Rachel Hannah crushes course record at Toledo’s Glass City Marathon

Every year, hundreds of Canadian runners make the short trip to Toledo, Ohio, to race the flat and fast Glass City Marathon in hopes of a Boston qualifying time or personal best. On Sunday, at the 46th edition of the race, Rachel Hannah of Port Elgin, Ont., set a new course record of 2:40:13, winning the race by nearly five minutes.  

46th Mercy Health Glass City Marathon:

Overall Marathon Winners & New Course Records
Jason Salyer, 2:20:27.17 (male)
Rachel Hannah, 2:40:13.84 (female)

Masters Marathon New Course Record
Maria Lindberg, 2:49:49.67 (female) pic.twitter.com/cBGLS6ByTI

— Glass City Marathon (@GCM_Toledo) April 23, 2023

Hannah, 36, crushed the previous course record by over a minute in her second race of the 2023 season. She is also the first Canadian woman to win the Glass City Marathon since the 1980s. Last month, Hannah finished second to Toronto’s Sasha Gollish at the Around the Bay 30K Road Race in Hamilton.

The 36-year-old was one of about 2,500 people at the starting line at 6:30 a.m. to tackle the course, which starts at the University of Toledo’s main campus and runs through the suburb of Ottawa Hills, then back to finish at the university.

Hannah was not the only Canadian athlete to reach the top of the podium on Sunday. In the men’s masters division, Jason Weppler of Owen Sound, Ont., finished 19 seconds behind Hannah to win the masters title in 2:40:32, beating his previous marathon PB by more than a minute. 

Weppler and Hannah train together in the Port Elgin area under the supervision of coach Joe Chappell. Hannah holds a marathon best of 2:32:06 from the 2016 Houston Half Marathon. In 2015, she represented Team Canada at the Pan American Games in Toronto, where she won a bronze medal in only her second marathon.

Nearly 100 runners from Ontario made the drive to Toledo to run the 2023 Glass City Marathon. The race is a USATF-certified course and attracts many runners as an official qualifier for the 2024 Boston Marathon.