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May 7 was a big day for Whitehorse runners Callahan McKenzie and Geoff Dunbrack.

They both placed very high in their respective categories in the Vancouver marathon, with McKenzie finishing third overall in the women鈥檚 category and Dunbrack finishing 13th overall in the men鈥檚 category.

The Star spoke to each of them about the event on May 9.

Dunbrack crossed the finish line 13th out of 4,954 male athletes. When asked how it went, he replied, 鈥淚t was good. It was really nice weather and I was really impressed (with) the volunteers.

It鈥檚 quite an event they put on. There鈥檚 tons of people manning all the water stations handing out water and electrolytes every five km.

So I mean, that helps, you really don鈥檛 have to carry much with you.

That was a nice change from Whitehorse, not having to wear many layers when you鈥檙e out. That was the first time

I鈥檝e been out with a T-shirt since September or something.鈥�

Dunbrack is planning on running some local races like the Yukon River Trail Marathon and the Reckless Raven, as well as the Victoria Marathon Oct. 8.

Callahan followed up with her experience.

鈥淔or the most part, it went really really smoothly. Kind of felt like training for most of it. I thrive on fan energy and there鈥檚 just so many folks out cheering.

鈥淚 had a good support crew as well. So I was having a blast, enjoying the views, just kind of cruising along. I鈥檝e done a lot of hill training, so I felt very comfortable on the hills. It鈥檚 a bit of a novelty for me. 鈥淎nd then I don鈥檛 know if you鈥檝e ever heard of this, but there鈥檚 a thing in a marathon where you hit a wall. I think a lot of runners have probably experienced that. Probably about kilometre 30 or 35. I started to feel a bit of energy depletion and my legs were just feeling heavy.

鈥淚 think the thing I鈥檓 most proud of is the fact that I kept running when I really wanted to walk. That felt like a huge win to me and I could see the woman in second place there most of the way. I kind of just latched on to her and hung on as best I could.鈥� Mckenzie described the 43 km (26.2 mile) route.

鈥淚t started in Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver. And then over to the UBC campus kind of went up on a hill so we had to get up there. Came back down and then eventually we went across the Burrard Bridge and then around Stanley Park.鈥�

The race finished in downtown Vancouver.

There were 1,569 athletes in the women鈥檚 category. When asked how it felt to finish in third place, Mckenzie replied, 鈥淚 was in disbelief.

Going into the race, I knew I could be competitive, looking at past times and such, but I didn鈥檛 fully believe I could actually podium.

鈥淲hen I crossed that finish line, I was shocked and proud and just really stoked on it. A little bit starstruck, I got to meet some pretty elite runners at the finish there, which is a very cool experience for me.鈥�

When it was over, Mckenzie had improved on her personal best time by 18 minutes.

鈥淚t was really fun. I just had a blast.鈥� As for what鈥檚 next, McKenzie said, 鈥淚 love the training process, I love racing, so I definitely want to keep at it, running some marathons鈥� locally, for sure, I鈥檓 going to do the (Klondike) Road Relay this year, cause that鈥檚 always a fun time.鈥�

For more information about the race results, you can visit