Six of Canada’s fastest runners to race United Airlines NYC half

March 15 is the United Airlines NYC Half-Marathon and six of Canada’s fastest women are set to race. Natasha Wodak, Krista DuChene, Kinsey Middleton, Jen Moroz, Melanie Myrand and Dayna Pidhoresky will all be lining up.

RELATED: Joshua Cheptegei’s half-marathon training

RELATED: 5 nutrition tips that the pros swear by

Canada is in the midst of a distance running renaissance that’s showing no signs of slowing down, and these women have played a major part in that. Wodak holds that fastest personal best of the Canadians. She ran a Canadian record in Houston a few weeks ago, becoming the first Canadian women to run under 1:10:00 for the half. Her record of 1:09:41 stood for three weeks before it was broken by Andrea Seccafien, the current record holder, by two seconds.

RELATED: Natasha Wodak becomes first Canadian woman to run under 1:10 for half-marathon

DuChene is coming off her strongest year since 2015, running a 2:32:27 to win the master’s division at the 2019 Berlin Marathon. Middleton had a tough day at STWM in October but her 1:12:15 from Houston shows that she’s ready for a strong spring racing season. Myrand hasn’t put up a result since the World Championship marathon in Doha last September, so it’ll be interesting to see where she’s at. Her current personal best is a 1:15:50, a time she’ll likely lower.

RELATED: Canadian Melanie Myrand places 9th at Chicago on her birthday

Pidhoresky hasn’t touched her half-marathon personal best since the Niagara Falls half-marathon in 2011. Her 1:11:46 is sure to get broken, especially considering her Olympic qualifying marathon from STWM.

Elite women

Meseret Ali Basa – 1:15:06
Nuhamin Bogale Ashame – 1:13:08
Milly Clark – 1:10:48
Sinke Dessie Biyadgilgn – 1:12:20
Jessica Judd – Debut
Buze Diriba – 1:06:50
Krista Duchene – 1:10:52
Birtukan Fente Alemu – 1:11:11
Feyne Gudeto – 1:12:54
Belaynesh Fikadu – 1:12:45
Bose Gemeda Assefa – 1:16:52
Rebecca Gentry – 1:17:10
Alia Gray – 1:12:48
Ayantu Dakebo Hailemaryam – 1:12:34
Joyciline Jepkosgei – 1:04:51
Elvin Kibet – 1:11:37
Susan Krumins – 1:10:52
Askale Merachi – 1:09:34
Kinsey Middleton – 1:12:15
Maggie Montoya – 1:10:06
Jen Moroz – 1:18:29
Melanie Myrand – 1:15:50
Mary Ngugi – 1:06:29
Diane Nukuri – 1:09:12
Dayna Pidhoresky – 1:11:46
Beverly Ramos – 1:12:09
Karen Roa – 1:14:35
Caroline Rotich – 1:08:52
Lindsey Scherf – 1:11:45
Jessica Tonn – Debut
Steph Twell – 1:08:55
Natasha Wodak – 1:09:41
Alice Wright – 1:11:38

Elite men

Alvaro Luis Abreu – 1:07:53
Akira Akasaki – 1:01:46
Juan Luis Barrios – 1:00:46
Nicolas Cuestas – 1:03:34
Noah Droddy – 1:01:48
Mauricio Gonzalez – 1:02:34
Callum Hawkins – 1:00:00
Mo Hrezi – 1:02:11
Kennedy Kimutai – 1:00:39
Shadrack Kipchirchir – Debut
Hassan Mead – Debut
Teshome Mekonen – 1:00:02
Benard Ngeno – 59:07
David Nilsson – 1:02:05
Haruka Onodera – 1:02:03
John Raneri – 1:01:51
Stephen Scullion – 1:03:17
Stephen Sambu – 1:00:41
Pat Tiernan – 1:01:22
Belay Tilahun – 1:01:51
Seth Totten – 1:04:05
Tadese Yae Dabi – Debut
Diriba Degefa Yigezu – 1:03:23

RELATED: Why distance doesn’t measure total training volume