The Vancouver Half Marathon boasted a solid local elite field on Sunday.
The men’s race
In the men’s race, Surrey’s Justin Kent celebrated his return from injury and the recent birth of his daughter by taking off early and cruising to a convincing victory.
Kent broke the tape with a one-hour, five-minute and nine-second performance, a great return to form for a solo performance. As a new father, Kent’s lack of sleep from early parenting didn’t prevent his success, one he noted wouldn’t have been possible without the support of his wife and baby girl who cheered him across the line. While he can add the Vancouver Half to his portfolio of wins, Kent won’t be slowing down anytime soon, with sights now set on the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon, and Canadian National Championship in October. Matthew Walker (1:11:30) and Sam Wensink (1:11:38) had a good battle for the second and third podium places.
The 32-year-old has a best of 1:02:48 from 2022.
The women’s race
Natasha Wodak and Dayna Pidhoresky paced alongside each other for the first 15 kilometres before Wodak took the lead. She finished in the time of 1:13:52 for the win. Pidhoresky hung on for second in 1:15:22 with Burnaby’s Jamie Hennesey third in 1:18:47.
“I wanted to run the first half of the race more on the more conservative side and I pushed myself over the last 6-8K,” said Wodak, giving her the chance to catch a pack of men over the final mile joking “it’s always fun to hunt [them down].”
Wodak is coming off of the Canadian Half Marathon Championships win in Winnipeg where she clocked a 1:12:56 performance, 13 seconds ahead of Kelowna’s Malindi Elmore who is heading to Paris for the Olympic Games Marathon. Elmore had bettered Wodak winning the Ottawa 10K National Championships on May 25th clocking a 32:50, leading from gun to tape. Wodak finished third 31 seconds back.
Wodak has a best of 69:41, while Elmore has clocked a 1:10:11 lifetime best.
The Vancouver Half Marathon & 5K, hosted by Canada Running Series, celebrated an excellent day on the streets of UBC and Kitsilano Sunday morning. There were over 4500 participants in the half marathon and nearly 1000 in the 5K – the most in recent history – tackled the scenic course, showcasing the best of Vancouver’s running community with no shortage of joy, athleticism, and perseverance. The runners came from 8 Canadian provinces, 24 American states and 30 countries. Fully 4000 of the 6000 were aged 18-39, underscoring the arrival of a new running boom.
Half Marathon Male:
1. Justin Kent 1:05:09
2. Matthew Walker 1:11:30
3. Sam Wensink 1:11:38
Half Marathon Female:
1. Natasha Wodak 1:13:52
2. Dayna Pidhoresky 1:15:22
3. Jamie Hennessy 1:18:47
