Calgary Marathon celebrates 60 years

As the Calgary Marathon celebrates its 60th anniversary, organizers say this is also the first time in at least a decade the race has been sold out.

“We saw 13,600 participants across every distance, from the diaper dash right up to the 60K Ultra,” said Kirsten Fleming, the executive director of Run Calgary. “So a huge turn out for our 60th anniversary.”

In honour of the 60th anniversary, this year’s event featured the first-ever 60K run.

The first to cross the finish line was Calgarian Tyler McDonough in just four hours and 12 minutes.

“It’s super cool, I mean I’m a Calgary guy born and raised — it’s really fun to be here supporting this awesome tradition in the city and looking forward to the 70th anniversary to do 70K,” he said.

But this marathon is about more than medals, it’s also a great way for participants to raise awareness and get donations for a variety of charities.

It was exactly one year ago this weekend when Claire Masikewich’s daughter Sloan was getting set to run in the Calgary marathon, but the family’s lives took a turn when Sloan was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. 

“She’s basically had every kind of modality thrown at her, from chemo to radiation, high dose chemo, stem cell transplant, surgery and now we’re into immunotherapy so it’s going to be about an 18 month journey for us,” Claire said.

To show her support for her daughter, and in an effort to raise money for the Alberta Children’s Hospital, Masikewich put together a team of over 185 people to run in the Calgary Marathon, and so far, they’ve raised over $100,000.

“We have family, and we have friends here, but it’s also the community that’s just really come together and rallied behind us, and I’m just excited to do this again next year,” Masikewich said.

As for Sloan, she’s now in remission and continues to make strides each day.

One of the first items on her to do list was to run in the Calgary marathon — something she proudly accomplished.