Check back soon for even more podium pics.
In the meantime, we wanted to share Yuki Kawauchi oncourse. It was a treat to see the ‘citizen runner’ from Japan set a new course record in his Canadian Marathon debut.
The scenery was about the best I’ve ever seen during a Marathon, the crowd support was excellent, and it was just all around a great event,” says Kawauchi.
Kawauchi’s winning time of 2:15:01 was faster than the time he posted to win last year’s Boston Marathon.
Yuko Mizuguchi of Japan took the women’s division, taking the win over elites from the USA, Canada and Mexico, and China’s Li Zhixuan, who had led the race for over 30KM.
It was incredibly beautiful seeing the ocean and the mountains,” says Mizuguchi. “At some parts of the race, I found myself kind of distracted looking at how beautiful the ocean was.”
The Japanese couple capture a rare couple’s championship.
They also explored much of Vancouver, BC, race week and provided a full recap post visit.
Follow along for new pics and video @bmovmanmarathon @runvancanada #bmovm #runvan
The 2018 Boston champion crossed the BMO Vancouver Marathon Finish Line with a time of 2:15:01, breaking the course record of 2:18:37 set in 2015 by Luka Chelimo of Kenya, who finished third.
“They really pushed me to this record,” says Kawauchi of second and third-place finishers Feyera Gemeda Dadi and Chelimo. Dadi actually held the lead through 35KM of the 42.2KM race.
Kawauchi led one of the most competitive elite rosters in event history, which also included past champions Daniel Kipkoech and Robin Watson, who retained his title as the BC Marathon Champion.
Mizuguchi finished in 2:41:28, and was greeted at the Finish Line by her fiancée, Kawauchi, who announced their engagement leading up to the event.
The engaged elites join a very short list of couples who have captured a ‘couple’s championship’, both winning a Marathon on the same day.
Vancouver’s only Marathon event now annually welcomes runners from 65+ countries.
