The Saskatchewan Marathon made its return to Saskatoon’s Diefenbaker Park on Saturday for the first running in three years because of COVID-19 cancellations.
Starting at 7 am on a cool and windy morning suitable for running, the area was filled with hundreds of participants and hundreds more supporters waving signs, rattling noisemakers and recording the action on their phones.
“The energy of coming back to a live event this year was just phenomenal. And, you know, the people that came out to support it and the families, it was just unreal,” marathon manager Jeff Culbert said.
“We had over 1,300 people registered this year. We had to order t-shirts two or three times just to help make sure everyone was happy and got a t-shirt.”
The marathon ran in a virtual format the two previous years, with roughly 750 people registering each year.
Tyler Gough was the marathon winner, finishing his run in two hours, 47 minutes and 18 seconds.
Karissa Lepage won the women’s event with a final time of three hours, 14 minutes and nine seconds.
Out of the more than 1,300 runners, Saskatoon’s Théo Dow was the first local to cross the finish line with a final time of three hours, four minutes and 24 seconds to finish fifth overall.
He ran his first marathon during the pandemic by himself for a virtual event and was amazed at how different the Saturday’s experience was.
“The running is actually kind of daunting. It’s scary to run so far, but the celebration and festivities and all the people — I really feed off that positive energy, and that helped me have a really good race,” he said moments after finishing.
The Saskatoon teacher said he hopes being the first local to cross the finish line inspires young runners or convinces others to join the sport.
Dow admits he didn’t know if he would have the energy to keep up with the pace as he approached the 35-kilometre mark, but on a gloomy day in Saskatoon, nothing was going to beat the feeling of crossing the finish line and having a medal draped around his neck.
“I was scared. The last 10, 12 kilometers are challenging and you don’t want to die or lose energy. So I was pushing myself and the energy kept coming. To finish and to finish strong was really validating and exciting,” Dow said.
With more and more distances and events added throughout the years, the Saskatchewan Marathon has become an event for all ages with young children, strollers and seniors becoming a common site along race routes.
“It’s ageless, really. It really does encapsulate almost anyone and anybody,” Culbert said.
With another successful Saskatchewan Marathon complete once again, Culbert was proud to reflect on the day, and what it meant to the hundreds of runners, spectators and volunteers it took to make it happen.
“The energy with the community and the amount of volunteers we need to make this happen is magical and incredible,” he said.