Canada’s Wodak and Preisner shine at The Marathon Project
On a chilly December morning in Chandler, Ariz., 88 pro runners lined up to run in the first-ever Marathon Project, organized by naz Elite coach Ben Rosario and sports agent Josh Cox. Martin Hehir was the first to cross the finish line, in 2:08:59, and Sara Hall won the women’s race in 2:20:32, less than a minute off Deena Kastor’s American record, only 11 weeks after her second-place finish at the London Marathon.
Natasha Wodak and Ben Preisner were the first Canadian woman and man across the line, Wodak in 2:26:19 (the second-fastest time ever run by a Canadian woman) and Preisner in 2:10:17, good enough for ninth place in his first official marathon. Both have now run Olympic-qualifying times and have an excellent chance of being named to the Canadian team for Tokyo, which will be announced sometime after May 31. (2019 Canadian marathon champions Dayna Pidhoresky and Trevor Hof bauer are the only two marathoners to be named to Team Canada so far, and each country may send up to three male and three female marathoners. Tristan Woodfine, Canadian record holder Malindi Elmore, former Canadian record holder Rachel Cliff and Lyndsay Tessier have also run Olympic-qualifying times or the equivalent.)