Think of the Ramsey Tour as two races in one; maybe three.

To be sure, the early September trail race tradition that has long been organized under the auspices of Jesse Winters, Louis Moustgaard and the Sudbury Masters Running Club has served as the kickoff for the post-secondary cross-country crew, with entries from Laurentian, Nipissing, Algoma and Cambrian all tackling the 5 km course this year.

And for as much as a quick glance at the complete 5km results unveils a mix of adult community runners and some local high-school talent,the truth is that the 21km half-marathon is the remaining gem in this offering, with the 54 runners on hand covering age groups ranging from 15 to 71 (way to go, Daniel Merrick!!).

With the surprise return of 5th year team leader Keon Wallingford to the fold, the Laurentian Voyageurs’ men’s team were well-motivated to assert their northern dominance, sweeping the top three slots thanks to the troika of Wallingford (15:51), Lasalle Secondary graduate Brandon Radey (16:27) and Patrick Leroux (16:30).

Lo-Ellen Park Knights junior Julien Luoma looks to be the one to watch (again) on the SDSSAA XC scene this fall, sliding into fourth place (16:34), ahead of former LEP multi-sport athlete and current triathlete Kelly Thompson (16:43). The latter has returned north for schooling, now competing for the Nipissing Lakers and showing the way for his new team.

Still with newcomers of note, Timmins native Braedan Estabrooks (10th at OFSAA in steeplechase last June) looked solid in what amounts as a quasi-OUA debut, his time of 16:46 sliding him in fourth place on his team, just ahead of Alan Wilkin (16:49).

“I always did cross-country when I was younger (early elementary) – but then I quit for a while and came back in 11th grade,” said Estabrooks. “When I helped my team get to a 6th place at OFSAA (XC – 2023), it boosted my confidence and I felt that I could pursue it later.”

Still, as many before him have discovered, the training regimen at the post-secondary level bears only a slight resemblance to the training sessions in high-school. “This summer, we were just building a base, getting some decent mileage with normal runs every day or every other day,” noted Estabrooks.

“As soon as I got here and we started into the workout practices, I could see the difference between this and high-school. This is way more competitive. It’s not really the type of workout but more the amount. In high-school, our speed training might have been 5 X 400 metres. Here, speed training is like 8 X 800 metres.”

“It’s just that much more than high-school.”

Though the top woman finisher in the 5km was L.U. alumn Nicole Rich (18:42), current varsity athlete Abby Lanteigne continues to show signs of improvement, her time of 18:50 far, far ahead of her last showing at the same event in 2023, the Lockerby Composite graduate now more than three minutes faster than her clocking of 22:13 as a rookie with the Vees.

Yet another L.U. varsity graduate (Angela Mozzon) placed third overall among the women (19:20), with future Voyageurs Kylee Fowler fourth in 19:25. The Chelmsford native is back in Sudbury attending Teachers College but must sit out one year after competing for the University of Ottawa Gee Gees in four fall seasons.

An interesting race for fifth/sixth as high-schooler Lily Bignucolo (Lo-Ellen) might be in the best shape of her career, to date, running comfortably sub-20 (19:36) to finish ahead of Laurentian freshman Valérie Vaillancourt, the Sacré-Coeur product who dominated the SDSSAA senior girls middle distance and cross-country ranks last year.

Rounding out the top-ten post secondary guys were Adam Edwards (Nipissing – 17:00), Calvin Traczuk (Nipissing – 17:00) and Shiloh Sauvé (Laurentian - 17:15). For Cambrian head coach Jeffrey Paul and his team of Sneh Solanski, Travis Hunter, Marven Hunter, Jamie Hopkins, Alyssa Atchison, Ann Phuong and Sylvia Silvia, the race represented a starting point from which to measure progress, moving forward.

Interesting names of note in the sub-20 bracket included North Bay native William Raymer (17:16), perennial Beaton Classic champion Dan Whalen (17:33) and local SDSSAA competitors Maxime Belzile (17:47), Cameron Young (18:16), Carson Jewitt (18:24) and Ewan Duncan (18:59), with Nathan Hussell (also from NB) also in that mix (18:56).

The 21km half-marathon is always an interesting list to peruse, though finding the tandem of Eric Leishman (1:15.55 – 1st place – Sudbury top marathoner for several years) and Aurel Fox Recollet (1:25:37 – 3rd place – Laurentian Voyageurs alumn) is hardly a surprise.

A native of Thunder Bay and former member of the Waterloo Warriors cross-country team, Evan Palmer-Charette secured second place with a time of 1:23:28 while the top female finisher came in fourth place overall, quite impressively.

The top female at the Moncton Marathon this past May with a time of 2:56:40, Brianna Kao posted a very nice time of 1:27:20, with the race serving as a family gathering of sorts given the participation of both Greg and Ching (Kao), who crossed the line just 20 seconds or so apart.

Partaking in a handful of local events this summer, Alex Chenier placed fourth among the gents (1:30.13), followed by Dilyn Gilbert (1:38:12) and Nicholas Walynsky (1:39:54). At the age of sixty, Paul de la Riva continues to defy Father Time (1:40:29), with Kris Cacciotti (1:41:17) and Steven Gonder (1:41:26) next in line.

The half-marathon often becomes the outlet of choice for former university cross-country runners such as Saree Sasson (Nipissing Lakers), recording a 6th place (overall) finish and second among the women in 1:32:09.