The runaway winner of the first marathon in St. Albert’s 150-year history was awestruck by the magnitude of the moment.
“This is a great day,” said a beaming Marc Meunier after mastering the RunWild Leading Edge Marathon in two hours, 58 minutes and 21 seconds Sunday morning. “It’s unbelievable. I’ve been looking forward to this race since December. It was kind of my A race for the year. It feels really good to win it.”
The eighth marathon of his career was extra special.
“Straight up running, living in St. Albert and getting this kind of fan support, it ranks right up there,” said Meunier, a five-time Ironman competitor and the 10th fastest Canadian at the 2008 worlds. “The world championship in Kona was kind of my big deal but today I had goose bumps coming in crossing the finish line. All the way down Riel the fan support — cars honking, I was getting waves, people who I wasn’t even sure of were yelling my name — I appreciated it.”
Meunier, 38, broke the pink ribbon with spectators packed on either side of the path leading into a festive Millennium Park. As a band belted out tunes in the background, he received a roaring ovation from hundreds of finishers from the five and 10 kilometre races and the half marathon while making his grand entrance into victory lane.
“It was a good feeling. Honestly I didn’t expect that. I thought it would be a little quieter.”
It was a satisfying performance by the Paul Kane High School athletic director.
“It’s probably my slowest marathon in a long time but I didn’t come out looking for a personal best. I came out to have fun and hit the hills and build some strength. Anything under three hours I was going to be happy with.”
Meunier gradually pulled away from the rest of the field en route to a blazing finish.
“I ran with a gentleman for the first five K and I wasn’t sure what he was going to do. I didn’t go out too hard because I knew the hills were going to get us, especially right at the start, but when I got through those hills I found my pace.”
He described the 42-km course through the Red Willow Trail system and the streets of St. Albert as a character builder.
“I like these once in a while. It’s good,” he said. “Coming up Grandin hill, that was a real kicker. That one you put your head down and you grind it out. You do a little soul searching going up that hill and then when you hit Levasseur it was a perfect ending the rest of the way.”
A harsh wind didn’t slow him down.
“For the most part of the race the wind was good. Heading out to Sturgeon [golf course] was great. Coming up Bellerose was fine. The last 10 K, which is no different than any other marathon, was the tough part but the wind cooled me down.”
Meunier started his marathon training in December.
“With the rough winter we had there were days here my running partners and I would be out ankle deep in snow and mud and it’s minus 30. In the back of my mind I was thinking this race is going to be tough so I didn’t mind slugging it out but there were some days where we had to cut our run short,” he said. “There was definitely a lot of treadmill running this winter but I was happy with my fitness coming in for sure.”
He ran about 40 km of the course four weeks ago with Glenn Mack [sixth-place finisher at 3:15:27] of St. Albert in preparation for the race.
“After that I really knew it was going to be tough.”
Meunier was impressed by the marathon route and how well organized the event was.
“Anita [Cassidy, race director] and the group from Leading Edge did their homework. It was just a great race,” he said. “The course was just perfect. It was set up beautifully. The aid stations were perfect. The volunteers were unbelievable. You couldn’t ask for a better race. I’ve raced marathons all over the world —New York, Chicago, Boston — and honest to God this ranks right up there.”
Registrations for the marathon totalled 153 and 1,650 for the entire event.
“It’s a great turnout. It’s such a big running community here and any given Saturday or Sunday you go out and sometimes you think it’s a race going on but no it’s St. Albert people out running so I knew they would support it,” said Meunier, the 11th place finisher and the fastest St. Albert male in the St. Albert 10-Mile Road Race last month at 59 minutes. “I love supporting St. Albert races. Anything I can do to support them I will and that’s why I will be back.
“I told my wife I don’t know how many fast marathons I have left but I will keep pushing and try and hang in with the young guys as long as I can.”
Overall 121 runners completed the marathon. Andrew Forrest of Edmonton was the runner-up at 3:05:03. He also was the 16th finisher at the St. Albert 10-miler.
Paul St. Amant of Bonnyville placed third at 3:06:58.
The fastest female was Leanne Foff of Edmonton at 3:25:54 for ninth place overall.
The second-best female was Jennifer St. Pierre of St. Albert at 3:31:15 for 12th place. It was her first big race in two years after having twins. She is a former age-group winner at Ironman Canada and has competed at worlds in Hawaii.
The top 32 marathon finishers are listed on page 59. Overall results are available online at www.resultscanada.com.
FAST TRACKS: Three students of Meunier’s advanced endurance training class at Paul Kane also recorded fast times. In the 21.1-km half marathon, Ben Sperling finished fourth at 1:30:31 and Adeline Maunder placed 23rd at 1:43:03 as the fifth-fastest female. They were also the top runners in their respective U19 age divisions. In the 10 km race, Julia May was 64th at 55:31 for seventh in the U19 division.
