How Canadians did at the 2023 Berlin Marathon
Kelowna's Malindi Elmore led the way, not only as the top Canadian but also as the top North American female finisher, in 2:23:30
Photo by:
KEvin Morris
For the second consecutive year, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa were crowned champions at the BMW Berlin Marathon. Kipchoge secured his record-setting fifth victory in 2:02:42, surpassing the great Haile Gebrselassie, who had won four times between 2006 and 2009. However, all eyes were on Assefa, who obliterated the women’s marathon world record in only her third marathon, becoming the first woman to break 2:14, 2:13 and 2:12, defending her title in 2:11:53. The impressive performances in Berlin didn’t end there, as many Canadian runners achieved personal bests on the historic and flat course. Here’s how the top Canadians fared.
The top Canadian finisher was two-time Olympian Malindi Elmore of Kelowna, B.C., who took first place in the W40-44 age category and won the masters division outright. Elmore came remarkably close to reclaiming her national record, set by Natasha Wodak on this course just a year ago, missing it by only 18 seconds. Elmore was also the top North American female finisher in 2:23:30, achieving an 80-second personal best and meeting the Olympic marathon standard of 2:26:50 for Paris 2024.
A beautiful run!! pic.twitter.com/XlH3C1kkvy
— Graham Hood (@grahamhood) September 24, 2023
Greg Pigeon of Chichester, Que., stood out as the leading Canadian male in Berlin, achieving a four-minute personal best with a time of 2:27:14, placing 145th overall and 49th in the M30-34 age group. Pigeon’s performance marked a significant improvement from his previous best at the 2023 Tartan Ottawa International Marathon in May, where he finished as the third Canadian male behind Lee Wesselius and Blair Morgan in 2:31:33.
Top 10 Canadian men
Greg Pigeon 2:27:14 (145th OA)
Sam Hunt 2:32:45 (292nd)
Kevin Lachance 2:34:35 (367th)
Esteban Clavijo 2:34:39 (371st)
Michael King 2:36:19 (444th)
Gabriel Ghiglione 2:36:39 (462nd)
Nick Rupert 2:37:50 (527th)
Evgeniy Panzhinskiy 2:37:58 (535th)
Gabriel Jarquin 2:39:35 (658th)
Thomas Savoure 2:41:37 (779th)
What a great experience running the Berlin Marathon. The crowds were amazing! I even saw some people from Ottawa! Looking forward to being back in the office tomorrow.Â
Quelle belle expérience que de courir le marathon de Berlin. Les foules étaient incroyables ! J'ai même vu des… pic.twitter.com/d4yG5VA29Y
— Mark Sutcliffe (@_MarkSutcliffe) September 25, 2023
Top 10 Canadian women
Malindi Elmore 2:23:30 (13th OA, 1st master, 1st in W40)
Emily Andrews 2:48:19 (89th)
Catherine Paul 2:53:51 (141st)
Meghan Tait 2:55:48 (170th)
Marie Coolsaet 2:56:10 (175th)
Sarah Donaldson 2:56:13 (176th)
Erica Green 2:56:23 (179th)
Gabrielle Plamondon 3:02:07 (289th)
Agnieszka Rogut 3:03:29 (314th, 9th in W50)
Top Canadian age groupers *
Malindi Elmore 2:23:30 (13th OA, 1st in W40)
Jo-Anne Lane 3:35:53 (2nd in W65)
Roger Burlton 4:03:11 (3rd in M75)
Barbara Freedman 4:09:01 (5th in W70)
Ellen Ayer 3:57:53 (8th in W65)
Kathy Coffey 5:53:50 (8th in W75)
Agnieszka Rogut 3:03:29 (9th in W50)
Rhonda Springer 3:19:05 (9th in W55)
Terri Hillestad 5:01:58 (11th in W70)
(*We recognize those who placed in the top 15 in their age group.)
You can head here to check out the full 2023 Berlin Marathon results.
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