When Aidan Anderson hit the 30 km mark in the Royal Victoria Marathon on Sunday, Oct. 8, he was sure he would be passed.
Up until that point, Anderson, who grew up in Campbell River and currently lives in Comox, had opened up a bit of a lead over his rivals. However, at that point his muscles started to cramp up and he started to slow down.
鈥淚 supposed I would be caught for sure by the other two guys who were a little bit behind me,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 guess they slowed down a bunch too. So I ran as fast as I could for the last ten kilometres and ended up winning!鈥�
Anderson was the first overall across the line, winning in his category, age group, and gender. He crossed the line with a time of 2:29:06, over a minute ahead of his next competitor. Though he was the first to pass through the ribbon on Sunday, he actually wishes his time was a little bit better.
However, he said at the finish line that 鈥渕y goal today was to win 鈥� So I鈥檓 very glad about that.鈥�
Anderson first started running in elementary school as a way to train for soccer. That training continued through his high school career when he played for the Carihi Tyees. However, it was when he got to university that he started running for its own sake.
鈥淚 like running in general,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 like running fast. So might as well like I鈥檓 gonna be running might as well train and be as fast as I can.鈥�
Anderson has raced the Royal Victoria Marathon before, coming second in last year鈥檚 race. This was actually his fourth time in the race, including once doing the half marathon in 2021. He said he runs about one marathon per year.
鈥淚 think this was around my seventh, or so,鈥� he said.
Anderson trains by running about 160 km per week, with three hard days, and a few longer, slow, easy runs. He is currently training for 鈥淭he First Half,鈥� a half-marathon in Vancouver in February.
Another local man was in the top placings for the half marathon. Cameron Levins from Black Creek set a new course record for that distance, coming in at 1:01:18. The previous record was set in 2002 by three-time Olympian Jon Brown.
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