Around the Bay 2015 draws thousands to Hamilton

Thousands of runners and spectatorsstreamed into Hamilton on Sunday for the annual Around the Bay Road Race.

The 30Krace which drew 9,000 runners kicked off the event at 9:30 a.m., on York Boulevard in front of FirstOntario Centre. Another 2,500 participantstook part in the5Krace, which started 15 minutes later around the corner on Bay Street North.

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The latest edition of the century-old eventtook place under clear skies.After a brutal winter for those training for the big day,the race-day weatherwas rather uneventful.Temperatures hovered around 5 C at the start of the race and creeped up to just above freezing around noon.

In the womens 30K field, Vancouvers Dayna Pidhoresky set the pace with a winning time of 1:50:47. Former course record holder Lioudmila Kortchaguina, from Thornhill, Ont., finished second at 1:53:40.

For the second year in a row, Paul Kimugul from Toronto finished first in the mens 30K race. With an apt bib number of 1, Kimugul clocked a time of 1:33:48, almost two minutes faster compared to his last years time.

Alberta's Daniel Kipkoech came in just one minute later, finishing second place at 1:34:33.

For the 5K race, Alex Genest and Genevieve Lalonde, both from Guelph, Ont.,were the fastest man and woman. They clocked a finish time of 12:37 and 16:25, respectively.

In a press release issued Sunday, St. Josephs Healthcare Foundation President and CEO Sera Filice-Armenio said the race had raised "about $450,000 so far with a few donations still to come in over the race weekend. Not far off their goal of $475,000.

Next years Around the Bay race is scheduled to take place on April 3, 2016.