Toronto (Sunday, January 18th, 2008) – Andrew Smith of the Brooks Canada Marathon Project set a new BCMP marathon record this morning in Houston running 2:16:16. The time makes him the fastest Canadian Marathoner of 2009 and puts him well under the standard of 2:18:00 set by Athletics Canada to be considered for the World Cup Marathon in Berlin in August. An aggressive 1:06:45 half split put Smith in contention for a significant personal best and he capitalized on it averaging 5:12 per mile for the full marathon. The extremely competitive race was won by Deriba Merga in a staggering 2:07:54.
Andrew on his race: "I am really pleased with my performance yesterday at the Houston Marathon. I accomplished my primary goal of running under 2:18, which now puts me into the selection pool for the World Championships in Berlin this summer. I had a good feeling entering the race that I was ready to run in the 2:15-2:16 range, so my time of 2:16:14 is pretty close to where I thought I would be. Since running a good time was my main focus in this race, I wasn't really too concerned with my overall placing. So when I heard someone call out at around 22 miles that I was in 5th place overall, I was quite surprised, as I knew there was a very strong elite field assembled for the race. It was definitely a nice bonus to place 5th overall in a race of this calibre and be able to come away with some money for my effort. As a whole, I had a really positive experience in Houston and I have nothing but great things to say about the course and the entire race organization."
About the Brooks Canada Marathon Project: Now in its third year, the Brooks Canada Marathon Project provides distance runners with the opportunity to train with the goal of qualifying for the Olympic Games and World Championships. Thanks to a $1.5-million commitment from Brooks Canada founders Mike and Paul Dyon, the athletes train and live together in a house in Toronto’s west end provided by the Project. They also receive medical and travel support, and performance-based financial incentives. For more information, see http://www.brooksrunning.ca/runners_resource/BCMP/BCMP_HOMEPAGE.html
Andrew Smith winning the Scotiabank Montreal Half-Marathon in 2008
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