{"id":543099,"date":"2026-03-17T21:09:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T21:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/543099\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T21:09:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T21:09:13","slug":"114-runners-break-17-minutes-at-st-patricks-day-5k-in-vancouver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/543099\/","title":{"rendered":"114 runners break 17 minutes at St. Patrick’s Day 5K in Vancouver"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Vancouver St. Patrick\u2019s Day 5K is making a strong case as Canada\u2019s fastest and deepest 5K, after 114 runners broke the 17-minute mark last Saturday in Stanley Park.<\/p>\n

According to race organizers, the annual Irish-themed event assembled its largest field in race history, hosting around 1,000 runners. Of that number, nearly 12 per cent dipped under 17 minutes, a benchmark considered outstanding for a sub-elite.<\/p>\n

To put that depth in perspective, at the 2019 edition of the same race, only 76 runners broke 17 minutes (about six per cent of the field). Sure, you can point to advancements in shoe technology and the accessibility of carbon-plated racers in 2026, but the increase is hard to ignore.<\/p>\n

Canadian Olympian and The Shakeout Podcast host John Gay<\/a>, who won the race in 2019 and finished runner-up this year, credits the time of year. He says it\u2019s perfectly positioned for athletes coming off an indoor season or winter training as a first opportunity to test fitness in the spring. \u201cThe organizers have made this race a staple of the West Coast racing scene,\u201d says Gay. \u201cIt\u2019s a low-stakes environment that you know is going to be fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

That proved true again this year. Gay returned to racing after nearly 14 months off and led for much of the race. He was ultimately outkicked in the final 100 metres by former Canadian marathon champion Thomas Broatch<\/a>. Broatch crossed the line first in 14:10, with Gay close behind in 14:12.<\/p>\n

On the women\u2019s side, Holly MacGillivray of Waterloo, Ont., led the way, winning in 16:09 as one of 12 women to break the 17-minute barrier.<\/p>\n

\"2026Holly MacGillivray of Waterloo, Ont., breaks the tape at the 2026 St. Patrick\u2019s Day 5K in Vancouver\u2019s Stanley Park. Photo: Karen Warrendorf<\/p>\n

Race director Steve Mattina believes his event is only getting started. \u201cI think these results prove we have the fastest and deepest field of any 5K race in Canada,\u201d Mattina says. \u201cWe\u2019re now looking at ways to grow the field and are already planning for 2,000 runners by 2027.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gay echoed that belief, adding that the free and festive beer garden at the finish line likely doesn\u2019t hurt the race\u2019s popularity.<\/p>\n

For full results from this year\u2019s Vancouver St. Patrick\u2019s Day 5K, see here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Vancouver St. Patrick\u2019s Day 5K is making a strong case as Canada\u2019s fastest and deepest 5K, after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,211933,211934,211935,211936,29412,211937,211938,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-543099","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vancouver","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fastest-5ks","11":"tag-holly-macgillivray","12":"tag-john-gay","13":"tag-run-vancouver","14":"tag-running-news","15":"tag-st-patricks-day-5k","16":"tag-thomas-broatch","17":"tag-vancouver"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}