Andrea Seccafien breaks Canadian half-marathon record
This is the third time the women's half-marathon record has gone down in the past seven weeks
Andrea Seccafien broke the Canadian half-marathon record on Sunday in Marugame, Japan, running a 1:09:38. The Canadian, who’s stationed out of Australia, ran a fantastic race to break this Canadian women’s record for the third time in only seven weeks.
RELATED: Natasha Wodak becomes first Canadian woman to run under 1:10 for half-marathon
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8DiYmcnLh0/
In mid-December, Rachel Cliff broke her own half-marathon record, running a 1:10:06 to improve upon her previous record by two seconds. Then, only four weeks after that, Natasha Wodak became the first Canadian woman to run under 1:10:00 in the half, setting a new national record at 1:09:40 at the Houston Half-Marathon on January 19. Now, only three weeks after Wodak’s killer race, the number has been lowered again by three seconds.
Seccafien made her half-marathon debut in 2018 when she ran a 1:13:19 in Gifu, Japan. Then she took a break from the distance in 2019 before running her impressive race today. Seccafien did things the hard way on Sunday, positive splitting the event after coming through 10K in a blazing 32:39 (which is only 45 seconds off of the national 10K record).
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk5yPUdFK5T/
The runner relocated to Australia following the World Championships in 2017 and joined the Melbourne Track Club, which has members like World Championship steeplechase finalist Gen Gregson and 2:24 marathoner Sinead Diver. Seccafien was already an accomplished runner when she joined the group (national 5,000m champion, 2016 Olympian in the event) but since making the move she’s gone from a competitor in international competition, to a contender.
This race suggests that there’s lots more to come from the runner this Olympic year.
Check out the latest buyer's guide:
