Cam wasn’t the only Levins to debut the marathon on Sunday

Glad to get some press alongside my brother’s sub 3 hour marathon ? Congrats bro on your debut! @JordanLevins pic.twitter.com/D1tPfK9lCc

— Cam Levins (@CamLevins) October 24, 2018

Cam Levins may have gotten all the attention on Sunday at the Scotiabank Toronto Wawterfront Marathon when he broke the Canadian record with his 2:09:25 debut, but his older brother Jordan also ran his first marathon that day in Toronto. And though he wasn’t trying to break any records, Jordan Levins, 31, of Calgary, Alta. ran a sub-3 (2:59:10)–not bad for a guy who has always been more focused on other sports.

RELATED: Cam Levins was patient, and it paid off

Early days on Vancouver Island

“Cam first beat me in a running race in grade 11 track (he was grade 9), and he never looked back,” Jordan told us. “I was the second fastest distance runner at our school. I’ve always kept in shape, but the last couple years I have been running fairly frequently, and Cam made a program for me in the marathon build and was sending me workouts weekly.”

“He doesn’t do anything part-way, so his program was pretty intense for a recreational runner,” Jordan adds. “I was in pretty good shape a month ago and was hoping for a 2:40-2:45 marathon in Toronto, but I rolled my ankle in a basketball game, which set me back over the last month, and I changed my goal to sub3.”

Supportive family

Cam and Jordan’s parents, Gus and Barb Levins, who still live in Black Creek, have both run the Victoria marathon–Barb twice, Gus once. Barb was a sprinter in high school, and Gus played football. “I am sure there is a genetic aspect to this,” Jordan says, “[but] genetics only go so far. Cam has been focused and dedicated to his running for as long as I can remember.”

Jordan says Cam was a normal younger brother, keeping up with him at every sport, “and I never took it easy on him,” he says. “When he came back for the summer after his freshman year [at Southern Utah University], he had a new level of focus and drive to his running. It was always a top priority from then on… It was really eye-opening for myself and our family to see what goes into becoming an elite athlete… he is a very inspiring person to know.”

Jordan says it was “heartbreaking” to see his brother grapple with a serious injury, which cost him the chance to go to the 2016 Olympics. “It’s why there was a lot of emotion after his marathon Sunday,” he says. “We know how much he wants it, and how hard he has worked to come back from his injury.”

Jordan is a water treatment technician for a small utility company in Calgary. He says he doesn’t have much of a running history, but has always been athletic, being active in basketball, soccer, and golf while growing up on Vancouver Island. “I ran cross country and track all through school as well, but mainly as cross training for the other sports,” he says. 

Jordan Levins is married to speedskater Jessica Gregg, whose sister Sarah also ran the marathon on Sunday.