© Copyright – 2024 – Athletics Illustrated
Three-time Canadian Olympian, Malindi Elmore, will take to the streets of Victoria, BC on Sunday, October 13. She will be racing the Royal Victoria Marathon.
But getting there will be half the fun.
She is the head coach of the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat. She and the team will be 1000 kilometres east in Calgary at a cross-country meet the day before. In a tag-team-like effort, her husband Graham Hood — also an Olympian — will have their two boys in tow. She will land on race morning at the Victoria International Airport 26 kilometres to the north. If things go as planned, she will arrive at the start at the Parliament Buildings on Belleville Street ready for her usual pre-race warm-up rituals.
Elmore’s winning resume
Elmore of Kelowna currently holds the second-fastest marathon time in Canadian history at 2:23:30. She accomplished this at the 2023 Berlin Marathon. Elmore finished ninth in the Tokyo Olympic Games just 3:39 behind gold medallist Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya. And was just 3:13 behind bronze medallist Molly Seidel of the USA.
The only Canadian to run faster is Vancouver’s Natasha Wodak who clocked a 2:23:12 at the 2022 Berlin Marathon. Wodak will be racing the Toronto Marathon on Sunday, Oct. 20.
“I’m looking forward to returning to the RVM weekend. I always enjoy my time on the island. And I have fond memories of this event having won the 8k in 2004 and the half marathon in 2015,” shared Elmore. “Who knows, maybe I’ll be lucky enough to complete the trifecta in 2024!”
According to Hood, a rough sketch of her effort may look like 1:21 for the first half and a 1:15 return, but plans may change race morning.
The course record is 2:37.56 by Kenyan Lucy Njeri from the 2011 edition. The fastest Canadian on the course all-time is Nanaimo’s Erin Burrett. She won in 2014 in 2:39.17, which is the second-fastest performance in the event’s 43-year history from 1980 to 2023.
“My goal for the race will be to run a controlled effort long run in preparation for my yet-to-be-announced fall marathon. I’m really looking forward to cruising along Dallas Road and soaking in the energy from all the other runners!”
Having run as fast as 2:23:30, Elmore should have no problem improving the event record. She has also run 2:24:50 (Houston, 2020), 2:30:05 (Sapporo at Tokyo Olympic Games) and 2:31:05 in the Paris Olympic Games.
The Stewart Cup
The University of Calgary Dinos will host the Stewart Cup at West Confederation Park (Canmore Park) near Capital Hill. The annual Stewart Cup includes a combination of men’s and women’s scores. The meet had its inaugural run in 2003. It is held every year in memory of Brian and Gerry Stewart. The brothers went missing while hiking in the mountains of Russia. The meet rotates between Edmonton and Calgary, as one of the Stewart brothers attended each school.
