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Local runners post top times in Vancouver Marathon

Jason Louttit seventh, Morgan Titus eighth in warmest race in event history
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Roughly 17,000 people took part in the 42nd annual BMO Vancouver Marathon on Sunday, May 5, including a few dozen runners from Sea to Sky.

The main draw for international runners is the full 42.2km marathon, although the half marathon distance attracted over 8,600 athletes this year, and the 8K run another 860. It was likely the warmest event in its long history with the temperature reaching a high of 24 degrees Celsius in the early afternoon. The previous high was reported as 21 degrees.

Jason Loutitt of Squamish placed seventh overall and second in male 35 to 39 in 2:38:32, averaging a kilometre every 3:46.

Whistler's Morgan Titus, now living in Calgary, managed to placed eighth overall, passing over a dozen runners in the second half of the race. He was third in male 25 to 29, and averaged a kilometre every 3:47.

As well, Squamish's David Roulston also had a fast day, finishing the race in 2:45:22 while placing sixth out of 425 runners in the male 30 to 34 category. He averaged a kilometre ever 3:56.

Whistler's Ashley McMillan, who placed 74th overall in the Vancouver Sun Run two weeks earlier, was hot on his heels. He finished the race in 2:45:56, 34 seconds back of Roulston, while placing fifth out of 393 runners in the male 35 to 39 category.

Claire Daniels also had a great run, finishing in 3:28:40. She was ninth out of 360 runners in the female 25 to 29 age group and 56th out of 2,149 women doing the full distance.

Five other Whistler locals cracked the four-hour mark. Vincent Pago was 54th in male 25 to 29 in 3:36:21. Shizuo Kashino was 71st in male 50 to 54 in 3:50:18. Matt Jackson was 85th in male 25 to 29 in 3:52:01. Vicki Romanin was 20th in female 50 to 54 in 3:56:56 and Christine Suter was 55th in female 40 to 44 in 3:59:27.

Other finishers include Shauna Peachman, Mark Semenuk, Niamh Dillon and Shogo Yonaha.

Also from Squamish, Martin Caron was 17th in male 35 to 39 in 3:07:55, while James Newby also broke the four-hour mark in 3:18:49. Other finishers were Tyrone Mutch, John Redpath, Jenn Thiel and Veronique Poirier.

Thomas Omwenga of Hamilton, Ontario — formerly of Kenya — took the win and $3,500 in cash with his time of 2:24:09. It was a sprint to the finish against Bernard Onsare of Calgary, who crossed the line two seconds back in 2:24:11. Gezahgn Eshetu of Ottawa was third in 2:25:23.

The top female runner was Lucy Njeri of Toronto in 2:40:34, followed by Alice Ndirangu Waruguru in 2:47:20 and Catrin Jones of Victoria in 2:48:19. Jones is well known to Whistler, placing second among women and seventh overall in the 2012 North Face Whistler Half Marathon.

In the half marathon distance, Daryl West placed 34th out of 558 runners in the male 35 to 39 category in 1:31:32. Ondrea Ross was 16th out of 959 athletes in female 35 to 39 in 1:40:37. John Blok was 29th out of 310 in male 55 to 59 in 1:46:32. Lee Carroll was 119th in female 25 to 29 in 1:54:12. Runners finishing over two hours include Erin Cameron, Volker Tischler, Holly Elgert, Naoko Yamamoto, Megan Carson, Jennifer Morgan and Eri Yoshida.

From Pemberton, David Thomas placed 26th out of 199 athletes in male 20 to 24, finishing in 1:35:57. Katherine Taylor also finished the race.

From Squamish, Sean McCreanor was 12th out of 557 runners in male 40 to 44, finishing in 1:28:29. Also breaking the two-hour mark were Jason Ross in 1:29:25, Mike Hiliger in 1:34:16, Frank Van Eerdt in 1:46:39, Sheila McQuillan in 1:47:09., Emma Seguss in 1:48:57 and Deborah Finck in 1:53:21. There were 24 Squamish athletes in total. Also finishing were Salome Robichaud, Jessie Six, Megan Kent, Pauline Chamberlain, Alyssa Franklin, Amanda Toijanen, Michael Lyons, Janet Bride, Kim Morteuil, Gayle Lewis, Krista Lambie, Lindsay Wright, Mieke Van Eerdt, Cody Wilson, Brandi Wilson, Victoria Rigdon and Heather Squire.

A handful of runners also took part in the 8K run. From Whistler William Goldstein finished in 39:14 while Sarah Allen crossed the line 56:11. From Squamish, Marian Kelly finished in 55:57.