Canadians go 1 and 2 at the LA marathon

Josh Cassidy and Tristan Smyth went 1-2 in the wheelchair race and the women's event saw a new course record

Madeleine Kelly March 24, 2019

Josh Cassidy and Tristan Smyth went 1-2 this morning in the wheelchair division of the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon.

Cassidy crossed the line in 1:31:47 with Smyth behind him in 1:38:33. Cassidy has won multiple world majors including Chicago and London, and has represented Canada at both the 2008 and 2012 Paralympics. Smyth is a British Columbia native who represented Canada at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk3_w2VlvgD/

Back in 2012, Cassidy broke the wheelchair world record, finishing in 1:18.25 at the Boston Marathon, beating Ernst Van Dyk’s 2004 world record by two seconds. He was the first Canadian to win the Boston Marathon’s wheelchair division since 1987. Sadly Boston isn’t record eligible (because it’s a point-to-point course), so the mark didn’t officially stand.

In the women’s wheelchair results Katrina Gerhard took the win in 1:56:22. She was followed by Jenna Fesemyer in 2:04:13 and Michelle Wheeler in 2:10:29.

??? @JoshCassidy84 & @tristan_smyth go 1-2 at the Los Angeles Marathon.

? Josh Cassidy 1:31:47
? Tristan Smyth 1:38:33

— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) March 24, 2019

In the women’s event in LA, Askale Merachi of Ethiopia broke the course record running 2:24:11. She was followed by Cynthia Jerop in 2:25:54 and Lucy Karimi in 2:26:15.

Kenyan Elisha Barno crosses the finish line at the #LAMarathon. Watch a raw feed of the race’s final leg in Santa Monica: https://t.co/HGHHAsn8r3 pic.twitter.com/KChooilwYL

— KTLA (@KTLA) March 24, 2019

On the men’s side, the race saw the tightest finish in its history with Elisha Barno of Kenya passing John Korir in the final few metres of the race.