VIDEO: Rejean Chiasson is marathon-ready after five-year break

For the first time in five years, Rejean Chiasson, who owns a lifetime best of 2:17:47 (2011), is race-ready for a marathon.

Chiasson, who has consistently logged 200-plus kilometre weeks in the lead-up to the world’s most famous road race, could once again be the top Canadian in a big-city marathon. The 33-year-old has run marathons, more than 10 he says, since 2012 but has not “raced” one competitively. (He is not on the elite start list as he used a marathon time from a race in which he paced a friend.)

The 2012 Canadian marathon champion is balancing the obligations of being a head coach with Toronto-based Pace & Mind as more than a dozen of his athletes are in Boston while also ensuring he is ready himself. Some team members, instead of running Monday’s marathon, opted to run the also-popular Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) 5K on Saturday.

Fortunately, some of his athletes have run Boston in the past so the roles have in part reversed as Chiasson has been getting pointers about the undulating point-to-point course. The open race begins Monday morning at 9:32 a.m. EDT with the elite women’s field.

Canadian Running caught up with Chiasson on Sunday morning, 24 hours ahead of the race, to chat expectations, why run Boston in 2017 and a soon-to-be addition to the family. Chiasson has the fastest PB of any Canadian in the field following the announcement that three-time Olympian Eric Gillis would not race.

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Chiasson is among Canada’s top-50 men’s marathoners of all-time, according to the Athletics Canada historical rankings. If conditions are favourable, westerly winds for example, watch for Chiasson to potentially hit the low-2:20s on Monday.

Useful Canadian Running content for running the 2017 Boston Marathon

– Complete 2017 Boston Marathon coverage
– Course preview, race-specific tips and suggestions
– Boston Marathon jackets through the years
– A beginner’s guide to America’s greatest race
– Pre-race workout with Rejean Chiasson
– The excitement behind running Boston for the very first time
– Eric Gillis out of the 2017 Boston Marathon
– Pre-race interview with Rachel Hannah
– Michael Bergeron wants to joggle a 3:05 marathon in Boston
– Michael Wardian back to Boston two weeks after running the Barkley Marathons

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