Canadian Olympian Kate Van Buskirk wins marathon debut in Tennessee

After nearly two decades of tearing up the track and representing Team Canada at the international level, Kate Van Buskirk of Brampton, Ont., made her long-awaited marathon debut on Saturday at the St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series Nashville Marathon in Nashville, Tenn. Van Buskirk kicked off her marathon career in style, winning the women’s race in 2:37:40, which placed her second overall.

Van Buskirk told Canadian Running she’s proud she can now call herself a marathoner. “This is the most fun I’ve ever had at a race,” she says. “It was awesome.” 

Instead of opting for a big city marathon debut, she chose this race because she wanted a “lowkey fun” first outing. “Since I have been running a bunch down here, it was a course I was familiar with and prepared for,” she said. Van Buskirk, a former host and producer of Canadian Running’s The Shakeout Podcast, currently splits her time between Nashville and Toronto as she pursues a post-professional running career in race broadcasting.

Van Buskirk represented Team Canada at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the women’s 5,000m event and won a bronze medal for Canada at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow over 1,500m.

“My goal Saturday was to run in the high 2:30s, but the last 15 kilometres were completely solo,” she says. “My only regret was that my dad’s personal best is 13 seconds faster than mine, so he’s still the fastest marathoner in the Van Buskirk household.” (Ironically enough, her dad, Jim Van Buskirk, also raced a marathon last weekend, in Toledo, Ohio, winning the men’s 65-69 age category.) “My dad is my biggest inspiration,” she adds.

The 36-year-old made the most of her marathon debut, sporting gold sunglasses and race bottoms. “The bottoms were inspired by [former Canadian record marathon holder] Lanni Marchant, (who often wears flashy bottoms to bring a fun approach to marathon running),” Van Buskirk says. “Marathons should be fun, and it brought joy and relaxation to my race.”

Although it’s been just two days since she finished her first marathon, Van Buskirk says she and her coach/partner, Dave Milner, are already keen for the next one. “I’m absolutely thinking about another marathon, and I want it to be in Canada this time,” she says.

Van Buskirk has aspirations of inching toward the 2:30 mark, and of putting on the Canadian national team singlet once again, in Tokyo, for the 2025 World Athletics Championships. “I am so grateful I made the Tokyo Olympics, but I didn’t get to see any of Tokyo or experience a full [capacity] stadium,” she says. “The only time I’ve raced there, it was completely empty–it would be the perfect cap on my career.” (There were no spectators allowed in the stands at the Tokyo Olympics, due to the pandemic.)

Saturday’s St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon saw 23,000 participants. The race was won by Mitchell Small of New Zealand in 2:27:33. Like Van Buskirk, Small was also familiar with the course, having competed against Nashville’s Vanderbilt University in NCAA XC.