Four-time winner of the GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon, Daniel Kipkoech will be back on Sunday hoping to make it five in a row.
The multi-year champion will be joined by American Mizael Carrera and VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 Jim Finlayson in the 39th annual event. In the womenB次元官网网址檚 field, top seeds are Caroline Kiptoo, Lioudmila Kortchaguina, and Emily Setlack.
Kipkoech is the favourite to win again but could have some competition from Carrera who has a personal best of 2:21:50, just seconds shy of KipkoechB次元官网网址檚 winning time last year of 2:21:03.
Kipkoech recently came second in the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon. Finlayson is odds on to be the masterB次元官网网址檚 champion. Recently he has been concentrating on half marathons and is on fine form having just won the masterB次元官网网址檚 category at the Copenhagen Half Marathon in 1:08:20. Also in the menB次元官网网址檚 field is Olympic race walker Evan Dunfee.
The womenB次元官网网址檚 field will be an exciting match-up between the 2018 Scotiabank Calgary Marathon winner, Kiptoo and Kortchaguina, who won Victoria in 2014. Kortchaguina is a five-time Canadian champion. Third and fourth seeds, however, could be a threat. Setlack is the 2018 Canadian Mountain Running Champion and Catrin Jones, is two-time winner of the GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon (2010 and 2013) as well as an ultra-runner who just competed for Canada in the 100-km world championships in Croatia.
There will be some local battles in the half marathon with the event hosting the BC Half Marathon Championships. The BMO Vancouver Half Marathon champion, Kenyan George Towett will be facing off against the Scotiabank Calgary Half Marathon winner, Trevor Hofbauer. Towett won the Vancouver race in 1:04:03 with Hofbauer finishing in 1:08:26. But Julian Florez, who came second in Victoria last year in 1:06:00, will be a contender for the title.
The womenB次元官网网址檚 half marathon field could see a new record if Natasha Wodak is on form. The Victoria half marathon record holder and 2016 Olympian, could break her own record from 2012 (1:14:06). This year she has already run a 1:14:01 in Vancouver and a 1:14:00 in Houston. However, competition will come from the UKB次元官网网址檚 Nicole Robert, who has a personal best of 1:16:15, and 2017 Victoria half marathon runner-up Meg Lewis-Schneider, from Vancouver, who has a personal best of 1:16:42.
The 8K race could see Lindsay Carson win her fifth race in a row. The Burnaby runner owns this course B次元官网网址� she set her personal best here the first year she won it in 2014 (27:15). However, Sarah Inglis, who won the half marathon here last year, will be on her tail. The British runner, who now lives in Surrey, BC has a personal best of 27:25 and is on form, having won the Tom Scott Memorial 10-mile run in Scotland in 55:34. Third seed is Louise Mercer, a Scot who now lives in Utah. Mercer is a track specialist who has run a 16:36, 5000 metre personal best. Fourth seed, Melissa Ross could be a threat also. The Nanaimo runner is the 2017 Vancouver Island Trail Series female champion and won the 2018 Hatley Castle 8K.
In the menB次元官网网址檚 field Justin Kent from Burnaby, will be defending his 2017 title. His personal best is 24:04, set at last yearB次元官网网址檚 race. Competition will come from Shelby Drope from Nanaimo and VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 Ian Searle. Both Drope and Searle are active in Island races B次元官网网址� Drope was the male champion in this yearB次元官网网址檚 Vancouver Island Race Series and Searle won the Comox Valley RV Half Marathon.
The total prize purse for the High Performance Athlete Program in the Marathon and Half Marathon is $33,500, with $3,000 each going to the top male and female Marathoner, and a $4,000 bonus for a new menB次元官网网址檚 or womenB次元官网网址檚 Marathon course record. The MenB次元官网网址檚 course record was set in 2013 by Lamech Mokono in 2:13:42 and the WomenB次元官网网址檚 by Lucy Njeri in 2011 (2:37:56). Natasha Wodak-Fraser set the womenB次元官网网址檚 Half Marathon record in 2012 (1:14:06). The MenB次元官网网址檚 Half Marathon record is held by Jon Brown (2002 B次元官网网址� 1:02:32). Gary Barber holds the menB次元官网网址檚 8K Road Race course record (1989 B次元官网网址� 23:23), and Ulla Marquette holds the womenB次元官网网址檚 record (1991 B次元官网网址� 26:24)
Late entries for the Marathon, Half Marathon, 8K, and the Thrifty Foods Kids Run are being accepted at the Race Expo, at the Victoria Conference Centre, from 12:00 noon B次元官网网址� 6:00 pm on Friday, October 5, and 9:00 am B次元官网网址� 6:00 pm on Saturday, October 6. There is no race day registration.
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