Stats from California International Marathon show women are faster than ever

Sunday was the California International Marathon, which also played host to the USATF Marathon Championships. Kevin Liao tweeted this morning that the Sacramento race saw 99 women run under 2:45 for the marathon, in marked contrast to the 2000 Olympic trials, where only 20 women ran sub-2:45. 

At the 2000 Olympic Marathon Trials, 2️⃣0️⃣ women ran 2:45:00 or faster.

At the 2018 California International Marathon, 9️⃣9️⃣ women ran 2:45:00 or faster.

Wow.

(h/t @the_maddawg) #RunCIM @runSRA_CIM

— Kevin Liao (@RunLiao) December 3, 2018

Unsigned athlete Emma Bates took the win in the women’s race on Sunday, cruising to a 2:28:18 victory, for the seventh fastest American marathon debut ever. 

RELATED: Kinsey Middleton wins the Canadian Marathon Championships in debut run

The fall of 2018 has been a huge year in Canadian women’s distance running. Berlin saw a huge breakthrough for Canadian women with Rachel Cliff coming dangerously close to the Canadian record in her marathon debut, and Catherine Watkins and Lyndsay Tessier setting two Canadian masters records over the distance. 

Cliff wasn’t sure what to expect coming into the Berlin Marathon. “It’s an unpredictable event. It was a shorter build than usual. One of the advantages of a short build is that I was fast, but a disadvantage was that I was a little low on volume.” Despite her relatively low volume, Cliff knew her workouts were strong, and that she was in shape to run well.

Melanie Myrand followed up the Berlin performances with a ninth place finish in Chicago and a massive personal best of 2:34. Then a few weeks later, Kinsey Middleton won the Canadian Marathon Championships in 2:32, which was also her debut. 

RELATED: Rachel Cliff debuts the marathon only 53 seconds off the Canadian record

Mary Keitany’s women’s-only marathon record is still very new, having bee set only 18 months ago at the London Marathon in 2:17:01, but Paula Radcliffe’s marathon world record of 2:15:25 from 2003 remains untouched. While a 2:30 marathon is a long way from 2:15, the number of women in both Canada and the U.S. who are capable of running in the 2:30’s and under is drastically increasing, which suggests a very exciting future for women’s marathon running.