Thousands take part in Edmonton marathon

Thousands of local, national, and international runners took over the streets in downtown Edmonton Sunday morning for the 2024 Servus Edmonton Marathon. Making it the largest event in the marathon’s 33-year history.

Kenyan-born runner David Mutai travelled from Langley, B.C. to Edmonton to join other elite athletes. Despite his injury, he won first place in the Edmonton Men’s Marathon.

“Challenges are always there, but not there to keep you [at the] back. It’s there to make you strong and come back strong,” said Mutai.

More than 6,500 participants were in attendance at this year’s Sevrus Edmonton Marathon. The event is a Boston Marathon qualifier race, so for some, it’s one step closer to achieving their dreams.

“I have a dream to go to the Olympics, that’s 2028 in L.A., U.S.A. That’s my dream so I have to work for it. I’m from Ethiopia. I came to Edmonton recently to this great community. They really give me morale. It’s really a good experience,” said Nagesso Nyafaro, who finished second in the men’s half marathon.

Thomas Broatch, who is from Vancouver, won the men’s half marathon. He says, “I do a lot of races in Vancouver, which is quite hilly so it’s nice to have a bit of flatter, faster course here.”

Zoe Hamel, the winner of the women’s half marathon explained, “I didn’t expect to come first. I expected actually slightly better time, but I did run pretty hard. It’s good lots of people cheering.”

Racers ran through the dense fog in the early hours of Sunday, but that didn’t stop local runner Matthew Hope from being in the top three in the half marathon.

“It was pretty humid out, not super hot but you feel it with the humidity, so it was a lot harder than I thought. Coming all the way back was really rough,” explained Hope.

According to organizers, the event contributes to the health and well-being of Edmonton, and every year it raises more than $30,000 for charities.

“About 50 athletes make up on our elite field. They’re competing for over $10,000 in prize money,” explained Brian Torance, part of the organizing committee for the Servus Edmonton Marathon.

“We got over 6,500 people here. That’s about 30-40 per cent higher than we’ve ever been before. Participants raised over 30,000 for those very worthy charities and that goes along way just increasing the awareness of what those charities do for our community.”

During the marathon, a number of roads were closed, including all of Jasper Avenue and all routes start and end at the Edmonton Convention Centre.