© Copyright – 2024 – Athletics Illustrated

To qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games Marathon, men need to run under 2:08:10 and or be ranked within the top-80 globally. Women need to run sub-2:26:50 and also be ranked top-80 in the world. Six Canadians headed to Houston, Texas on Sunday to try to make Team Canada. They ran well but didn’t make the cut — there is still time to qualify.

The men

Tristan Woodfine from Cobden, Ontario ran a small personal best but still came up short clocking a 2:10:39 performance in Houston on Sunday. Woodfine’s previous best happened in London in 2020 when he ran 2:10:51. At the time the standard was 2:11:30, but he wasn’t picked for the Tokyo Olympic team because Cam Levins slipped past him in Austria at the 11th hour. Woodfine lodged a protest but was still denied. His Olympic dream survived 2020, and like Levins, there is nothing stopping him from having another go, perhaps in London in April. He finished sixth overall in Houston. Each country may send up three qualified men and women to Paris.

Vancouver’s Thomas Broatch finished seventh overall in the time of 2:11:48 for a new personal best. He debuted in the marathon in October at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon where he clocked a 2:16:25 finish time. There were four Canadians in the top 20 including Callum Neff and Evan Elder. The two finished 16th and 19th, respectively.

The winner of the race was Moroccan Zouhair Talbi who breasted the finish banner in 2:06:39. Tsedat Ayana of Ethiopia took second with a 2:07:00 finish. Germany’s Hendrick Pfeiffer took third in 2:07:14. Houston was a new personal best for the 30-year-old veteran.

Talbi likes Houston, last year he set a new half-marathon personal best clocking a 1:01:08 performance there. The 2:06:39 is a new best for the 28-year-old.

The women

Natasha Wodak of North Vancouver went into Houston with a singular purpose: run sub-2:26:50. It didn’t happen as she began to suffer calf and hamstring issues during the latter part of the race. It was her mission to make a third Olympic team. She still may, but will have to look at an April run. She finished ninth in the time of 2:28:42. Her national record is 2:23:12 from Berlin in 2022.

Vancouver’s Leslie Sexton finished eighth in 2:28:14. It was her third time running a “2:28.” Previously she ran Philadelphia in 2021 clocking a 2:28:35. The following year in Eugene she ran the World Athletics Championships in 2:28:52.

The winner was Rahma Tusa Chota of Ethiopia. She finished in the time of 2:19:33.

Top results

POSNAMETIME
1Rahma Tusa Chota – ETH2:19:33
2Vicoty Chepngeno – KEN2:19:55
3Melesech Tsegaye Beyene – ETH2:24:50
4Deborah Schöneborn – GER2:24:54
5Jovana de la Cruz Capani – PER2:26:49
6Bosena Mogesie – ETH2:26:59
7Atsede Tesema – ETH2:27:18
8Leslie Sexton – CAN2:28:14
9Natasha Wodak – CAN2:28:42
10Phillipa Bowden – GBR2:29:14

TOP RESULTS MEN MARATHON

POSNAMETIME
1Zouhair Talbi – MAR2:06:39
2Tsedat Ayana – ETH2:07:00
3Hendrik Pfeiffer – GER2:07:14
4Pat Tiernan Pat Tiernan – AUS2:07:45
5Hugo Edgardo Catrileo Tapia – CHI2:08:44
6Tristan Woodfine – CAN2:10:39
7 1Thomas Broatch – CAN2:11:51
8 1Marcelo Laguera – MEX2:11:54
9 2Saul Acosta – MEX2:13:22
10Elisha Barno – KEN2:14:05
11 1Kenta Uchida – JPN2:14:43
12 1Shadrack Kimining – KEN2:14:59 
13 1Daverso Ramos Acevedo – PER2:16:10
14 1Adam Vadeboncoeur – USA2:18:04
15 1Joseph Whelan – USA2:18:25

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