Wearing a racing watch that American marathon legend Dick Beardsley gave him the day before, Lamech Mokono of Kenya set a record time Sunday in winning the GoodLife Fitness Victoria Marathon in two hours, 13 minutes, 42 seconds.
That eclipsed the previous Victoria race record of 2:14:33 established in 2011 by fellow Kenyan and two-time defending champion Thomas Omwenga.
Beardsley, whose 1982 Boston Marathon Duel in the Sun against Alberto Salazar is a part of racing lore, was guest speaker at this year’s Victoria Marathon Race Expo. Beardsley holds the 1981 record of 2:09:37 for the Grandma’s Marathon at Duluth in his home state of Minnesota, a race Mokono won in 2008. Upon meeting Mokono Saturday and learning he was a Grandma’s champion alumnus, Beardsley gave Mokono his watch to wear and to time his progress on the streets of Victoria.
That watch sure kept good time for Mokono.
“Dick Beardsley has overcome so much and is a hero to me,” said Mokono, who is based in Santa Fe, N.M.
“He spoke to me and gave me his watch. When Dick Beardsley tells you something, you have to listen to him.”
Mokono won $3,000 for the victory and another $3,000 for breaking the old record in the process. But that’s not all he is taking away from Victoria.
“It was very inspiring to hear the people cheering me on along the course,” he said.
“I’m so happy. This is what I wanted — winning in a record time.”
Lethbridge-based Kip Kangogo of Kenya was second in 2:15:35, Hamilton-based Josephat Ongeri of Kenya came in third in 2:19:53. The 2011 and 2012 champion Omwenga’s bid for the three-peat fell short as he was fourth in 2:26:53.
Catrin Jones of Victoria, also the 2010 champion, continued her torrid year by winning the women’s marathon Sunday in a personal best 2:43:03. That adds to her 2013 list of accomplishments, which includes winning the Squamish 50K, Kamloops Marathon, Whistler Half and representing Canada in the 10,000 metres at the Francophone Games in Nice.
“It was so amazing out there. I could not have done it without the great support of all the people [along the course] cheering us on. It was touching,” Jones said.
At about 25 kilometres, Jones said, her mind was telling her one thing and her body quite another.
“You have to fight through that, overcome that, and keep your legs going,” she said. “It’s 70 per cent mental. Emotionally, it can be taxing.”
Jones kept repeating a mantra and thinking about the world’s greatest running nation — where she ran the Rift Valley Marathon earlier this year.
“I kept repeating in my head: ‘Run faster . . . run like a Kenyan, run like a Kenyan,’” she said.
Katherine Moore of Vancouver was second in 2:50:57 and Denise McHale of Carcross, Yukon, third in 2:56:41.
The women were chasing the Victoria GoodLife Fitness marathon record of 2:37:56 established in 2011 by Lucy Njeri.
The women’s half-marathon champion was Hilary Stellingwerff of Victoria, who represented Canada in the 1,500 metres at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, and who was across Sunday in 1:16:11 in her first-ever half marathon.
“Although I’m shooting for Rio [the 2016 Summer Olympics] in the 1,500, I will definitely do more longer-distance races because I’m finding it helps me,” said Stellingwerff, one of 48 Island athletes who competed in the 2012 London Olympics.
“Running and training in Victoria is awesome. It’s no big deal to be an Olympian in Victoria because there are so many here. You have to go for a medal to be really special. Everyone has a world-class mindset here.”
The half-marathon men’s championship Sunday went to Kelly Wiebe of Vancouver in 1:04:59 with Canadian international and former UVic Vikes star Geoff Martinson second in 1:05:18 and Willy Kimosop of Lethbridge, Alta., third in 1:06:31.
The men’s half-marathon course record of 1:02:32 was established in 2002 by Jon Brown, fourth-place finisher in the marathon at both the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. The women’s course record of 1:14:06 was set last year by Natasha Fraser-Wodak. Both records survived the day.
It seems any city worthy of the name has a marathon. Victoria’s again proved to be a dandy.
A river of humanity totaling 11,768 took to the streets of the capital under gloriously sunny skies, after low-hanging morning fog lifted, for the 34th Victoria Marathon. Of that total, 2,088 were running the marathon, 5,471 the half-marathon, 2,909 the 8K and 1,300 a sold-out kid’s run, as they like to start them young here. That eclipsed the 2012 total of 11,503 participants.
“This is both a major economic impact story and a celebration of fitness,” said race director Rob Reid.
“This is the biggest participation event on the Island overall — and the biggest in B.C. in the fall shoulder season. On Thanksgiving, we can be thankful for having this event.”
The first across Sunday were the 8K runners with Olivier Collin winning the men’s race in 24:40 and fellow Victorian Nick Walker second in 25:25. Rachel Cliff of Vancouver captured the women’s race in 27:50.
The event’s 8K records have been around awhile, and both withstood Sunday’s challenges to stand for at least another year. The men’s standard of 23:23 was set by Gary Barber in 1989 and the women’s of 26:24 by fellow Canadian international Ulla Marquette in 1992.
There was no shortage of colour on the day.
“There were lots of people along the route with bells, whistles and signs encouraging not only family members and friends but everyone,” said race general-manager Cathy Noel.
Amesh Narsing held up a sign reading: “Go Jessica Go” in support of girlfriend Jessica Symes in the half-marathon. She started running only last year.
There was even a proposal during the half-marathon, with Jeff Bujas popping the question to Libby Aynsley about a kilometre into the race. The answer was a resounding “yes.”
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