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Canadian marathon record holder Cameron Levins will be seeking the 2020 Tokyo Olympic (2021) standard when he runs the 2020 London Marathon on Sunday, October 4.
The standard is 2:11:30. The 31-year-old from Black Creek, British Columbia has run as fast as 2:09:25, which he accomplished during the 2018 Toronto Waterfront Marathon. In that race, he broke the long-standing record of 2:10:09, which was held by Jerome Drayton from the 1975 edition of the Fukuoka Marathon.
On Sunday, Levins told Athletics Illustrated, “My basic goal for London is to obtain an Olympic qualifying standard. Anything beyond that will be icing on the cake.”
Levins is the former national record holder in the 10,000-metre event, which he ran at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon in 2015. He took Simon Bairu’s record by running 27:07.51. Since then Mohammed Ahmed has improved upon the time. Ahmed is now the national record holder in both the 5000m and 10,000m events having run 12:47.20 and 26:59.35, respectively.
Levins ran for Southern Utah University in the NCAA, a division 1 team. Post-college the 2012 London Olympian signed with the now-defunct Nike Oregon Project and ran under the now banned Alberto Salazar. Currently, Levins is training under the direction of Victoria, BC’s Jim Finlayson.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with Jim; he’s a great coach and I trust him completely.”
On Friday, August 21, Levins ran a solo personal best in the half-marathon. He clocked a 62:12 for the 21.1K distance. His official best is 62:14 from the 2020 Houston Marathon in January, seven months prior.
“I was not planning on racing London until after I did my half marathon time trial last month, so it’s been an accelerated build but training has gone well,” added Levins.”
Marathon fans can watch the London Marathon online, details are available here>>
