“Crossing the finish line I felt really good,” Marmar Maruk said. “I kept the pace. The wind was dragging me back a bit, but I had to be mindful of the course.”

Marmar Maruk left the field in his dust, winning the Saskatchewan Marathon in his first trip to the city by a margin of 5:16 over the second-place finisher David Mutai.

“My target was to run 5:20 per mile,” Marmar Maruk said. “Of course because of the wind, it exceeded around 5:40-something.”

Originally from Uganda, Marmar Maruk now races with the Vancouver Falcons Athletic Club and also won the Royal Victoria Marathon last fall.

With a gold medal around his neck, his next big race will be August’s Edmonton Marathon, where he’ll be ramping up training for shortly.

“I just have to build some confidence,” Marmar Maruk said. “I have to do a lot of training. I’m trying to see if I can increase my mileage per week to maybe 150, so hopefully that will help me.”

Perfect weather conditions

Coming on the heels of a heat wave which stretched across the province last week, the weather was expected to more of a factor Sunday than what racers ultimately had to face.

According to Ali, it was a best-case scenario for organizers to keep their athletes safe this year.

“Two weeks ago we had a blizzard, last week it was 35 degrees,” Ali said. “Now, we’ve got a perfect day for running and it’s been amazing.”

Temperatures only reached the low-20s by the time racers started crossing the finish line, which Edwards said made a huge difference in being able to focus on her pace.

“It was a relief,” Edwards said. “Honestly, I thought it was going to be a lot hotter than what it was. It was kind of nice that it cooled down a bit compared to what it has been.

Ali confirmed there was at least one injury on the course Sunday which required medical attention, while paramedics tended to a handful of racers at the finish line including two who were helped into ambulances on scene.

Saskatoon’s Anthony Antaya and Regina’s Mallory Murchison were the top finishers in the men’s and women’s half-marathon distances, while Daniel Block from Saskatoon and Kaylee Tymo from Regina won gold medals in the 10 kilometre races.

Regina’s Mason Kraus and Saskatoon’s Angelina Beveridge-Warick, meanwhile, stood atop the podium in the men’s and women’ five kilometre distances.

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