Balcha, Boutin win men’s and women’s titles at the 2022 Royal Victoria Marathon

Teferi Kebede Balcha, an immigrant from Ethiopia, is adjusting to the streets of his adopted country. The 41-year-old once again put his age aside to win the 2022 Royal Victoria Marathon on Sunday in two hours, 25 minutes and 26 seconds to follow up on his win at the Times Colonist 10K last spring.

With an exhilarating personal best of 2:07:38 in his prime, he’s raced from Israel to Shanghai with career wins. Balcha is coached at the Prairie Inn Harriers Club by two-time Olympic marathoner Bruce Deacon, who has untapped reserves to the surface when Balcha enters his master running days.

“He’s a champion and works very hard,” Deacon said.

Balcha led to the front and won by a wide margin.

“It was very nice out there today,” said the full-time caretaker, who trains after work.

“I was happy and surprised. Running a marathon is tough enough and takes a lot of perseverance, so I loved having the support of people cheering along the way.”

Rozlyn Boutin, resident physician at BC Children’s Hospital, won the women’s race in 2:46:49 in only her fifth marathon.

“Every day in life is a marathon,” the 28-year-old Edmonton native joked about her busy work and training schedule.

“But I had a good day out there today in a good competition. It was a beautiful day with all the people cheering us on.”

Former elite triathlete Andrew Russell, who came to Victoria in 2007 to train with Olympic gold medalist Simon Whitfield and stayed, won the Royal Victoria men’s half marathon in 1:11:10. The engineer celebrated while carrying his two-year-old son Alistair on his shoulders.

“He’s watched enough races now to know when to clap,” Russell said.

Russell chased the Royal Victoria half marathon record of 1:02:32 set by his former trainer Jon Brown, who finished fourth in the marathon at the 2000 Sydney and Athens 2004 Olympics.

“The conditions were beautiful out there,” said Russell, whose career wins include the 2012 Kelowna Apple Triathlon, the 2012 ITU World Cup race in Magog, Que., the 2014 Victoria Ironman 70.3 and the 2019 Island Race Series.

“It’s a great hilly track that’s not monotonous. And the people cheering was a lot of fun.”

Sally Crowther of Kirkland, Washington won the women’s half marathon in 1:16:48.

“It was my first run in Victoria and it felt great,” said the former NCAA Div. 1 athlete at Lipscomb University in Nashville.

“The course was beautiful and there was so much cheering. It rolls, but you can definitely walk on it fast.”

Thomas Broatch of Vancouver won the men’s 8K in 23:42. Courtney Brohart of Vancouver was the women’s 8K champion in 27:41.

Notably, Victoria-based Gabriela DeBues-Stafford, who finished fifth in the 1,500 meters at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, used the 8K race as part of her ongoing recovery from injury and finished fourth in 28:47.

As usual, many of the compelling stories were further down the pack. Terry Slater kept his streak alive by never missing a Royal Victoria Marathon in over four decades. Janet Green from Courtenay ran her 30th Royal Victoria Marathon, including 425 marathons and 39 ultramarathons in her career. Sasha Perron, who ran 130 miles last year in recognition of school graves found in Kamloops, ran the marathon to raise funds for PEERS.

Kate Little, 29, from Victoria ran her first marathon and was joined by several family and friends wearing t-shirts that read ‘Team Kate’ and ‘Go Kate Go’. Fiancé Tanner Carter and sister Nicole Gierc had encouraging messages on their shirts: “Cocktails at the finish line” read Gierc’s and “Kate is running for the snacks” read Carter’s.

“We’re all so absolutely proud of Kate,” said mother Christine Little.

“This is her first [organized] run, and for her first run she chose the full marathon.”

Kate Little was among 7,934 people who pounded the sidewalk in British Columbia’s capital. These included 1,561 in the marathon, 3,439 in the half marathon, 2,354 in the 8K and 580 in the Thrifty Kids Run.

It was the first run of the full marathon since its 40th anniversary in 2019. The entire 2020 event was canceled due to the pandemic and 2021 only the half marathon and 8K were contested.

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2022 Royal Victoria Marathon, top finisher in women’s marathon

2022 Royal Victoria Marathon, top finisher in men’s marathon