![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779550998_524_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\nJohn Gay will toe the line in his debut marathon Sunday in Ottawa, something he and those close to him never dreamed possible as recently as a year ago. <\/p>\n
Gay tore his left hamstring in 2023 and left Achilles tendon the next year. Later in 2024, an MRI revealed a torn right hamstring he had run with for about six weeks. Gay returned to track running in 2025, only to be sidelined several more months after throwing out his back. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt seemed like it was going to be curtains on my career,\u201d the 29-year-old said this week from his home in Kelowna, B.C. \u201cI was definitely in a position where it seemed getting myself to the previous version of John Gay, the runner, seemed like a tall order.\u201d <\/p>\n
But hope arrived in the fall of 2024, courtesy Canadian marathoner Rory Linkletter, who called his close friend of five years to \u201ctalk shop.\u201d Seeking a training partner, Linkletter informed Gay he was joining coach Jon Green and Verde Track Club, based in Flagstaff, Ariz. <\/p>\n
Gay visited for a month, \u201chit it off\u201d with Green and relocated with his wife, Camille, in January 2025. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat breathed some life into my career,\u201d Gay recalled. \u201cThe impetus for the move to Flagstaff was to give myself a final shot at regaining some relevance as an athlete. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe [Linkletter] had come off his best season and making his first Olympic team. It felt like it would be the right move. I believe it has been the right move. It\u2019s just taken longer for it to play itself out the way I had envisioned.\u201d <\/p>\n
Three consecutive years of injury forced Gay from the 3,000-metre steeplechase after several successful seasons. He won back-to-back Canadian titles (2021, 2022), competed at two World Athletics Championships and placed 15th in his 2021 Olympic debut in Tokyo, where he ran an eight-minute 16.99-second personal best in the heats. <\/p>\n
The torn Achilles tendon sullied Gay\u2019s bid for a second Olympic appearance two years ago in Paris. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt that point, I felt my career was on borrowed time,\u201d he said. \u201cI hadn\u2019t produced enough recent results to remain relevant or justify focusing on the sport as my primary occupation.\u201d <\/p>\n
He made it through a marathon [training] block, which a year ago looked to be an impossible feat. It’s nothing short of a miracle he is as fit and healthy as he is.- Rory Linkletter on John Gay’s marathon debut<\/p>\n
Gay hit rock bottom in 2025 when he couldn\u2019t run respectable paces in training. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was skeptical,\u201d said Linkletter, who first met Gay in 2019 and was his roommate at the World Cross-Country Championships in Denmark. \u201cI was like, \u2018I don\u2019t know if we\u2019ll ever see John on a start line again.\u2019 It was sad and hard to watch because I wanted it for him. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe made it through a marathon [training] block [for Ottawa], which a year ago looked to be an impossible feat. It\u2019s nothing short of a miracle he is as fit and healthy as he is.\u201d <\/p>\n
WATCH | Gay says veteran runners want a coach who feels more like a partner:<\/p>\n
John Gay says working with coach Jon Green feels like a partnership<\/p>\n
Former Canadian Olympic steeplechase runner John Gay discusses his relationship with coach Jon Green while preparing for the Ottawa Marathon.Linkletter’s belief saved career<\/p>\n
If not for Linkletter\u2019s belief, Gay probably would have retired from competitive running. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a guy who picked me up and was in my corner when most people weren\u2019t,\u201d Gay told CBC Sports. <\/p>\n
Four months ago, Gay experienced a turning point in his fitness and health when Linkletter visited him and Camille with his wife, Jill, and two children. The Calgary-born Linkletter has grandparents who live near Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley. <\/p>\n
Gay wowed his friend during a couple of training sessions. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe looked amazing,\u201d remembered Linkletter, who is also racing Ottawa this weekend after placing second last year. \u201cThis isn\u2019t the same guy who left [Flagstaff in January]. From a training capability standpoint, he is leaps and bounds ahead of where he was.\u201d <\/p>\n
Gay moved back to Kelowna four months ago to wait for his U.S. Permanent Resident Card that was issued last month via Camille, a dual Australian-Canadian citizen. Gay returned to Flagstaff for a week in March to help with her move back to B.C. They intend to move back to Arizona this fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the end of my Boston [Marathon] build and [Gay\u2019s] peak for Ottawa,\u201d said Linkletter. \u201cI got to watch him do the best long progression marathon-pace run of his build. I think he\u2019s in a good spot for what would be a respectable debut.\u201d <\/p>\n
WATCH | Linkletter says good friend Gay got caught in injury cycle:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779550999_906_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Marathoner Rory Linkletter discusses fellow Canadian runner John Gay’s injury woes<\/p>\n
Canadian marathoner Rory Linkletter talks about his friend John Gay, “one of the hardest-working guys I know,” ahead of the latter’s debut marathon this Sunday in Ottawa.Gay eyes 2:10 finish in Ottawa <\/p>\n
Linkletter finished the Ottawa Marathon in two hours eight minutes 31 seconds last year, nine seconds behind the now-suspended Albert Korir<\/a> of Kenya. The Canadian charged late and narrowly missed his first victory in 13 attempts over 42.2 kilometres. <\/p>\n At 9 a.m. ET Sunday, Linkletter plans to race amongst the leaders and pace for a 2:06 or 2:07 finish, while Gay will probably be part of a chase pack in the 2:10-2:12 range. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m finally in a place where I\u2019m healthy enough to race, but also fit enough to compete to the best of my abilities,\u201d said Gay, who clocked 28:44 over 10 km at the Vancouver Sun Run on April 19. Justin Kent, Canada\u2019s fifth-fastest marathoner, finished 4-100ths ahead of Gay to win the race. <\/p>\n \u201cI trust my body again, I trust the training I put in and the people who have believed in me have trusted in my ability to get this done. I would love to feel like I was able to compete through the end of the race [in Ottawa].\u201d <\/p>\n Gay is fully aware of the challenge to become a men\u2019s marathoner in Canada, where Cam Levins has held the national record of 2:05:36<\/a> for over three years and Linkletter is inching closer to that mark with a 2:06:49 PB<\/a>. Ben Preisner (2:08:58), Thomas Nobbs (2:09.25) and Kent (2:09.29) also have shone in the distance. <\/p>\n \u201cI would love to throw my hat in the ring as one of Canada\u2019s top distance runners again,\u201d said Gay. \u201cThat 2:10 mark is probably the starting point to put your name in the conversation. <\/p>\n \u201cWhether it\u2019s me or three other [Canadian] athletes, it\u2019s going to be a difficult [2028 Olympic] team to make in [Los Angeles]. I want to do everything in my power to make it as difficult a team to make for other people, so whether I\u2019m one of the [maximum] three [men\u2019s marathoners] or not, we\u2019re sending the absolute best contingent. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s as close to a home Games that I\u2019m going to have in my career,\u201d Gay added.<\/p>\n WATCH | Great-great-grandson of iconic First Nations athlete aims to match record time: Tom Longboat’s great-great-grandson chasing historic time this Ottawa Race Weekend<\/p>\n Tom Longboat became the first Indigenous person to win the Boston Marathon in 1907. His great-great-grandson Kristian Jamieson will try to match Longboat’s record-breaking time at this weekend’s Ottawa marathon. He spoke with CBC Ottawa Morning’s Rebecca Zandbergen ahead of the race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Gay will toe the line in his debut marathon Sunday in Ottawa, something he and those close…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":688806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739],"class_list":["post-688805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688805","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=688805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/688806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=688805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=688805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=688805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779550999_598_default.jpg\")
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