Athletics Canada, the nation’s governing body of running, decided to revise the 2017 IAAF World Championships marathon standard back in February. That has opened the door for a crop of up-and-coming runners in this country. The qualifying standard time for both men and women have now slowed rather significantly.
Two runners this weekend have their eyes set on running faster than 2:19 including Blair Morgan and Seth Marcaccio. Both are under 25 and hail from southern Ontario. Each have prepared differently on the all-important mileage spectrum.
Until recently, only three Canadian men had run the IAAF marathon standard for London 2017: Reid Coolsaet, Eric Gillis and Rob Watson. After this weekend though, that number could increase to six as unheralded Thomas Toth ran 2:18:58 in Hamburg, Germany adding to the list of usual suspects on the Canadian distance running scene. However, Coolsaet told Canadian Running he won’t race worlds and Watson isn’t expected to run the London championships either.
t should be noted that Athletics Canada can send up to three athletes in the each of the men’s and women’s marathons so qualifying may require more than narrowly breaking 2:19 or 2:45, respectively. Now, runners in the 2:12:50-2:19 range (men) and 2:29:50-2:45 range (women) are at least eligible for selection whereas before they would have been on the outside looking in. (The IAAF, the world’s governing body, has a set of standards while individual associations, like Athletics Canada, have the discretion to set tougher marks. For the marathon, AC’s and the IAAF’s times now are equal.)
