The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Sports Oakville Beaver By Adam Johnston SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2008 41 Distance run in Oakville was a Labour of love Leo Kennedy was surprisingly calm after posting a Masters record time in Monday's Labour Day Oakville Half. He ran across the finish line and through the maze of gates leading to the food and water station. The 57-year-old didn't scream, nor did he jump around in celebration. Instead, he stood quietly by himself, eating a banana to replace the potassium he had lost in the hour-plus race he just completed. Then again, there had already been two records broken during his race, so Leo's record might have slipped under the radar. Which was fine by him. "It's personal motivation (as opposed to records). It gives me a reason to get out and run. I belong to a running clinic back home; we all support each other and help each other out," said Kennedy. The native of Halifax was running the half marathon in preparation for the "It was really well Toronto Waterfront Marathon later this month. He finished 34th overall, setting a new course record in the Masters category with marked and it was a time of 1:28:52. really well marshaled. Predrag Mladenovic bested his course record, set at last year's inaugural event, It's easy to finish, they're to finish first overall in the men's Open category. The Serbia native posted a time right there with the of 1:07:12, completing the course more than seven minutes ahead of the secondbananas and the water, place finisher. Tereza Macel also posted a course record in the Open women's category with and away you go." a time of 1:25:35. The Toronto resident finished 15th overall. Margaret Watson of Hamilton added a course record in the women's Masters Labour Day Oakville Half category with a time of 1:36:14. 10K runner Tiffany Petty Kennedy attributed the improvement on last year's times to the weather conditions and the well-planned course. The half marathon -- which spanned 21.1 kilometres -- commenced at Coronation Park and looped throughout downtown Oakville before returning to the park. "I think there were just great conditions. Good temperature, lots of shade on the course, humidity was good and no wind," he said. A two-kilometre family run/walk and a 10K run were held prior to the half marathon. Tim Terceira was the first participant older than 50 to finish the 10K race. The Oakville native was motivated by his desire to set a new course record. "They told us at the beginning that the record for the Masters was 40:45," said Terceira. "I was like `Cool'. I used to be able to do (10 km in) 38 minutes when I was a lot younger and I was feeling good today and I thought it was a perfect day, but I finished just behind (the record)." Terceira finished 23rd overall, failing to reach his goal by just over two minutes, with a time of 42:57. Joining Terceira in the 10K run was Tiffany Petty and her race walking team from the Canada Fit Club, based in Oakville. The group of 12 women was easily recognized throughout the park. They decided to sport matching headbands covered in oak leaves in honour of the host town. Petty, who finished 332nd overall with a time of 1:22:53, was impressed with every aspect of the event. "It was really well marked and it was really well marshaled," said Petty. "It's easy to finish, they're right there with the bananas and the water, and away you go. They've got music and everything. It was just a really great race." Laszlo Orosz (33:42) of Oakville and Donna Vakalis (41:18) of Toronto took first place in the men's and women's categories of the 10K race, respectively. · See page 42 for a list of top finishers in the half marathon and 10K run More than 800 runners take to take Lakeshore Road to start the half Lakeshore marathon during Monday's Labour Monday's Day Oakville Half. Half. MICHAEL IVANIN / IVANIN O AKVILLE BEAVER BEAVER Dawson brothers unite for run at Mann Cup lacrosse title By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Finally, the Dawson family can actually pick a side and cheer. For the first time in their athletic careers, Paul and Dan Dawson are on the same team and united for one cause -- winning the Mann Cup. "It makes family dinners a lot easier," Dan said with a laugh. The Dawsons and the Brampton Excelsiors will face the New Westminster Salmonbellies tonight (Friday) in Brampton to open the Canadian major lacrosse championship series. Dan won a Mann Cup with Brampton in 2002 but has spent his recent summers playing in Victoria. Paul has been a member of the Excelsiors for four years but Peterborough knocked Brampton out of the playoffs all four times. So when this year's Ontario final came down to a seventh and deciding game between the teams, there was extra motivation. Though Peterborough scored in the opening minute of the game, the Excelsiors held the two-time defending national champs to Paul Dawson just one goal the rest of the way in a 7-2 Brampton victory. "It was a huge monkey off a lot of the guys' backs," said Paul. "(Losing to Peterborough in previous years) was in the back of a lot of people's heads, especially down 3-2 going into their arena, but coming back and doing it in seven games makes it that much sweeter." Having his brother along for the ride added to the experience. With four years separating them, Dan and Paul had never been teammates before. It's something they will have time to get used to after the Dan Dawson Boston Blazers acquired Paul in a trade this week. Earlier this summer, the National Lacrosse League expansion team selected Dan first overall in the NLL dispersal draft. Dan's decision to return to Ontario for the summer boosted Brampton's chances for a run at the Mann Cup. "It's not only because he's my brother, but also because he's one of the better players in the game right now," Paul said. "He's a big piece of the puzzle to get us over the hill." Though the Excelsiors made a big push for the Mann Cup by bringing in NLL allstars like Dawson and Colin Doyle, Excelsiors coach Troy Cordingly said there have been no bruised egos. "Everyone talks about us, saying with all the talent we're a superstar team," he said. "What they don't say is what a strong, closeknit team we are. Everyone has been so supportive and push each other to do better. See Excelsiors page 43