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Mizuno Sponsored Identical twins take first and second place in Toronto Women’s Half Marathon

It takes two to set the pace!

Mizuno Sponsored Identical twins take first and second place in Toronto Women’s Half Marathon

May 30, 2010 - Toronto, ON - Today’s Toronto Women’s Half Marathon saw a double victory for the Zelazo family as identical twin sisters Suzanne Zelazo and Seana Zelazo-Carmean set the pace and crossed the finish line in first and second place.

Despite running in near-record high temperatures, Torontonian Suzanne was the first women to roar across the finish line with an impressive time 1:26:51. Only a couple of minutes later spectators might have felt they were seeing double, as Seana, now living just outside of Boston, pushed across the finish line with a time of 1:29:09. Rounding out the top three was Deborah Powell of Guelph who completed the race in 1:30:52.

“It’s not sibling rivalry that gave us the edge to finish in first and second,” says Seana. “It was actually the opposite – we supported each other throughout the race.” Suzanne adds: “it was a real sisterhood experience!”

Growing up, the twins split their time between Montréal and Boston. After an unsuccessful attempt to join their high school soccer team, they took to running and haven’t looked back since. Now in their mid-thirties, this was their first race together since they were teenagers and placing first and second is a huge accomplishment for the sisters.

“For the second year, an impressive group of women have raced to the front of the pack and set the pace in Toronto” says Cory Freedman, Race Director. “I couldn’t be happier for Suzanne and Seana as they really epitomize the strength, power and endurance of women who set a goal for themselves and achieve it.” In the 5k race, the results were equally impressive. Donna Vakalis crossed the finish line first with an amazing time of 18:09. Following closely in second and third places were Sasha Gollish with a time of 19:00 and Seanna Robinson coming in at 19:17. All three are running mates who train at the University of Toronto.

In total more than 2,000 women – elite athletes, recreational runners and many first-time competitors – participated in this year’s event created for female runners. Women aged 18 to 72 and from as far away as Texas and Prince Edward Island enjoyed the event which included bare-chested firefighters volunteering at a water station and a Chocolate Aid station at kilometer 19 to keep up the energy and the spirits of all runners. All half marathon finishers received a unique finishers’ medal, specially created by Foxy Originals.

In addition to setting a blistering race pace, the participants also set the pace in fundraising, contributing over $30,000 for the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) which provides support to children, and their families, with cancer.