Olympic hopeful heads to Poland
Vancouver's Cliff taking part in half marathon world championships next month
Rachel Cliff is looking to get her racing game back up to elite speed. The Olympic distance running hopeful from Vancouver was earlier this week named to Canada's team for the world half marathon championships, which roll Oct. 17 in Gdynia, Poland.
Cliff ran a half marathon with her B.C. Endurance Project teammates in Courtenay on Sept. 13. Her last race against international competition took place on Jan. 19 at the Houston Half Marathon.
That was before the novel coronavirus pandemic had taken hold. That was back when everyone thought the
Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics were going to take place July 24-Aug. 9 of this year.
The Olympics were postponed because of the COVID19 outbreak. They'll still go under the Tokyo 2020 banner, but the Games have been rescheduled to July 23-Aug. 8, 2021. Cliff continues to train and aims to take part.
This race in Poland is the latest “next step” for the 32-year-old Cliff.
“It honestly seems a little bit surreal to imagine competing right now. Just getting on a plane right now is something that's tough to get my head wrapped around,” said Cliff.
“I'm supposed to speak to an Athletics Canada doctor. I imagine I'll get some good insight on how things should look from that conversation. I do suspect that the competition will be at least a little bit different than what I'm used to.”
The half marathon worlds were originally scheduled for March, but were postponed. Several countries, including the United States and Japan, aren't sending teams to Poland next month, citing safety reasons. Cliff clocked a 1:15:24 in Courtenay, but she boasts a personal best half marathon of 1:10:06, which she established on Dec. 15, 2019 in Okayama, Japan.
“It was just our group,” Cliff said of the Courtenay event, “but the act of getting out and having people out on the roads supporting us helped make me realize how much I miss competing.
“And we've found that I'm someone who always responds to competing. I do better if I race more often. I'm always learning when I'm racing. I'm happy to have this race coming up in that regard.”
Cliff set a Canadian women's record in the marathon with her 2:26:56 effort in Nagoya, Japan in March, 2019. That also gave her the Tokyo 2020 Olympic standard.
Kelowna's Malinda Elmore bettered Cliff's record at that Houston race in January, finishing with an impressive 2:24:50. Neither Cliff nor Elmore ran the Toronto Waterfront Marathon last October, which doubled as the Canadian championship. Vancouver's Dayna Pidhoresky was the first Canadian woman across the finish line and did it in 2:29:03, which was also under the Olympic standard.
Athletics Canada will nominate three men and three women for Tokyo 2020, based on either having met the Olympic standard or where they sit in the world rankings, and the 2019 national champions, like Pidhoresky, have priority. The Canadian Olympic teams will be announced next summer.
“I'm just trying to put my best foot forward,” said Cliff, who's also been a regular standout in The Vancouver Sun Run for years. “I can try to think about where my mind was at in September, 2019, when we thought the Olympics were going to be the following summer, but things have changed so much. There's just so much uncertainty in everything in the world right now.
“I'm trying to take everything one day at a time right now. I have some work to do. COVID-19 has created some new challenges, but it's created new challenges for everyone. It's just so important to have this race coming up on my calendar. I have three weeks to do all the work I can and we'll see where we end up.”
Cliff is the lone female competitor from Canada going to Poland. The Canadian men's contingent at the event will feature Calgary's Trevor Hofbauer, 28; Surrey's Justin Kent, 28, Ben Preisner, 24, of Milton, Ont.; and Tom Toth, 28, of Lakefield, Ont.
Hofbauer was the top Canadian man at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon last October so he is also an early qualifier for Tokyo 2020.
Having people out on the roads supporting us helped make me realize how much I miss competing.” Rachel Cliff