Canadian Running’s top 3 stories of 2012

3. The Toronto Waterfront Marathon

After last year’s dramatic Olympic trials race, it was hard to imagine that Canada Running Series could even come close to the built-in plot lines of the 2011 edition.

But interest in the marathon was perhaps at an all-time high in this country after we sent three runners to the Olympics to run in the marquee event. Add to that the controversy and excitement that built all year long around Krista DuChene and Lanni Marchant, and once again Alan Brookes and company had themselves an exciting, nuanced event for distance running fans.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL7Cwy7am_0&list=UUVSXdeNJ1DWMgOOtWVcyAYA&index=2[/youtube]

Sure, the Canadian women’s record didn’t fall on that rainy, humid day in Toronto. Nor did we get treated to the fastest marathon ever run on Canadian soil after the lead pack began to wilt in the second half of the race. But the race itself on both the men’s and women’s side was extremely exciting. Ottawa resident Mary Davies ran a brilliant race and surprised everyone with the women’s win over heavily favoured Agnes Kiprop. Marchant was forced to drop out due to injury, but DuChene persevered, continuing to show her promise for 2013 and beyond.

Most importantly, the race took a huge step for marathoning in this country by coming to an agreement with the city of Toronto which allowed the course to showcase the city itself. Previously, the Waterfront Marathon was just that: a race relegated to Toronto’s lakeshore. If marathoning is to continue to blossom in Canada it needs the support of cities such as Toronto. Seeing a marathon run through the heart of the city was a huge moment for our sport.

2. Canadian runners at the Olympics

For the running world, the summer Olympics acts like a vortex: everything leading up and coming after the Games seems to somehow get sucked into the Olympic narrative.

This was the case for many of Canada’s elite runners leading up to the summer. It was truly exciting to track the pursuit of an “A” standard by many of our up-and-coming athletes.

Middle distance runner Geoff Harris ran PB after PB en route to an Olympic berth. Jessica Smith and Melissa Bishop cracked the two minute barrier in the 800m leading up to the Games, and Hilary Stellingwerff ran with food poisoning in Rome to garner a spot in the 1500m. Fellow 1500m runner Nicole Sifuentes just eked out the “A” standard in a last-ditched effort at a meet in San Diego just before the qualification deadline to punch her ticket to London.

The toughest race to watch at the Games for Canadian track fans had to be Nate Brannen’s 1500m semi-final. The 29-year-old showed up in London in the shape of his life, keeping up with the best in the world throughout the first part of the year. But with 600m to go Brannen suddenly went down after being accidentally spiked in the tight pack and wasn’t able to recover.

Although much of the drama surrounding qualification for the marathon on the men’s side played itself out last October, Dylan Wykes wowed us in Rotterdam. After failing to qualify at a race in Japan just a month earlier, the native of Kingston, Ont. ran the second fastest marathon time ever by a Canadian in Rotterdam in April.

In the end, the Canadian record wasn’t in peril in London, Wykes, Reid Coolsaet and Eric Gillis all performed well under warm conditions on a twisty course. Together, the three Canadian marathoners would place better than many other significant running nations, which says a lot about the current crop of elite distance runners that Canada has produced.

But perhaps the biggest story coming out of these Games for Canadian running fans was the ascension of Cam Levins.

The kid from Black Creek, B.C. rose from absolute obscurity in 2012. Everything Cam touched turned to gold. He became a legend on the track south of the border, dominating the NCAA. He then represented his country in both the 5000m and the 10,000m. And although illness slowed him down he did manage to make the 5000m final, a feat that itself is impressive, considering this may have been the deepest 5000m final in the history of the Olympics. He fared even better in the 10,000m final managing  to stay competitive with a world class field, suggesting that the future is bright for Canadian running. With Cam Levins, Canadians may have a world class superstar on their hands in the very near future.

1. The New York City Marathon

It’s not very often that a running story breaks through to the mainstream media and dominates the headlines for days on end.

Fortunately or not for the running community, this is exactly what happened when the New York City Marathon was cancelled in early November.

The story itself seems to have had four major acts: the rising tension as Superstorm Sandy approached; the brash decision by the NYRR and mayor Michael Bloomberg that the show must go on, even though the damage was far worse than anyone had anticipated; the controversial last-minute decision to cancel the event, just 36 hours before it was to be held; and the confusing fallout in the aftermath of the cancellation, which has only partially resolved itself as of the end of 2012.

The cancellation debacle was only recently resolved, with runners being offered either a refund or guaranteed entry into a future New York City Marathon. But disappointment seems to still linger for both runners and residents of New York City, particularly those in badly hit areas such as Staten Island, the race’s typical starting point.

Although the cancellation of the marathon isn’t the most uplifting story of 2012, it is by far the biggest.

Much of how runners and non-runners reacted to the cancellation is very telling as to the state of this sport and how others perceive runners, both good and bad. Certainly, the sight of nearly 50,000 runners self-actualizing through the destroyed boroughs of New York would have revealed a certain disconnect between the haves and have-nots of our current society, and what sort of sport running is, socio-economically speaking.

But the manner in which many runners carried themselves in the aftermath of the cancellation — gathering in Central Park on Sunday and making the best of the experience, or by volunteering in the devastated areas of the city — says just as much about the sort of person that is attracted to this sport.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRP1Gnebl6E[/youtube]

The rest of Canadian Running’s Top 10 stories of the year (Nos. 10-4)