Barrie, Ont.’s Jadyn Keeler set a Canadian half-marathon record at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen on Sunday morning, running a huge personal best of 1:08:03. The 23-year-old finished 16th in a deep women’s race, breaking Andrea Seccafien’s previous national record of 1:09:38, set in 2020 at Japan’s Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon, by one minute and 35 seconds.

Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich won the race in 1:05:15, setting a world record for a women-only half marathon by one second; she finished 50 seconds ahead of compatriot Veronica Loleo, who took silver in 1:06:05; Rwanda’s Florence Niyonkuru captured bronze in 1:06:08.

Keeler’s half-marathon debut was only five weeks ago at the Canadian championships in Edmonton. She won that race in 1:12:12 despite a course-measuring error that meant athletes ran an additional 700 metres. Her 1:08:03 on Sunday was more than four minutes faster.

Quebec’s Florence Caron was Canada’s next finisher, taking 42nd in a personal-best 1:11:03, while Élissa Legault followed in 45th in a PB of 1:11:15. Their times, combined with Keeler’s, meant Canada placed seventh in the women’s team standings. In the half-marathon team competition, each country’s three fastest runners are used for the final placing.

On the men’s side, national half-marathon record holder Rory Linkletter was the top Canadian, finishing 21st in 1:01:09. B.C.’s Cam Levins was 35th in 1:01:49, followed by Ontario’s Andrew Alexander in 41st in 1:01:55.

Keeler’s record-setting results

Keeler is no stranger to Canadian records or strong debuts. She owns the U23 indoor 5,000m record of 15:14.76, which also ranks as No. 4 on the Canadian indoor all-time list. She also holds the U23 record in the 10,000m, running 32:06.70 in her debut at the distance and following up with a 31:56.03 PB in the event in April, a No. 7 all-time Canadian finish.

Post-run in Copenhagen, Keeler told Canadian marathon record-holder Natasha Wodak that the race had an incredible atmosphere and was fun to be a part of. “For me it was my first senior national team experience,” she said. “Had a great race out there.” She added that while she was just over the 68-minute mark, she’ll “get it next time.”

Other Canadian standout performances

Keeler’s record came after several Canadian personal bests during Saturday’s mile and 5K races. Lucia Stafford ran to eighth in the women’s road mile in a PB of 4:29.51, with older sister Gabriela DeBues-Stafford finishing ninth in a PB of 4:30.59. On the men’s side, Foster Malleck finished 13th in a PB of 3:56.55, while Max Davies ran a PB of 4:08.56.

Canada also had two PBs in the men’s 5K. Evan Burke finished 39th in 13:49 and Matthew Beaudet was 44th in 13:58.

For full results of the 2026 World Athletics Road Running Championships, head here.