Kenya鈥檚 Daniel Kipkoech won the 39th GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon on Sunday, his fifth consecutive win on a course that makes him feel like he鈥檚 at home.
鈥淲hen I come here I really like it, it鈥檚 like home,鈥� said Kipkoech. 鈥淚t鈥檚 where I won my first marathon.鈥�
Kipkoech, who lives in Lethbridge, Alta., won the marathon with a time of 2:22:39. He said the light rain caused the course to be slippery, making the race 鈥渢ough,鈥� but he credits the cheering crowds for motivating him and keeping him strong.
鈥淚 like the fans. They kept saying: 鈥楧aniel keep going.鈥� That was good,鈥� said Kipkoech. 鈥淚 was focused on my win today because I don鈥檛 want to let the fans down, these fans like me and I don鈥檛 want to let them down.鈥�
Kipkoech is training for the Olympics: 鈥淚 am hoping for 2020.鈥�
The women鈥檚 marathon winner was Emily Setlack, of Cold Lake, Alta., in a time of 2:46:20. Setlack said keeping positive was her ticket to the win.
鈥淚鈥檓 just happy I pushed myself,鈥� said Setlack, of racing her second marathon.
Setlack found the rolling hills a challenge but said it was the crowd that helped her through. 鈥淚t lifted me up, it was really helpful.鈥�
Setlack said she is more pleased with her effort than her win, adding she was honoured to be in a race with so many other powerful female athletes.
Her mantra through the race: 鈥淚 think you have to stay positive and believe in yourself because if you let negative thoughts creep in it鈥檚 kinda over, so you have to be patient and keep positive as much as you can.鈥�
Victoria鈥檚 Jim Finlayson was the comeback story of the marathon, breaking the masters course record and the Canadian record for the men鈥檚 45-49 age group in 2:25:29. It was his first marathon since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2009.
鈥淚t feels really good,鈥� said Finlayson.
鈥淭here were a lot of doubts, for sure. I went through a lot of stages, feeling pretty heavy-legged for awhile and then starting to get a second wind,鈥� he said.
Along the course, fans could be heard shouting: 鈥淛im, Jim.鈥�
鈥淚t was pretty exceptional,鈥� said Finlayson. 鈥淚t feels good being home and around this crowd.鈥�
In the half-marathon, Trevor Hofbauer of Calgary won in 1:05:18.
Hofbauer was understated about his achievement: 鈥淚 was just focused on getting a good workout in. There wasn鈥檛 any key to winning, I just wanted to run strong.鈥�
Meanwhile, Natasha Wodak of Vancouver had a unique motivation to 鈥渃rush鈥� her own half-marathon record with a time of 1:11:45.
Wodak, who divorced in 2013, said she was thrilled to win under her maiden name, having set the course record of 1:14:06 in Victoria in 2012 under her married surname, Fraser.
鈥淚 was very happy to take that name out of the record books,鈥� said Wodak.
鈥淚t was a good day, great course,鈥� said Wodak, who said she focused on running her own race and not starting out too fast. 鈥淚t worked well and I finished strong.鈥�
鈥淚 cannot believe the amount of support on the course. You come back while all the marathoners and half-marathoners are going out and all the women are just screaming at me: 鈥楪o lady,鈥� 鈥� said Wodak. 鈥淚 was trying to wave [back] at all of them.鈥�
Wodak also called the course slippery with the rain that fell throughout all of the day鈥檚 races, but said Victoria is a special place.
鈥淭hey put on a great race,鈥� said Wodak. 鈥淭he course is very scenic. It has a little bit of everything for elites and just everyone who wants to come out and have a good race, or come to Victoria, take in the scenery, have some food and enjoy the city.鈥�
In the men鈥檚 8K, last year鈥檚 winner Justin Kent of Burnaby came first in a time of 23:46.
On the women鈥檚 side, Sarah Inglis, a Scot now living in Langley, won in 27:31. While others found the course hilly, Inglis found it 鈥渁ctually quite flat.鈥�
鈥淚 felt like most of the day it was kind of downhill actually,鈥� Inglis said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a beautiful course. I鈥檒l definitely come back. It鈥檚 so picturesque even in the rain.鈥�
The race-day numbers were similar to last year, race spokeswomen Louise Hodgson-Jones said. More than 6,900 people finished their races 鈥� 1,050 in the marathon, 2,747 in the half marathon, 2,160 in the 8K, plus 1,000 in the Thrifty Foods Kids Run.
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