Williams Lake’s Sheldon Manchur finished third at the second ever running of the Kamloops Marathon.
A total of 252 athletes took part in the half and full marathons, which were run Sunday morning starting and finishing at MacArthur Island.
“It was a great day for a race,” Manchur said. “An early 6 a.m. start combined with some cloud coverage kept the temperature at bay.”
This year, for the first time, the race acted as a qualifier for the Boston Marathon, in addition to raising funds for the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack Cross country team.
Cache Creek’s Ryan Day was the first male across the finish line in the marathon. His time was two hours, 42 minutes and 19.9 seconds. He also won the inaugural race in 2012.
Day was followed by Victoria’s Jamie Dunnett at two hours, 43 minutes and 36.8 seconds.
Manchur, who ran in this year’s Boston Marathon, finished in two hours, 46 minutes and 26.6 seconds — roughly four minutes and six seconds behind the winner.
“My finishing time was in line with where I wanted to be, although I was hoping to be under two hours and 45 minutes,” he said. “I had lots of family support along the course, as well, which helped with motivation.
“I gave it my best effort and definitely had nothing left at the end.”
Coquitlam’s Tatsuya Hatachi was fourth in two hours, 47 minutes and 50.3 seconds, with Merritt’s Hans Aabye winding up fifth with a time of two hours, 50 minutes and three seconds.
TRU WolfPack sports information officer Larry Read said not only did the TRU cross country program benefit from the funds raised in this event, but 15 per cent of the total was donated directly to the Boston Marathon Victims Relief Fund.
Additionally, Manchur has started writing a blog on healthy living through running and nutrition at www.sheldonmanchur.com.