Canadians perform well at Houston Marathon

Today’s Chevron Houston Marathon had beautiful weather according to many of the athletes who ran it. Canadian runners were in attendance.

The men’s race had an exciting finish. Gebo Burka held first place right up until the last 400m when Birhanu Gedefa caught him sneaking past the finish at 2:08:03. In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Yebrgual Arage came first running 2:23:23. Both winners took home $40,000.

Canadian athletes crossed the finish line in the full marathon. Lucas Mcaneney placed 15th in the men’s running 2:20:43 and Vancouver athlete, Catherine Watkins placed 14th in the women’s race despite having intestinal issues from kilometer 17 onward.

“Tough day with GI issues but toughed it out to finish 14th,” she said later on Twitter.

Both Canadians fell just slightly short of the Pan Am standards of 2:18:00 for men and 2:40:00 for women. Temperatures stayed below 20C.