Montreal woman breaks Canadian age-group marathon record, then disqualified

One of the most exciting results from the 2023 Valencia Marathon was what we thought was a new Canadian age-group record in the women’s 45-49 category. 

The result caught our attention when a Montreal woman was listed as the top Canadian female finisher in an exceptional time of 2:38:46, which eclipsed Canadian Olympic marathoner Krista DuChene’s 2:38:53 W45-49 record from the 2023 Tokyo Marathon earlier this year (by seven seconds). But the woman’s time was removed from the results four days later, when it was discovered that she had missed two timing mats, at 30 and 35 kilometres.

According to race officials, her time was disqualified by timing judges because her bib was not detected at the 30 and 35 km checkpoints. The timing judges found a discrepancy in her result when she came through the halfway checkpoint in an hour and 32 minutes, which means she would have had to cover the final 21 kilometres in 66 minutes to break the age-group record. A 66-minute half-marathon would be a Canadian record, on its own, outside of a remarkable negative split.

When we reached out to her for a comment, she told Canadian Running that she stepped off the course around 29 kilometres for various reasons, including “female issues.”

“There was a lot of pressure I was putting on myself,” she says. She says she spoke with medical at 29 km and told them she was abandoning the race. “Medical asked me my name, age, and bib number,” she recalls.

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Despite telling medical she was done, she hopped back into the course and recorded splits at 40K and 42.2K. “I crossed the finish line because it was the shortest route, and I announced my DNF … even if I ran the final three kilometres at 4:05/km, I felt fairly fresh,” she recalls.

The 29 and 40-kilometre mark on the Valencia Marathon course are within 250m of one another.

Valencia race officials said the medical team on the course is “not affiliated with race results” and has “no control” over disqualifying runners who step off.

“I was not taking away any position from anyone, and I meant no harm,” she says. “I didn’t take the finisher’s medal, and I left with a feeling of shame. I did not smile in photos or raise my arms in the air because I was disappointed in myself.” 

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The runner told Canadian Running that she sent an email to the race later that day, asking for her result to be removed; her result of 2:38:46 was eventually removed four days after the race, on Dec. 7. 

Although the runner says she is “angry with herself,” she hopes to give the marathon another shot in Berlin next year. “I would love to go back to Berlin for under 3:05, or why not sub-three–a girl has the right to dream a little!”