Wykes and Wodak run an amazing half at Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona

Vancouver runner Natasha Wodak raced the Arizona Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon today and finished second with a time of 1:12:23. That’s a two-minute PB. The athlete was hoping to go under 1:15.

Wow! Super happy (& surprised!) with my 1:44 half PB- 1:12:23 at #RnRAZ! Thx @HastyHastings for dragging me along- & congrats on the win!

— Natasha Wodak (@tasha_wodak) January 18, 2015

This is after spending much of last year taking a break due to injury. Wodak looked strong at the beginning of today’s race running up front with Amy Hastings who came first at 1:12:04. “It’s pretty awesome. I knew I had it in me to run that fast, it’s just been quite the struggle this past year with injury,” said a happy Wodak today. She started suffering from plantar fasciitis back in March and the distance star sat out for most of 2014. But she’s back and 2015 is looking like a good one. She kicked off the year already winning the Harriers Pioneer 8K in Victoria. The past two months of her training have been felt strong, she she says. In Arizona, Wodak hung in right behind Hastings for the first half of the race. She says she felt good and that the weather conditions and fast straightaways made for a great run. Dylan Wykes, Canada’s second fastest marathoner and teammate of Wodak, also ran the half today kicking off his 2015 year. He came in at 1:05:29. Wykes holds a 1:02:14 half-marathon personal best. He ran against American Olympian Ryan Hall, who ran 1:04:16. “It wasn’t my best day but it was a good start to the season for sure,” he says. Tagging along with him this weekend was his wife and 11-week-old daughter. “It’s been an adjustment, but great. I wouldn’t change a thing,” says Wykes. “It was awesome.” Both runners are hoping to stay  injury-free in 2015 and are looking towards the 2016 Olympics. Wykes is hoping to run a marathon in the spring and fall. Wodak is competing at the cross-country championships in Columbia next month with plans to run another 21K at the NYC Half in March.