had a very large participation from Team Bekarian as many family and friends wanted to honour Greg Bekarian s memory by wearing his name proudly on the back of their T-shirts. The day started early. Participants started to arrive at the Armenian youth Centre in the early morning hours. First to arrive were the participants from Homenetmen Cambridge. Participants proudly wore the name of their loved ones and honourees on the back of their shirts. Even the very cool morning weather could not dampen their spirits as they were determined and driven to honour the memory of their beloved ones. This year the A Run To Remember committee went to great lengths to gather support for the event and to ensure the honorees were remembered in the best possible way. To do this the committee had created a website, a facebook page, published individual posters of the honourees, used ACC bulletin boards and the community media. The A Run To Remember committee also spent great effort to promote health and fitness and encourage the participants of all ages to
by Sam Manougian
Running for the victims of the Genocide
The 5K was a much larger field and our top male 5K runners were Saro Sarmazian (23:26) from Homenetmen Cambridge. A few seconds behind was Sako Kelebozian (23:51). He was followed closely by Vatche Kazarian (24:32). Our top female 5K runner this year was Ani Rock (Ghazarian) (29:04). A few seconds behin was Tamar Istanbul (29:44). Close behind was Tamar Krikorian (30:51), Sareen Sarmazian (31:00), Tamar Nersesian (32:19), Odet Shahverdian (35:04), 2 seconds behind was Zeina Mawagdeh (35:06) and 18 seconds behind was Nareh Ghookassian (35:24). Here are the top runners in their age group from the 5K event: Top 5 Year Old Ashoun Gabajouzian from Homenetmen Cambridge Top 8 Year Olds Christopher Gosdanian Shiraz Kaakedjian from Homenetmen Cambridge Michael Guglielmi from Homenetmen Cambridge Top 9 Year Olds Sevan Marcarian Garni Kupelian Top 10 Year Olds Taleen Kasbarian Gabriel Massis Injejikian from Homenetmen Cambridge Shahan Kaakedjian from Homenetmen Cambridge Top 11 Year Olds Tianna Ansourian from Homenetmen Cambridge Anoushig Gabajouzian from Homenetmen Cambridge Top 12 Year Olds Gabriella Guglielmi from Homenetmen
Cambridge Ariane Ghazarian Top 13 Year Olds Raffi Kelebozian Robert Merjianian Top 14 Year Olds Marc Merjanian Gassia Tatikian Top 15 Year Olds Sako Kelebozian Adom Tashjian Nareg Zargarian Edvin Yeritsian Marina Avaneci Top 16 Year Olds Johnny Derhovagimian Nareg Boyadjian Vatche Avanesi Top 17 Year Old Christopher Merjanian Top 18 Year Olds Vatche Kazarian Ishkhan Ghazarian Top 19 Year Old Alik Derderian Top 20 Year Old Christopher Joly Several of Greg Bekarian s friends ran their first half marathon in honour of Greg. One of them said after the race I was getting really tired on the course especially near the end but I could hear Greg telling me keep going you can do it and I finally made it to the finish line. This race had a very special meaning for me as it gave me the opportunity to honour Greg s memory on his birthday. I wouldn t trade this day for the world. Thank you ARTR .
ARS Lions Compete at SSAF Tournament
On October 16, the Toronto s ARS Day School cross-country team participated in the 2013 Small Schools Athletic Federation CrossCountry Meet at Sunnybrook Park. This was the first year that the ARS Day School had established a cross-country team and the first time that they were participating in the SSAF cross-country meet. They would be competing against much more experienced runners. The team had been training every day after school since the first week of school in September. This year the ARS Day School fielded a huge cross-country team of 37 students and had teams in 4 divisions: Boys under 10, girls under 10, boys under 12 and girls under 12. There is a special pride involved when a student is able to represent his or her school in athletic competition. It displays true character, dedication, commitment and discipline in addition
Girls under 10 start the race
to the improved health and physical fitness. These are all important lessons that we try to teach our children in school in addition to a strong academic education. On October 16 although the weather forecast called for steady rain the whole day,
A group picture of the participants
the team was ready and looking forward to participate in their first cross-country meet. Some of the students had previous experience running with the A Run To Remember team at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon but the majority had never experienced
competitive running in a cross-country race. The ARS team arrived at Sunnybrook Park by bus and was quickly introduced to the race course and the hundreds of runners from over 30 different schools. The runners were very see page 37