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Marathon Canada - About Us
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The marathon distance has a mystique about it that has attracted many runners
(both elite and recreational) across Canada. The World Wide Web includes many
sites devoted to running, running clubs, and even marathon races themselves,
but there didn't seem to be a site serving the needs of Canadian marathoners.
Seeing an opportunity to fill a void, Alex Coffin came up with the idea of
Canadian Marathoning Ltd. and MarathonCanada.com. MarathonCanada.com is a web site
devoted to promoting marathon running in Canada. The goal is to create a web
site that can serve as the definitive source of information on marathon running in Canada.
Through features such as a calendar of events, a discussion room, marathon pro tips,
and comprehensive rankings, it is hoped that this site will provide a one-stop
information source that will help to spur continued involvment by both recreational
and elite marathon runners. The most exciting feature of this site will be a
detailed marathon ranking to allow running enthusiasts to follow a national list,
as well as regional and age-class break downs. The regional breakdowns,
in particular, will be an exciting area to develop to give runners from rural
locations an idea of where they rank compared to others in their area.
One other issue that has been addressed is non-citizens training in Canada and
Canadians training abroad. I feel it is important to recognize newcomers to this
country. So, as this is a non-sanctioned site we will be displaying non-citizens as
unranked participants allowing our Canadian runners to feel the heat to improve
but to also protect their rankings from potential temporary residents. I also recognize
the necessity for many elite Canadian runners to train abroad. Therefore, results
by Canadians racing outside of Canada will be included in the rankings, but will
be displayed as unranked.
Canadian Marathoning Ltd. would like to thank Connie Coffin and Rob Harmsworth for
their initial support of this project. A special thanks to site builder Craig Odermatt
and the Running Room for providing the initial technical expertise and the funding
to get this site going. Sylvan Smyth and Steven Shelford took over the technical
website work and the PIH Club in Victoria extended web-hosting capabilities.
Presently, Steve Roderick has taken over the technical planning and I hope you
find the new format exciting and informative. From a data standpoint, our rankings
should get more diverse and comprehensive but loyal to the long distance
road-running format. We now have a retail system through Potash Corp Civic Centre to offer shoes and gear at discount prices.
Sincerely yours,
Alex Coffin
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