Thomas Nobbs of Vancouver ran the 2026 McKirdy Micro Marathon in New York in a new personal best time of 2:09:25. Meanwhile, fellow Vancouverite Dayna Pidhoresky also won in 2:31:24.
Nobb’s race
On Saturday, at the Rockland Lake State Park event, Nobbs went after a new personal best and was rewarded with a sub-2:10 performance to become just the fifth Canadian to run under the benchmark.
Cameron Levins currently holds the national record of 2:05:36 from the 2023 Tokyo Marathon. Rory Linkletter is the second-fastest Canadian at 2:06:49 from Chicago last year. Trevor Hofbauer ran 2:09:51 in the 2019 Toronto Marathon. Ben Preisner clocked a 2:08:58 from 2024’s Oita, Japan Marathon.
Meanwhile, both Levins and Linkletter have recorded sub-2:10s at least three times each. Nobbs’ effort is the 10th-fastest all-time performance by a Canadian.
Taking second place in New York was Boston College alum Erik Linden in 2:12:12, while fellow American Alec Troxell rolled in for third in 2:14:58. Troxell is from Portland, Maine, just a four-hour drive up the coast.
Asked about his post-race perspective, Nobbs told Athletics Illustrated Magazine, “At this stage I’m still trying to process it all and maybe in some disbelief.”
McKirdy was Nobbs’ third marathon. He had previously run 2:12:27 and 2:15:22 in Toronto 2024 and at The Marathon Project in December.
Asked to describe how the race played out, he answered, “For the race set up, I actually came into race week believing I would be racing another strong competitor who was doing his marathon debut and had a 1:02:45 PB. Only two days before the race, when I was in New York, did I find out he had dropped out.
“As a result, we had a pace runner (Kyle Merber) for the first four miles, who was pacing at 3:07/km as requested. My goal time for this race was 2:11:30, and anything past that was a bonus.
“After Kyle stepped off, I was running solo and leading for 22-plus miles.”
Nobbs has been running up to approximately 210 kms per week (130 miles). Since November, he has eclipsed the 200 km barrier at least 11 times. In February at the Vancouver First Half, half-marathon, Nobbs clocked a solid 1:03:42 on loaded legs to finish third.
Asked about his training for the marathon, the 26-year-old shared, “For the build, I was uncertain how I would respond having come off the Marathon Project in December, but the body came back quicker than we expected, and I was excited with how workouts were going across the build.
“There were a couple of weeks where I did get too excited and found my limit in training, but the timing worked well for a mental reset, and the rest of the taper went very smoothly as a result.
“On the day after Kyle stepped off, I simply went off by effort. The loop was 2.955 miles (4.8 kms) for the full loops, and I kept running my splits too fast, but the effort felt remarkably easy, so my coach and I went with it.”
Next up for Nobbs is the Tamarak Ottawa 10K and possibly a 5000m.
Pidhoresky for the win
Fellow Vancouverite Dayna Pidhoresky won too. She clocked in at 2:31:24, her best in four years. Pidhoresky’s personal best is 2:29:03 from the 2019 Toronto Marathon, a performance, as the first Canadian, qualified her for the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.
American runners Jessica Donohue and Annabel Stafford took second and third, clocking 2:34:40 and 2:35:07, respectively. For Donahue and Stafford, the McKirdy Micro Marathon performances were new lifetime bests.
Pidhoresky also ran the First Half half-marathon and finished in second place in 1:12:41, which is three seconds shy of her personal best, which dates back to the 2018 Edmonton Half Marathon.
Americans Jessica Donohue and Annabel Stafford finished in second and third places, respectively, clocking 2:34:40 and 2:35:07.
