City of Victoria was star of the marathon

With a sold out marathon, half marathon and a near sold out 8K, it was perfect weather and atmosphere for the event. Plus, Saturday saw the 5K and Thrifty Foods Kids Run take place in Oak Bay at Willows Beach Park to fill the weekend with distances for everyone.

“This weekend was truly amazing,” said Cathy Noel, RVM General Manager and Race Director. “From package pickup and the expo, to the five races taking place, the buzz around the city was palpable. It truly was a 42.2 km cheering station as people lined the course and showed our community spirit, helping the thousands of racers get to the finish line. Plus the many, many hours that the volunteers put in over the weekend to ensure the events went smoothly for the participants is what makes this event so special. We are so thankful to them all.”

With 12,367 racers registered, this was the third largest event in the RVM’s 44-year history, and the highest since 2010. RVM was host to the BC Athletics Marathon Road Running Championships as well as the Canadian Masters Half Marathon Championships.

The RVM men’s marathon winner was Craig McMillan (North Vancouver, BC) in a time of 2:28:54. Coming in second was Lance Risseeuw (Calgary, AB) in 2:31:12, followed by David Morrissey (Vancouver, BC) in 2:35:58.

“Perfect day with lovely weather for this fantastic event in the city,” said McMillan. “I haven’t run this event in 18 years but nice to be back. Bit of a challenging course with some hills but I managed to keep a steady pace throughout and loved the support out there.”

In the women’s marathon, Zoe Hamel (Victoria, BC) took the race in a time of 2:47:51, followed by Rozlyn Boutin (Vancouver, BC) in 2:49:26, and in third place Catrin Jones (Victoria, BC) in 2:50:50.

Two age group course records were set for the marathon, with Jones setting the 45-49 women’s age group and Moeko Sanada (Vancouver, BC) finishing in 3:05:29 in the women’s 50-54 age group.

In the men’s half-marathon, finishing in first was Andrew Davies (Sarnia,ON) in 1:03:19, second was Brian Masterson (Seattle, WA) in 1:05:50, followed by Andrew Oslin (Bellingham, ON) in 1:06:22.

The RVM women’s half marathon winner for the second year in a row was Makenna Fitzgerald (Calgary, AB) who bettered her winning time from last year, finishing in 1:14:21. Coming in second was Kiana Gibson (Vancouver, BC) in 1:15:11, followed by Ally Ginther (Vancouver, BC) in 1:17:37.

“The best part of the race today was running along Dallas, and you have all the marathoners and half marathoners right on the other side of the road loudly cheering us on,” stated Fitzgerald. “It was so motivating to see and definitely kept me going in the second half of the race.”

A number of age group course records were set for the Half Marathon, including the two winners. Fitzgerald in the women’s 20-24 age group with her time of 1:14:21 and Davies in the men’s age group with his time of 1:03:19. Derek Brenchley (Courtenay, BC) in the men’s 65-69 with a time of 1:29:54 and Roslyn Smith (Comox, BC) at 1:49:03 breaks the women’s 75-79 course record.

The Canadian Masters Athletics Half Marathon Champions were crowned as part of the RVM, with Evgeniy Panzhinskiy (Vancouver, BC) winning the men’s gold in 1:12:06 and Eriko Soma (Vancouver, BC) taking the women’s gold in 1:19:03.

The 8K was the first race of the day with Aaron Ahl (Calgary, AB) taking the win in a time of 23:48. Coming in second was Christian Gravel (Vancouver, BC) in 23:53, followed closely by John Perrier (Vancouver, BC) in 23:56. Charlie Mlotshwa (Victoria, BC) broke the course record for men’s 16-19 with a time of 24:36. At just 16, he has a great running future ahead of him.

The RVM women’s 8K winner was Julia Hawkins (Vancouver, BC) in a time of 28:07. Jouen Chang (Vancouver, BC) was second in 28:16, with Sarah Price (Cochrane, AB) taking third in 28:37.

And finally, for the 5K, which took place on Saturday in Oak Bay, the top three finishers were Russell Pearson (Calgary, AB) in 15:30, Jack Screen (Victoria, BC) in 15:38 and Michael Barber (Victoria, BC) in 16:03.

In the women’s 5K, Chantal Abbott (Collingwood, ON) won in 18:38, setting a new course record. She was followed by Hilkka Kontro (Calgary, AB) in 18:48 and Isabel Chant (Toronto, ON) in 19:30.

Of the total registrants, there were 10,349 finishers: 2212 in the Marathon, 4312 in the half marathon, 2,527 in the 8K, 746 in the 5K and 552 in the Thrifty Foods Kids Run. The Royal Victoria Marathon will return for its 45th annual event on October 11 & 12, 2025.