A Kelowna native has taken the sporting world by storm, shattering the Canadian women’s marathon record on Sunday.

Malindi Elmore ran an incredible 2:24:50 at the Houston Marathon, eclipsing Rachel Cliff’s record time of 2:26:56 set in March of 2019.

UNREAL….@MalindiElmore breaks CDN record by over 2' for a 2:24:50. Also sets CDN records for 25km, 30km, 35km and 40km en route. Un-freakn' believable Malindi! @AthleticsCanada pic.twitter.com/G1ZerGVZXT

— Trent Stellingwerff (@TStellingwerff) January 19, 2020

Elmore has an impressive running resume that spans over two decades. Before representing Canada in Beijing in 2001, she attended Stanford University where she still holds the school record in the 800m and 1,500m distances. Then, in 2004, she represented Canada at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, where she just failed to qualify for the semifinals.

In 2006, she competed at the commonwealth games and in 2011 at the Pan Am games as a 1,500m specialist where she ran one of the fastest times ever by a Canadian woman at 4:02.64.

In 2010 she briefly decided to retire, however seven years later in January of 2019 when she tied up her laces again and ran an amazing time of 2:32 at the Houston Marathon.

Now, just a year later, she has been crowned the fastest woman marathon runner in Canadian history.

View this post on Instagram

Where do I even begin to thank everyone who was with me today – in my heart and on the course – while I was able to do something I love and achieve something that, until recently, was never on my radar? I can’t believe my run today in Houston was a Canadian Marathon record! I always identified with being a middle distance runner and not a (crazy) distance runner…until I realize how fun training and racing is, and how fun it is to seek new challenges. Needless to say, I am now hooked 🙂 I am so incredibly grateful to the amazing community of runners, friends and family who have been part of this journey. Most of all @grahamthehood who never gave up on me and nailed the coaching for me this last year with our family first philosophy. So awesome to be greeted at the line by so many of my Canadian running friends, including @tashawodak who broke the Canadian half marathon record today – and who is someone I raced against 20+ years ago in high school!! full circle! And of course, to the amazing Silvia Ruegger, @lannimarchant, @raecliff, @kristaduchene, @daynapid whose own marathon exploits in Canada have inspired me. Feeling grateful and incredibly fortunate to do something I love.

A post shared by Malindi Elmore (@malindielmore) on Jan 19, 2020 at 11:57am PST

With the record, Elmore has more than likely solidified her spot for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Her time is now the fastest-ever run by a Canadian woman. Unless someone comes along and breaks her record, she has likely earned her place. The Olympic marathon team will be officially announced in May.

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