There sometimes comes a moment in a journey when you can see the path narrowing right in front of your eyes.
National record-holder Cam Levins鈥� route to the Tokyo Olympics constricted even further Sunday. The Islander from Black Creek recorded a 2:12:15 and was 15th overall in the Marathon Project race on the Gila River Reservation in Chandler, Arizona, 45 seconds adrift the Olympic qualifying standard of 2:11:30.
Even worse for Levins鈥� prospects, fellow-91原创 Ben Preisner of Milton, Ont., ran under the standard in an all-time 91原创 fourth-best 2:10:17 to become the third 91原创 to breach the qualifying standard. That means all three 91原创 spots for the Olympic marathon are filled. But only provisionally. Levins, or anybody else, has until the June 3 cut-off to beat the times posted by Preisner, in just his first marathon, Tristan Woodfine of Cobden, Ont., (2:10:15 at London in October) or Trevor Hofbauer of Calgary (2:09:51 last year). Marathons, however, are hard to find with so many cancelled amid the pandemic, making any opportunity all the more precious.
鈥淲e will take a break and reset and see what our options are for the spring. Realistically, we have one chance left,鈥� said Jim Finlayson of Victoria, who coaches Levins.
鈥淪unday was obviously disappointing. Cam is capable of a lot more.鈥�
All three provisional 91原创 qualifiers, previously little known, lopped massive chunks of time off their previous personal bests during the qualifying period. The running world does not stand still in this era. It took 43 years to break Jerome Drayton鈥檚 hallowed former 91原创 record of 2:10:09, set in 1975 in Fukuoka, Japan, when Levins ran 2:09:25 in 2018. But already Levins鈥� national standard is being closely stalked by the likes of Preisner, Woodfine and Hofbauer.
Levins鈥� other option to join the expected 75 Island or Island-based athletes in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics is to qualify on the track in the 91原创 trials June 24-27 in Montreal. The former Courtenay G.P. Vanier Secondary cross-country star, who began running in Grade 7 with the Comox Valley Cougars Track Club, was 2012 NCAA champion in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres for Southern Utah and reached the finals in both events at the 2012 London Olympics and won bronze in the 10,000 metres at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. A tendon tear and surgery kept Levins out of the 2016 Rio Olympics. Then came his switch to the road two years ago and his stunning debut marathon, in which he concluded a more than four-decade quest by 91原创 runners, by eclipsing Drayton鈥檚 former national record by 44 seconds in Toronto.
Levins, 31, looked strong until the late going Sunday. He ran the fastest 30K in 91原创 history in 1:31:44 but was unable to maintain that pace in placing 15th among the elite field of 53 men and 43 women. It follows a failed attempt to qualify for Tokyo through the London Marathon in October after Levins鈥� muscles tightened and he did not finish.
鈥淭here was some fatigue [from London] that was not fully flushed out and that impacted Sunday in some way,鈥� said Finlayson.
Levins, who married wife Elizabeth on the grounds of St. Ann鈥檚 Academy in Victoria on Canada Day in 2013, is now based in Portland, Oregon. Finlayson has been training and coaching Levins online during the pandemic.
Martin Hehir of the U.S. won in 2:08:59. The elites-only race was built purely for speed over a flat 7K loop course. COVID protocols included two negative tests required within a week of the race.
Sara Hall became the second-fastest American woman to run a marathon in taking the female title in 2:20:32. Track Olympian Natasha Wodak of 91原创, who often trains with the Prairie Inn Harriers, was fourth in a 91原创 all-time second-best 2:26:19 to get comfortably under the Olympic qualifying standard of 2:29:30. It was only Wodak鈥檚 second marathon but the Pan Am Games 10,000 metres gold medallist is plenty comfortable on the road and has won the GoodLife Fitness Victoria Half-Marathon and Saanich Peninsula Pioneer 8K.