Wodak wins Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half-Marathon

Canadian Natasha Wodak won the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half-Marathon on Sunday in an impressive 1:14:39, crossing the finish line almost two full minutes ahead of runner-up Megan Deakins (1:16:33). Erin Burrett (1:17:03 ) and Sabrina Wilkie (1:17:07), two other Canadians, rounded out the top-four finishing third and fourth, respectively.

“It was exactly what I wanted,” commented Wodak. “I wanted to run between 1:14:30 and 1:15:00 and that’s exactly what I did. I put in a good strong effort two weeks out from the marathon.”

Wodak fought most of the race alone, coming through 10km in 34:58, 41 seconds up on Deakins. She only extended her lead through the second leg of the race.

“Yeah, I’m super excited. Training is going really well and we haven’t really hit any bumps in the road along the last few months” said Wodak about her preparation for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. “Obviously I’m nervous. It’s my first marathon and anything can go wrong so I’m just going to trust in the training and know that on race day everything’s going to sort of work out”

Wodak trains out of Vancouver, where she will return for the next two weeks until making her marathon debut on Oct. 20 in Toronto. She trains under coach Richard Lee, who also coaches Canadian Olympian Dylan Wykes. Wodak’s training partner also had a good day on the roads in San Jose.

Wykes finished third in the men’s race in a time of 1:03:47 behind Ryan Vail of Portland, Ore. and Fernando Cabada of Big Bear, Calif. Vail won the race in 1:02:46 and Cabada came through runner-up in 1:03:14. Wykes finished 20th at the London Olympics in the marathon and was Canada’s top finisher.

The event featured over 16,000 participants, the most the race have ever attracted.