Natasha Wodak of North Vancouver finished the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon in a new course record of one-hour and 12 minutes and one second (1:12:01), for the win on Sunday. Meanwhile, Max Turek of Whitby, Ontario, clocked a 1:03:28 performance to take the men’s race on a stunning and warm morning in downtown Vancouver.
Turek holds a personal best of 1:02:45 from Boston two years ago. The 26-year-old alum of McMaster University finished well clear of Santiago Gaitan Caballero by a difference of 1:10. Taking third was Thomas Broatch, clocking in a 1:04:46. The first non-Canadian was Harry Halford from Great Britain, with his fourth-place finish time of 1:04:57.
Wodak, who holds a personal best of 1:09:41, which was the national record in 2020, set in Houston, was short-lived as Andrea Secaffien bettered it a few weeks later to 1:09:38 in Marugame, Japan, and still stands. It would be a hard goal to accomplish on Vancouver’s rolling course and in the warm temperatures, but the course record is Wodak’s for now.
She previously ran 1:12:58 in 2017 in Vancouver, which was 25 seconds shy of the course record from 1996 by Japanese runner Mina Ogawa.
Two Americans tried to keep up with Wodak, to no avail. Danielle Jordan and Sammie Kidder finished well back at 1:15:43 and 1:16:17, respectively.
It was a first go at the distance for Jordan, a University of Connecticut Husky grad. For Kidder, it appears that the third-place finish is a new personal best.
Top-10 results
| Place | Country | Name | Category / Bib | Gun Time | Chip Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CAN | Max Turek | m25-29 (Bib 10001) | 01:03:29 | 01:03:28 | – |
| 2 | CAN | S Gaitan Caballero | m20-24 (Bib 10000) | 01:04:39 | 01:04:38 | +00:01:10 |
| 3 | CAN | Thomas Broatch | m25-29 (Bib 10023) | 01:04:46 | 01:04:46 | +00:01:17 |
| 4 | GBR | Harry Halford | m25-29 (Bib 10004) | 01:04:57 | 01:04:56 | +00:01:28 |
| 5 | USA | Christopher Reischel | m25-29 (Bib 24135) | 01:06:23 | 01:06:21 | +00:02:53 |
| 6 | CAN | Alex Drover | m25-29 (Bib 10016) | 01:06:26 | 01:06:25 | +00:02:56 |
| 7 | USA | Aaron Bratt | m20-24 (Bib 10026) | 01:07:47 | 01:07:45 | +00:04:17 |
| 8 | USA | Julian Heninger | m30-34 (Bib 10005) | 01:07:56 | 01:07:54 | +00:04:26 |
| 9 | USA | Ben Li | m35-39 (Bib 10025) | 01:08:56 | 01:08:54 | +00:05:26 |
| 10 | CAN | Ryan Tyrrell | m25-29 (Bib 10003) | 01:09:28 | 01:09:27 | – |
| Place | Country | Name | Category / Bib | Gun Time | Chip Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CAN | Natasha Wodak | f40-44 (Bib 10050) | 01:12:01 | 01:12:01 | +00:08:33 |
| 2 | USA | Danielle Jordan | f25-29 (Bib 10053) | 01:15:43 | 01:15:41 | +00:12:13 |
| 3 | USA | Sammie Kidder | f30-34 (Bib 10058) | 01:16:19 | 01:16:17 | +00:12:49 |
| 4 | CAN | Samantha Jory | f30-34 (Bib 10052) | 01:17:04 | 01:17:02 | +00:13:34 |
| 5 | MEX | A Valdepenas Cerna | f40-44 (Bib 10054) | 01:17:57 | 01:17:56 | +00:14:27 |
| 6 | CAN | Kiana Gibson | f25-29 (Bib 10056) | 01:19:03 | 01:19:01 | +00:15:33 |
| 7 | USA | Alauna Carstens | f20-24 (Bib 10062) | 01:19:33 | 01:19:31 | +00:16:02 |
| 8 | CAN | Jouen Chang | f25-29 (Bib 10059) | 01:19:39 | 01:19:37 | +00:16:09 |
| 9 | CAN | Fawn Whiting | f40-44 (Bib 10073) | 01:19:56 | 01:19:53 | +00:16:25 |
| 10 | CAN | Kim Bennett | f35-39 (Bib 10065) | 01:20:18 | 01:20:15 | +00:16:47 |
