Vancouver’s Dayna Pidhoresky ran a three-minute personal best of 2:26:02 at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Sunday, October 18, winning the Canadian championship for the second time.
Pidhoresky first won the Canadian championship in Toronto in 2019, earning automatic qualification for the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, held in 2021.
“I am really pleased with today and being able to PB so significantly, and in a negative split execution was even better,” shared Pidhoresky over email.
“It wasn’t the perfect race for me, but I knew I could still do something special on a good day, and I was really focused on not feeling like the stars had to fully align,” she added.
Pidhoresky felt relaxed and strong from the gun, settling into the right rhythm behind pacer Phil Parrot-Migas. Occasional training partner Natasha Wodak also paced her for the first 9 km, keeping her company, “which was comforting.”
Early in the race, however, Pidhoresky had to make a pit stop because of stomach issues. She dealt with the problem at 12 km, made quick work of it, “rolled with the punches,” and returned to the race rhythm.
“We got back into the right rhythm quickly, and I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do that again. The rest of the race was just about staying in the rhythm, managing my continued stomach discomfort, and trying to get in my nutrition for as long as I could handle it.
“After half, I felt like we were running really well and slowly accelerating each 5K split. I was pleased it never felt like we were pressing, and my goal was to try to work hard after 33 km but not knowing if that would even be possible.”
With the stomach discomfort persisting, Pidhoresky decided to skip her nutrition from 35 km onward.
“My stomach was still an issue, and I was feeling good otherwise, but still I hoped that wouldn’t come back to bite me.”
Runners faced a headwind over the final kilometres. Pidhoresky, a 37-year-old native of Tecumseh, ON, “tucked in and hung on,” for the remainder of the race.
“I was surprised I was still running so well as the legs were definitely starting to feel tired. I think my last 2 km was my fastest of the entire race, which is pretty cool! I was thrilled to break the tape and claim another Canadian Championship, but even more so, I’m proud of myself for how I dealt with how things unfolded, and yesterday’s result gives me a lot of confidence that I can go even faster. I’ve never executed a race so well, and to do that with other things going on that weren’t ideal makes me excited for what’s to come.
“My goal time was 2:26; that was the target I discussed with Phil pre-race. After my half marathon in Windsor in September, Josh (her coach and husband) and I thought that would be an appropriate pace goal. We knew I was in my best form ever, and I told Josh the day before that I didn’t think I would be happy with a little PB. I’m still a little annoyed I didn’t get that sub-2:26,” she added with a chuckle.
Pidhoresky ran 2:29:03 in Toronto in 2019. That performance automatically qualified her for the Tokyo Olympics. However, she spent her entire pre-race stay quarantined in her hotel room. Combined with the detraining and the heat, the experience was far from the Olympic experience she had hoped for.
It had been 15 years since Pidhoresky had run a half marathon in under 1:12, at Niagara Falls, ON. However, an asterisk accompanies her 1:11:46 performance because a course adjustment invalidated the course certification. Her official personal best for the distance therefore remained 1:12:38, set in Edmonton in 2018.
Pidhoresky finally improved that mark on September 13 this year, clocking 1:11:37 in Windsor, ON.
The performance confirmed she was in the best shape of her career and gave her confidence that she could improve her marathon personal best in Toronto. She did exactly that, taking three minutes off her previous best and claiming another Canadian championship.
