STWM athlete profile: Getting to know Jeff Costen

As part of our coverage of the 2017 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Oct. 22, we’re profiling the top Canadian athletes set to compete at the Canadian Marathon Championships.

RELATED: More STWM athlete profiles.

Name: Jeff Costen
Age: 25
Hometown: Toronto
Current location: Toronto
Associated club/coach: Steve Boyd/Running Room Athletic Club
Previous marathons: 1
Marathon PB: 2:27:36

Describe yourself: As a former Queen’s athlete now immersed in a post-collegiate world, I train and compete based on the simple reality that days with a run (or two) are better than days without. Competitiveness drives everything I do, so while I’m out there running I might as well run fast.

Most notable running/racing experience: The 2015 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Half-Marathon sets the gold standard, not only because it’s the biggest race that I’ve ever won, but also because of the top notch event execution from Canada Running Series that keeps bringing me back every October. I spent a lot of 2015 splitting time between the cross course, the track and the roads, but that result gave me a strong indication of where my future priority should lie.

How has your training gone? My second marathon build has been smoother and more consistent than my first one. While my overall mileage is down marginally, workouts have been indisputably more consistent, thanks to a more moderate summer, sensory data from the previous build and generally improved fitness.

Why STWM? As the national marathon championship, STWM attracts a deep field that includes some of Canada’s best marathoners. For a second tier athlete like me, the opportunity to chase Canadians like Aaron Cooper, Josh Bolton and David Freake is a strong draw. Getting to sleep in my own bed and eat a pre-race dinner at my local sushi joint is also key.

Goals for the race? I haven’t put a number on it yet, but I really want to keep the effort consistent for both halves of the race. It’s a cliché that the second half of a marathon starts at 32K, but it rang true for me last year. If I can attack those last 10K to actually shave off time and beat some competitors, rather than simply hang on for survival, I expect I’ll be happy with the result.

What gear will you be sporting for the race? New Balance RC1600V2s and decaffeinated PowerGel (vanilla flavoured). Shout out to Running Room for making that part of race preparation easy.

Social handles:

Twitter: @jeffcosten
Instagram: @jeffcosten
Strava: Jeff Costen