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June 28, 2007 - Luzern Spitzenleichtathletik Meeting, Luzern, Switzerland

Tactical race in Luzern

With unseasonably cool tempatures and a smaller than normal field-size in Luzern, the women's 1500m turned out to be a tacticle race that provided good prep for the ping-pong pace of championship racing.

Since some top-level meetings are coming up in the next couple weeks in Athens, Zagreb, Paris and Lausanne, it seemed many women's 1500m athletes unfortunately took this week off of racing. Hilary explains that after the pace-setter lead out in 2:15 through 800m it was basically a three women race for place.

"We were on target after the first lap in about 65-66 seconds, but the rabbit slowed considerably in the second lap and from there it was a long kick for home between three of us switching leads," said Hilary. "Perfectly paced races are tough to find and I think sometimes we start to depend too much on a rabbit to help us run fast, but it was good to make it a race in the last couple laps.

In the end, Great Briton's Abbie Westley took the win in 4:09.38, with Hilary following her in 4:11.10 and fellow Canadian Malindi Elmore a close 3rd in 4:11.17.

Next up for Hilary will be the Paris Gaz de France Golden League on July 6.

For full results in Luzern, click here>>

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