World and Course Records Set
(Victoria, BC – Sunday October 12, 2008). Today’s 29th Annual Royal Victoria Marathon held under unseasonably warm, sunny skies saw Steve Osaduik win his third successive men’s marathon title and witnessed a new World Record in the women’s 80+ category. In the largest Royal Victoria Marathon event ever held – 10,395 registered for the Marathon, the Half Marathon, 8K Road Race and the Thrifty Foods Kids Run – the marathon also saw three age-class course records set.
Langley-based Osaduik won the men’s marathon in 2:25:31 after a one-two battle with Jason Terauchi-Loutitt for most of the race. Osaduik, however, pulled away with Terauchi-Loutitt fading to third place in a time of 2:31:13. Victoria’s Todd Howard came a strong second in 2:28:43. In the women’s race Cheryl Murphy, who was aiming to break the 20-year-old course record of 2:42:32, narrowly missed her goal, but did set the 35-39 age-class record finishing in 2:43:01. It was also the third fastest women’s time in the event’s 29 year history. Wendy Terris from Milwaukie, Oregon was second in 2:48:04, and Vancouver’s Katherine Moore third in 2:54:12. Fourth-placed Joan McGrath from New Westminster set a women’s 45-49 age-class record in 2:56:33. Cindy Rhodes from Kelowna, BC set a women’s 50-54 age-class record in 3:09:27.
Betty-Jean McHugh from North Vancouver made history today setting a World Record in the women’s 80+ category. Her time of 4:36:52 was 13 minutes faster than the previous record. This remarkable achievement follows her setting the W75-79 record in Victoria in 2003 in 4:08:54. McHugh felt confident and strong on the course. “I was aiming for 4:30 but very happy with my result – it’s better than staying home and cooking turkey,” she said.
In the Half Marathon, favourite Ryan Day from Vancouver won in 1:08:50. Victoria’s Jim Finlayson – who ran the Toronto Waterfront Marathon two weeks ago in a time of 2:22:15 – came second in 1:09:11, and Jason Warick from Saskatoon came third in 1:09:22. In the women’s field Calgary’s Lindsay McLaren won in 1:21:38, Laura De Munain from Vancouver was second in 1:24:03, and Natalie Ball, also from Vancouver came third in 1:24:20.
In the 8K Road Race it was a sweep for Victoria runners taking eight out of the top ten places. Ryan McKenzie won in 23:56, Scott Simpson was second in 24:22 and third was Olympic triathlon silver medalist Simon Whitfield in 24:30. In the women’s field Richmond, BC’s Rachael Ruus won in 28:39, Nancy Tinari from Coquitlam, BC was second in 28:44, and Vancouver’s Rachel McBride was third in 28:56.
The event saw the highest number of finishers in the Half Marathon and the 8K Road Race – 4,267 and 1,894 respectively. The Marathon saw 2,035 finishers and with the Thrifty Foods Kids Run the total number of finishers was 9,176.
The Royal Victoria Marathon looks forward to setting new records next year as it celebrates its 30th Anniversary on October 11th 2009.
For full results from the 29th Royal Victoria Marathon go to: www.raceheadquarters.com
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