Coolsaet, Gillis to race Vancouver half as Olympic tune-up
Marchant, DuChene, Watson and Kangogo also will run in an extremely competitive field on June 24.
The Scotiabank Vancouver half-marathon is shaping up to be a star-studded affair, filled with Canadian talent.
Two of Canada’s Olympic bound trio of men will be vying for the win on the scenic course on June 24. Eric Gillis and Reid Coolsaet will use the race as their final tune-up in advance of the Olympic marathon, which closes out the games on August 12.
Both Gillis and Coolsaet will challenge an already competitive field that includes last year’s winner Kig Kangogo, as well as Canada’s fourth best marathoner Rob Watson. Watson, coming off a bittersweet personal best of 2:13:37 in Rotterdam, recently relocated to Vancouver and will be looking for a quality finish. Kangogo, who lost a heartbreaker to Coolsaet at the Toronto Yonge Street 10K in April, will be looking for redemption in Vancouver. His 1:03:22 from last year will surely not be enough this time around if conditions are good. Gillis won the Banque Scotia 21K de Montreal in April and will look to push the pace with Coolsaet and see where their training now leaves them going into the London games. The course record of 1:03:10, set in 2007, is also in jeopardy.
Kangogo is the current leader of the Canada Running Series standings and wants to qualify for the 2013 world championships for Canada in the marathon. He currently trains out of Lethbridge, Alta., and hopes to become a full fledged Canadian citizen later this year.
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Canada’s two best female marathoners will also compete for the win in Vancouver. Lanni Marchant and Krista DuChene, who have received quite a bit of attention since both narrowly missed the Olympic “A” standard in Rotterdam.
Marchant ran as a part of a Canadian contingent at the Bolder Boulder 10K at the end of May and placed 11th on the women’s side. Since then she has remained in Colorado to take advantage of the high altitude training. Watson also made the best of his trip out to Colorado for Bolder Boulder, where he placed 21st overall, training at altitude as well. Coolsaet and Gillis have both spent time in Flagstaff, Arizona, in preparation for the Olympics.
DuChene has stayed local, relatively speaking, racing the 10K at Ottawa Race Weekend and then winning the Ancaster Old Mill 10K in 34:59. As DuChene reports on her blog, “turns out the course is very hilly. But I earned myself a new 10K PB of 34:59!”
The Scotiabank Vancouver half-marathon takes place June 24 at 7:30 a.m. Pacific.
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