The humble and the mighty, 9,059 of them, will form a ribbon of humanity through the streets of Victoria and Oak Bay this morning in the Royal Victoria Marathon races.
Among the former will be 82-year-old Helen Sabourin of Gibsons in the marathon and 93-year-old Vladimir Viotto of Sao Paolo, Brazil, in the half-marathon. Among the latter will be Canadian middle-distance runner Gabriela DeBues-Stafford, fifth in the women’s 1,500 metres, at the 2000 Tokyo Olympics, in the 8K and Canadian and North American marathon record-holder Cam Levins from Black Creek racing the half-marathon as he prepares for the iconic New York City Marathon on Nov. 5 enroute to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
A total of 28 nations will be represented, including the U.S., U.K., Mexico, Kenya, Australia and Germany, providing an economic boon and the kind of Spandex-clad visitors any city covets.
Levins will be chasing the Royal Victoria half-marathon record of 1:02:32, set by Jon Brown, who was the fourth-place marathon finisher in the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympics. Levins, 34, holds the Canadian record in the half-marathon of 1:00:18.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve raced on Vancouver Island, so I’m glad the opportunity arose to fit this into my build-up to the New York City Marathon,” said Levins.
“Competing in sa国际传媒 is always a positive, but to race in Victoria is rare for me, and I feel very fortunate.”
The Royal Victoria Marathon weekend is rebuilding following the pandemic. The entire 2020 program was cancelled and only the half-marathon and 8K were contested in 2021. Last year was the first running of the full marathon, since celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2019, and 7,934 took part in the 2022 comeback. The rebound is continuing with 9,059 participants for this weekend. Of that total, 1,859 have registered for the marathon, 3,836 for the half marathon, 2,255 for the 8K, 632 for the 5K and 477 for the Thrifty Foods Kids Run, the latter two of which were run Saturday at Willows Beach in Oak Bay. Of the marathon total, 518 have registered to hopefully post qualifying times today to race the Boston Marathon in April.
But Levins is preparing on another legendary marathon next month.
“I’m very much focused on the New York City Marathon right now, but I think the [Victoria] course and race will be a huge boost in experience going into the Paris Olympics, which also looks to have a hilly course,” he said.
“Most of the choices regarding training and racing, at this moment, are made with the intent of being my best come next summer [Olympics].”
Levins broke his own Canadian record in the marathon for the second time in less than a year by running 2:05:36 to place fifth in the Tokyo Marathon in March. It was also the fastest time ever recorded by a North American, eclipsing American Khalid Khannouchi’s 2:05.38 in the 2002 London Marathon.
Levins, coached by Jim Finlayson of Victoria, broke his previous Canadian record of 2:07:09 set last year in placing fourth in the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. That time had bested Levins’ original Canadian record of 2:09:25 set in the 2018 Toronto Marathon, which had bettered Jerome Drayton’s hallowed 43-year-old Canadian record of 2:10:09 set in 1975 at Fukuoka, Japan.
The Islander began running in Grade 7 with the Comox Valley Cougars Track Club. Levins became the Island and sa国际传媒 high school cross-country champion with the G.P. Vanier Secondary Towhees of Courtenay before becoming 2012 NCAA Division 1 champion in both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres with the University of Southern Utah Thunderbirds.
Levins qualified for the finals of both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres at the 2012 London Olympics. He won bronze in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games in the 10,000 metres at Hampden Park.
An injury and surgery kept Levins out of the 2016 Rio Olympics. His return, and switch from track to road, was a breakthrough in 2018 when Levins broke, by 44 seconds in his debut marathon, Drayton’s stubborn Canadian record of more than four decades.
Levins has lowered that twice since. His national record time in Tokyo last spring beat the Olympic standard of 2:08:10 and qualified Levins for his third Olympic Games at Paris next year, a journey that continues this morning back on the roads of his home Island.
