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The winter-like weather that set upon Vancouver did not deter the enthusiasm of approximately 35,000 runners in the Vancouver Sun Run on Sunday.

Canadian Olympian, John Gay, of Vancouver, won his first Sun Run besting fellow Vancouver-area athlete Justin Kent by three seconds and stopping the clock at 29 minutes and 40 seconds. Thomas Broatch, also of Vancouver, clocked in at 29:45 for third.

Leslie Sexton of Vancouver defended her title finishing in the time of 32:22. Finishing in second place was Malindi Elmore of Kelowna back 13 seconds taking third was Cleo Boyd with her 32:55 performance. Boyd is from Kingston, ON.

John Gay breaking the tape. Photo credit: Margaret Buttner/Athletics Illustrated

The men’s race

Gay worked in a pack of a Canadian who’s who of running. He dropped the pace during the final kilometre and was still concerned about his competition over the final 200m.

Also in the top-10 were, Olympian Trevor Hofbauer (4th), Ben Preisner (5th), Thomas Nobbs (6th), Tyler Dozzi (7th), and Olympian Luc Bruchet (7th). Twenty-one men finished under 31 minutes, 20 of them Canadian. One from Surrey, Yemane Mutugeta (16-18), clocked in at 30:43.

Ryan Hayden, a competitive Canadian runner during the early 2000s took the first masters (40-plus) position with his 31:34 performance. His best Sun Run performance took place in 2007 when he ran to his personal best of 29:24. Hayden was a middle-distance specialist and owns a strong 1500m best of 3:39.78.

The women’s race

Sexton, worked her way through the crowd, purposely and methodically avoiding the pitfalls of a fast start, which she experienced during her win in the 2022 edition. For her efforts, she clocked a faster time, despite the weather.

Sexton has emerged over the past few years as a marathon runner. Her best to date was in 2020, when she broke the 2:30 barrier in Philadelphia clocking a 2:28:35 performance. It is her best run over all distances. Sexton acquitted herself well at the 2022 Eugene World Athletics Championships with a near-best of 2:28:52 taking 13th place.

Sexton told the Vancouver Sun, “I was more than 15 seconds faster than last year. Part of it is being fitter and, honestly, I tend to run well in the rain. I saw the forecast and I knew this was a strength for me and I’m just going to roll with it.

Elmore competed in the 2004 and 2020 Olympic Games. In the latter, she finished in ninth position in the rescheduled Tokyo Olympic Games, as a master (40-plus) in 34-degree heat. Elmore coaches the UBCO Heat in U Sport, the Canadian university league.

A total of 21 women finished under the 36-minute benchmark.

The Run Run returned to the streets of downtown Vancouver during the 2022 event. But many people stayed away. The race often sees 30-50,000 finishers. The 35,000 registrants marks a comeback for the iconic west coast event.

Next up on the west coast running scene is the Bazan Bay 5K and TC10K on Vancouver Island, as well as the BMO Vancouver Marathon and Half Marathon as well as the Bloomsday 12K in Spokane, Washington.

Full results are available HERE.

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