Saskatchewan Marathon returns after pandemic hiatus

After two cancelled races and three years, the Saskatchewan Marathon hits the asphalt again this weekend.

Runners will take to the streets of Saskatoon on Sunday for the 44th annual marathon, which begins and ends at Diefenbaker Park.

There will be additional 21.1-kilometre, 10-kilometre, and five-kilometre races, as well as a 2.2-kilometre fun race to go with the traditional 42.2-kilometre marathon distance.

Race director Kim Ali said it takes months of planning to get everything organized and to make sure the race runs without a hitch.

“We start planning in January to get everything organized,” Ali said. “We work closely with the City of Saskatoon to close the roads, to make it safe for people to run and for cars to stay out of the way. We work closely with police and fire to make sure we do it safely for everyone.”

The road closures take effect early Sunday morning, around 4 a.m., and the routes will reopen early in the afternoon around 1 p.m.

Details on which roads will be closed are online at saskmarathon.ca, and Ali said they will be “rolling closures,” meaning some routes may reopen earlier than others.

There are plenty of organizations that get involved to make the race happen, and there are many people working behind the scenes before race day. Hundreds of volunteers help out, but Ali said that number is down compared to previous years.

“We have, right now, 300 volunteers registered. We’re hoping to get more. We usually have about 400, so we’ll be stretched a little bit out there,” she said.

Some volunteers have not returned because of the pandemic or have moved on to different projects, Ali said, but the event has still received tremendous community support.

She said community associations, the City of Saskatoon, Prairieland Park and the Nutrien Wonderhub provided a lot of help getting things ready for the weekend.

For the race itself, defending men’s champion David Mutai, who set the record time of two hours 22 minutes nine seconds in 2019, will return. On the women’s side, the Saskatchewan Marathon record has stood for more than three decades after being set in 1990 by Donna Grisak with a time of 2:59:36.