© Copyright – 2026 – Athletics Illustrated
Thomas Broatch won the 2026 St. Patrick’s Day 5K on Saturday, March 14 in a time of 14:10. He finished two seconds ahead of Canadian Olympian John Gay. Maximilien Filien from Candiac, Quebec, took third place in 14:31.
Vancouver’s Holly MacGillivray won the women’s race in 16:09. Meanwhile, fellow Vancouverite Ally Ginther clocked in at 16:34 for second, and Scotland’s Sarah Inglis took third in 16:39.
For Broatch, St. Patrick’s Day is the site of his road personal best of 14:25 from the 2024 edition. In 2022, he ran 13:51.16 at the Portland Track Festival.
Currently, Broatch, who ran 2:10:35 in Houston just two months ago, is preparing to race the 2026 Ottawa Marathon happening Sunday, May 24.
Filien represented the Vancouver Thunderbirds club, however, is attending the University of British Columbia in applied sciences. He is in his third year of eligibility. His main event is the 3000m steeplechase—Gay’s old stomping grounds.
For the 24-year-old MacGillivray, the performance improves upon her road PB, which she set in 2025 at the St. Patrick’s Day 5K at 16:16. It is also better than her track best of 16:21.28, which is a great improvement considering St. Patrick’s Day course offers a few undulations. The Waterloo, ON native graduated from UBC in applied sciences last year.
Inglis is a long-time Vancouver area resident, and as a newer mom and teacher, is busy. She has run as fast as 14:59.65 on the track and 15:29 on the roads.
Race director Steve Mattina makes an effort every year to put on a race event that focuses on the front of the field, but magically, no one, no matter how modest a runner feels left out. This year, Mattina recruited the deepest field to date, which resulted in 114 finishers clocking under the 17-minute benchmark. It has been his goal for several years to have 100-plus runners race under the benchmark.
The final runner under 17 was Sarah MacGillivray with a 16:58 gun time performance, which is official. The unofficial chip time final finisher under 17 was Alycia Butterworth from nearby Burnaby (Greater Vancouver). She finished in 16:56 chip, but 17:00 gun—so close. One hundred and 53 finished sub-18, while 52 finished under the 16-minute benchmark.
But many eyes were on Canadian Olympian Gay; curious to know how fit he is.
John Gay’s comeback
For Gay, it has been a few years since he ran his best over the distance, 13:29.82 on the track and 13:58 on the roads, but the Olympian, at 29, is far from done. In fact, he has a renewed plan, to look at longer distance racing. Where that lands him is potentially a marathon in 2026, but no official announcement of where and when has been released.
For Gay, the past few years have been a tough go of repeat injuries, with time away and then upon return, more frustrating injuries. He appears to potentially be out of the woods and training well again.
“I’ve been trying to build really slowly thus far, but have been up to 100-110 miles a week (162-178 kms) for the last month or so. That was mileage that I was hitting pretty often while still focused on the steeple, so I’m hoping to push up as long as the body stays healthy,” Shared Gay.
Part of his return to international-level fitness is to move to Flagstaff, AZ, with his family (his wife is a dual citizen already) train with Rory Linkletter’s coach.
“After a bunch of years dealing with injury, I made the decision to move away from the steeple and try my hand at the roads. Sadly, the first year away from the track was as injury riddled as the previous few and I tore my hamstring around this time last year,” saidd Gay. “This was my first race in over a year.”
