Canada’s marathon and half-marathon report holder Cam Levins has chosen to race near house on the Royal Victoria Half-Marathon on Oct. 8, in his preparations for the 2023 TCS New York Metropolis Marathon on Nov. 5.
Final week, Levins pulled out of the half-marathon on the 2023 World Athletics Street Working Championships in Riga, Latvia. Levins mentioned he underestimated how vital the journey and restoration can be to and from the occasion. The championships can be a 20-hour journey for Levins every method with two layovers if he flew from his house in Portland, Ore. Levins and his coach Jim Finlayson determined the lengthy journey wouldn’t be ideally suited in his construct for New York.
In accordance with Occasions Colonist, Levins goals to focus on the Royal Victoria half-marathon course report of 62:32, which is presently held by British Olympian Jon Brown, who was fourth within the marathon at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympics. Levins has a private greatest time of 60:18 for the half-marathon, set at Vancouver’s First Half earlier this yr.
The half-marathon shall be near house for Levins, who grew up three hours north of Victoria in Black Creek, B.C., the place his mother and father, Gus and Barb Levins, nonetheless reside.
The Royal Victoria Marathon weekend is experiencing a resurgence after being disrupted by the pandemic. Final yr noticed the long-awaited return of the marathon, with 7,934 individuals coming again after the pandemic hiatus. This yr, organizers are optimistic in regards to the occasion’s development, aiming to succeed in 10,000 individuals.
In March, the 34-year-old broke his Canadian marathon report for the second time in lower than a yr, clocking a powerful 2:05:36 for fifth place on the 2023 Tokyo Marathon. This was additionally the quickest time ever recorded by a North American, surpassing American Khalid Khannouchi’s 2:05:38 from the 2002 London Marathon.
Levins’s outstanding run in Tokyo not solely met the Olympic normal of two:08:10 but additionally secured his spot on Staff Canada’s marathon squad for the 2024 Paris Olympics subsequent July. His journey to the 2023 New York Marathon in November is all in preparation for his pursuit of Olympic glory in Paris, which is anticipated to be one of the troublesome Olympic marathon programs to this point.
