Linkletter runs to 1st Canadian title, beating 3-time defending champ Levins in half marathon

CBC

2 days ago

Rory Linkletter took Cam Levins's Canadian half marathon crown, and now he's aiming for his national record in the marathon.
The Calgary-born Linkletter edged Levins of Black Creek, B.C., at the line on Sunday in Edmonton, collecting his first-ever Canadian title with a one-hour three-minute half marathon.
Levins, the national record holder in the distance who had prevailed at each of the previous three national half marathon championships in Winnipeg, finished one second behind. Ben Preisner of Milton, Ont., reaching the finish in 1:03:15.
"[The] sprint finish was electric," Linkletter told Canadian Running of Sunday's race. "I knew Cam was gonna fight tooth and nail for it, and he delivered a lot of punches over the final 2 [kilometres] to test me.
"It felt like a great fight and I'm proud to have won this one. It means more winning against good competition."
Linkletter, who now lives in Flagstaff, Ariz., hadn't raced Levins since last Aug. 10 in the Olympic marathon in Paris, where Levins placed 36th (2:11:56), 11 spots ahead of Linkletter (2:13:09).
That race fuelled his determination to become the best marathoner he can be by the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.Next for Linkletter is targeting Levins's 2:05:36 Canadian mark at the Oct. 12 Chicago Marathon rather than compete at the Sept. 13-21 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Linkletter narrowly missed his first Canadian title May 25, finishing second to Albert Korir of Kenya in the Ottawa Marathon.
A month earlier, the 28-year-old Linkletter went 2:07:02 for sixth in Boston, a 59-second personal best and fastest time by a Canadian at the event that put him second on the Canadian all-time list.
Linkletter began his Boston build running two races at the 21.1 km distance over six days — in Marugame, Japan, where he ran a 1:00:57 PB on Feb. 2, and Mesa, Ariz.
Chicago, where the late Kelvin Kiptum set the men's world record of 2:00:35 two years ago, is a flat and fast course. The men's field includes six athletes who have broken 2:04.
In Sunday's women's half marathon, British runner Lauren McNeil, who lives and trains in Kelowan, was victorious in 1:11:25 over defending champion Natasha Wodak (1:11:40) who lives in North Vancouver.
Helping hand
Meanwhile, fellow road racer Ben Flanagan of Kitchener, Ont., continues to recover from a partially torn labrum in his left hip joint.
He was unable to be a full participant in the 53rd annual Falmouth Road Race on Sunday near his home in Bourne, Mass, but the 30-year-old did run.
Flanagan started at the back of the pack and helped raise $24,264 US, collecting $1 for each of the 8,088 runners he passed for the local J-Rob Foundation, a not-for-profit committed to providing adaptive sporting equipment to children with physical disabilities or challenges.
Falmouth Road Race Inc.'s donation was matched, dollar-for-dollar, by Cutter Financial Services and a silent donor.
Last week, Flanagan set a goal of about 5,000 runners passed for the day, and expressed he was happy to help young athletes in need.
"It's a cool way to race in a different experience, and to interact with all of the people," he told the Bourne Enterprise newspaper. "I just have to run smart and not try to over-do it."
Flanagan had planned to run about a six-minute pace, about 90 seconds slower than his usual one-mile pace.
He won the men's elite race in his 2018 debut and back-to-back in 2021 and 2022. He was third last year. Flanagan's wife, Hannah, grew up in Falmouth and her father has served as FRR president in recent years.
Flanagan made his Olympic debut last summer on the track over 5,000 metres and will make his marathon debut