Achi news desk-
More than 13,000 runners took to the streets across the city on Sunday for the annual Calgary Marathon.
The marathon has been a tradition in Calgary for 60 years – with the first race being held in 1963.
The race got off to a favorable start in the early morning, but rain came in at the end.
“Obviously, the weather puts a little damper on things but, hey, we’re here for it and it’s Calgary and we’re tough runners and we can make the most of anything,” said Kirsten Fleming, executive director Run Calgary, who organized the race, said.
The race offered several distances, including a 60-kilometer ultra marathon, a 42.2-kilometer marathon, a 21.1-kilometer half marathon, a 10-kilometer, five-kilometer family run and walk and a 1.2-kilometer children’s marathon.
There were a total of 13,600 runners – the largest field in the last 10 years.
Fleming said 35 percent of the runners who took part were new to racing.
“Running is on the rise globally,” he said.
“But today a lot of people went out and ran their very first race, and we want to congratulate each and every one of them.”
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the race, a 60-kilometre ultra marathon distance was added just for this year.
Tyler McDonough, from Calgary, won the long distance race, finishing in four hours and 12 minutes.
“It’s really cool, I’m a born and raised Calgary guy, it’s really fun to be here supporting what is an amazing tradition in the city,” said McDonough.
“Looking forward to the 70th anniversary to do 70 (kilometers).”
This is the first ultra-marathon he has taken part in. He said he was looking for a challenge and was training on the route where the race was held.
“It’s cool to be able to come out and have a good effort like that in your own backyard,” he said.
Jordan Clay won the marathon distance. Originally from London, England, Clay has been in Canada for the past six months.
“It’s nice to travel around and do different races while I’m here, it was pretty cool to win, I didn’t expect that,” he said.
It was Clay’s first big city marathon win. He said he wanted to do the race to see Calgary because he’s never been here before – but winning was a nice bonus.
“It’s quite surreal,” he added.
“I saw the times from last year and I thought, ‘It could be possible, you never know who’s going to come.'”
The race is also a fundraising opportunity for 109 charities.
The Servus Charity Challenge, the fundraising arm of the marathon, set a goal to raise $800,000 this year, to reach the $10 million mark since the charity’s inception.
From the first diaper dash held on Saturday to the marathon on Sunday, Fleming said the ages of the participants ranged from 11 months old to 88 years old.
World record attempt
A group of runners set a Guinness World Record during the marathon for the fastest half marathon by an affiliated team – to raise money for charity.
“It’s only a meter between us and there’s no stretch, so the configuration was really, really important and we went in a bit of a zigzag,” said Blaine Penny, who was part of the group.
A group of runners set a Guinness World Record for the fastest half marathon by an affiliated team at the 2024 Calgary Marathon. (CTV News)
The team’s aim was to raise money for MitoCanada, an organization dedicated to helping people living with mitochondrial disease – like Penny’s son.
“The more people we had, well the more difficult it was going to be, but also the more awareness we would create,” he said.
The team ran a time of 1:19, breaking the previous record of 1:26. They also raised more than $30,000 which will go towards helping patients affected by mitochondrial disease.
With files from Tyler Barrow CTV News Calgary
