BANFF – On Father’s Day, Banff’s Daniel Habteyes showed everyone who the daddy was after jetting to a second consecutive victory at the Banff Marathon.
The Ethiopian-born Habteyes won the 42-kilometre race on Sunday (June 16), clocking a time of 2:46.35, nearly nine minutes faster than second place and previous winner Brendan Lunty (2:55:25).
Habteyes has been conquering the mountain roads with back-to-back victories at the Banff Marathon, which also offers a half marathon and 10-km course, and he torched the field in Melissa’s five-km road race last September.
While Habteyes enjoyed the scenic marathon in Banff National Park, he wasn’t satisfied with his time after adding nearly 30 seconds from 2018’s marathon.
“The race is so nice – it’s really cool, but from the beginning I was by myself, I need someone to push me harder … from the first kilometre to 42 [km] I was the one leading,” he said. “With someone else, I have a chance to improve my time.”
It seems the challenge is out there for 2020 to Canadian or international marathoners, to take on the race that grows in popularity year after year.
The Banff Marathon attracts runners from across the globe and with 31 countries represented in 2019, it tops the previous record of 27 in 2017.
“We hall all continents represented, which is amazing,” said Paul Regensburg, race director with the Banff Marathon. “We’re really a theme destination, adventure type race where you’re in Banff National Park and you get to learn about the park.”
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Finishing the first overall for women was Maria Langholz of Minneapolis, who was seventh overall at a time of 3:23:25. Rounding out the top 10 was Canmore’s Joshua Gardner, finishing eighth overall at a time of 3:25.35. The top local woman was Banff’s Melissa Delgado, finishing 29th overall at a time of 3:52.19.
In the half marathon, Calgary’s Bruce Thorpe was the overall winner at a time of 1:21:20. Canmore’s Denisse Justiniano was the top finishing woman and placed 14th overall (1:32.01). The top finishing local male was Canmore’s Neil Kitchen, cracking the top 10 in eighth place overall at a time of 1:30:28.
The start of the half was delayed by four minutes due to a train crossing the tracks on Norquay Road, but organizers said delays are expected and understood by runners whether its from locomotive, or wildlife.
“We had stopped a few runners once for a black bear on the Bow Valley Parkway,” said Regensburg. “It was handled really well by our environmental team and Parks Canada and the bear ran away and carried on … it is part of the fun adventure for the runners.”
On top of the wild nature of the marathon, it has the distinguished reputation as being one of the greenest marathons in the world and Regensburg said this year they’re projecting a high 90s percentage of waste diversion at the event with the ultimate goal of zero waste.
In Saturday’s 10-km race, victory was Swede for Martin Halvarsson of Sweden, now residing in Banff, crossing the line with his arms raised at a time of 38:48.
Halvarsson was shocked to win after battling some injuries prior to the race.
“It was a big surprise, actually,” he said. “I had some problem with my knees before, so I changed from the full marathon to the 10-km and I was happy if I could do it under 40 minutes and I thought there was going to be a lot of fast racers, like 32 minutes and stuff like that, but I was able to win today so I’m super happy for that.”
Lethbridge’s Janelle Bykowski was the top finishing woman and 11th overall (42:28). Banff’s Alena Irvine was the top local woman, crossing the line in 24th overall (46:38).
“I’ve never done this race before, it was a beautiful day for it, I really wanted to get under 41 minutes, but not quite today,” Bykowski said. “It was a really nice course, though – not too many hills, which made it super fast.”
As one of the youngest competitors, 12-year-old Evan Beck from Edmonton tore up the course, finishing 14th overall at a time of 43:06. It’s Beck’s third time competing in the Banff race.
“I followed somebody who looked like he was pretty fast – it probably wasn’t the best idea because he was a lot faster than me and it was pretty tiring at the end, but it worked out all at the finish so I’m glad I did,” Beck said.
