50th Calgary Marathon includes records and romance
Posted Jun 1, 2014 1:23 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It was a record-breaking day for the 50th edition of the Calgary Marathon.
Over 15,000 people took part in the race, the oldest marathon in the country.
The first to cross the finish line was Kip Kangogo.
Born in Kenya, this was his first year running as a Canadian citizen and he didn’t even stop for water before speaking with reporters.
He said crossing the finish line was fantastic.
“I ran a smart race,” he said. “With only one kilometre to go, I knew my daughter is waiting in Lethbridge and she wanted to see daddy run good.”
In the inagural race 50 years ago, just 19 men took part and women weren’t allowed.
Marathon spokesperson Kirsten Flemming said they’re coming from far-and-wide.
“From all over Canada and certainly the United States,” she said. “We’re welcoming visitors from 21 countries this year, so it’s become really a world class destination race, of course it is a Boston qualifier, so a lot of people come to Calgary to qualify for Boston.”
They have already raised more than their goal of $1.1 million and will continue to collect money until the end of June.
There was also a romantic element to this year’s edition. One lucky woman got a marriage proposal.
Jeff Neilson popped the question to his long-time girlfriend Amy Mayes.
“She ran the Nike women’s marathon and I was going to do it then, but I didn’t plan it properly, I wasn’t ready to do it,” Neilson said. “This all came together so she convinced me to run the marathon, little did she know this was the plan all along.”
The plan paid off, as a shocked Amy said yes.
“I’m feeling great, I just put a ring on the woman I love, been four and a half years, it was the easiest time of my life, I just ran a marathon to prove to her I’ll do anything,” he said.
