The Around the Bay Road Race has come and gone once again. This year not only was it a chilly run, but also a longer one.

Over 8,500 runners took off this morning from outside Tim Horton’s Field. Some did the 5, 10, and 15-kilometre races while others chose the longer 35.4-kilometre route.

This year the course was 4 kilometres longer because of the new starting point in Hamilton’s east end, and a sinkhole in Burlington also added an extra 1.4 kilometres.

Taking the top stop for men in the 35.4 km race was Phil Parrot-Migas from London at 1:51:13.

“I’m feeling good, I was nervous with the weather but I’m happy, I’m doing this as a prep- so this was just a practice run, a good practice run,” says Phil.

Rachel Hannah from Port Elgin was the fastest woman with a total time of 2:10:58.

This was the first time the race started and finished at Tim Horton’s field. Planning is already underway for next year’s event.

READ MORE: Unexpected change extends Around The Bay race once again