Just weeks after the Boston Marathon bombings thousands gathered in Vancouver May 5 for the BMO Vancouver Marathon to show their support.
Right in the thick of the event — each runner wearing a yellow ribbon in recognition of the runners in Boston — were 24 lakecity marathoners.
Some raced the half marathon, while others took part in the full marathon, which began at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Park and stretched around the Stanley Park Seawall.
Running the full marathon were Amandah Cullum, Brandy Links, Larry Johannesen and Sharon Munk.
Amandah said it was an amazing run, and something she’d been wanting to check off her bucket list for quite some time.
“I ran two half marathons last year, but during training I thought I’d never want to do this again,” Amandah said, who was running up to 60-plus kilometres per week to train for the race.
“After that I thought, ‘Who signs up to do half of something?’ I’m not the kind of person who would do half of something, so I decided to do a marathon to check it off my bucket list and I’m so happy I did.”
In the half marathon were Matt Cullum, Rya Enns, Claire Lawrence, Jane Nicol, David Polack, Andrea Gustafson, Christie Sanford, Katelyn Brown-John, Heather Cail, Carrie Knox, Angela Laprairie, Dora Foote, Jeff Allen, Meaghan Allen, Meghan Smith, Tammy James, Janice Laurie, Ruth Hendren, Agnes Young and Treena Brown.
Matt, Amandah’s husband, finished 66th out of 560 racers in his category, posting a time of 1:37:58.
“He had done a few marathons when he was in his 20s, and he really wanted to do it in 1:45, which was his time then, and he did it in 1:37 so I was really proud of him,” Amandah said.
Enns, competing in her fourth half marathon, said it was one of her slower times but still an amazing experience.
“There was an emotional keynote address from the American consulate that thanked the people of Vancouver for honouring the Boston runners,” Enns said. “She mentioned the ‘bond’ that all runners share and that the outpouring of support from Vancouver runners was amazing.”
For complete local race results check the sidebar.
BMO VANCOUVER HALF MARATHON
Place Name Time Category Cat. Place
560 Matt Cullum 1:40:58 Male 40-44 66/560
1086 Rya Enns 1:48:44 Female 35-39 50/960
1269 Claire Lawrence 1:50:57 Female 25-29 93/1084
2079 Jane Nicol 1:59:03 Female 45-49 73/619
3016 David Polack 2:05:56 Male 55-59 103/309
3726 Andrea Gustafson 2:11:30 Female 35-39 267/960
3731 Christie Sanford 2:11:31 Female 35-39 268/960
3848 Katelyn Brown-John 2:12:36 Female 25-29 352/1084
5096 Ruth Hendren 2:22:24 Female 55-59 77/332
5381 Heather Cail 2:24:47 Female 35-39 439/960
5382 Carrie Knox 2:24:47 Female 35-39 440/960
6344 Angela Laprairie 2:34:06 Female 45-49 348/619
6583 Dora Foote 2:36:32 Female 55-59 140/332
6618 Jeff Allen 2:36:58 Male 20-24 156/199
6620 Meaghan Allen 2:36:59 Female 25-29 708/1084
7170 Agnes Young 2:45:47 Female 60-64 66/176
7282 Meghan Smith 2:48:20 Female 35-39 636/960
7455 Tammy James 2:52:05 Female 40-44 635/899
7592 Janice Laurie 2:55:37 Female 40-44 657/899
7593 Treena Brown 2:55:40 Female 40-44 658/899
BMO VANCOUVER FULL MARATHON
Place Name Time Category Cat. Place
1660 Amandah Cullum 4:14:16 Female 30-34 113/381
2315 Brandy Links 4:38:40 Female 30-34 880/2147
2914 Larry Johannesen 4:55:28 Male 50-54 1731/2815
2915 Sharon Munk 4:55:28 Female 50-54 1184/2147