Maltais, Mayeur win national championships in speed skating mass start

Valérie Maltais and Hayden Mayeur won their respective mass starts at the Canadian long track speed skating championships on Sunday in Quebec City.

Maltais, from La Baie, Que., completed the 16-lap race in a time of nine minutes 34.163 seconds, followed by Quebec City's Gabrielle Jelonek (+0.109 second behind) and Calgary's Darby Beeson (+0.278). Maltais is the reigning World Cup champion in the 6,400-metre distance.

WATCH: Maltais wins women's mass start:

Mass start national championship title won by Valérie Maltais

On the men's side, Toronto's Mayeur, a World Cup bronze medallist in the distance, won in a time of 8:44.035 ahead of Calgarians Max Halyk (+0.261) and Jack Deibert (+0.29).

The results from this weekend's championships will be used to help select the skaters that will represent Canada on the international stage for the first half of the season.

WATCH:  Mayeur claims men's mass start title

Hayden Mayeur claims Canadian men's mass start national title

The season gets underway next month with ISU Four Continents Speed Skating Championships in Hachinohe City from Nov. 15-17. Athletes will then begin their World Cup season with stops in Nagano (Nov. 22-24) and Beijing (Nov. 29-Dec. 1). The circuit will then make it's way to North American in the New Year, with events in Calgary (Jan. 24-26) and Salt Lake City (Jan. 31-Feb. 2).