By Paul Gains
Organizers of the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon are once again excited about the upcoming marathon debut of a young Canadian runner.
The lure of winning a Canadian championship title – the national marathon championships being run concurrently with this World Athletics Elite Label race – has brought 25-year-old Andrew Alexander to the fight.
“I want to be the first Canadian to cross the line,” says the Toronto native. “I want to be at least one one-thousandth of a second ahead of the second Canadian. If the (fast) time comes with that I will be happy. But for the first marathon it’s just get this out and, if it goes well, focus on time chasing after that.”
Considering this graduate of Notre Dame University won the 2023 Canadian indoor 1,500m and 3,000m titles and then claimed the national 10,000m gold in May of this year, racing the marathon is one giant leap. Still, he has a lot of support for this challenge.
Coached by former Canadian 1,500m record holder, Dave Reid, and current Canadian 3,000m steeplechase record holder, Matt Hughes, that potential was clearly demonstrated when he won the 2023 TCS Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon in 62:44.
He has also run 10,000m on the track in 28:17.24, not world class, but encouraging for a marathon runner.
“Since I started working with them they said they thought my event would be the marathon as much as it’s painful to hear that,” he recalls with a laugh. “I thought there was no better time than now. I had completed the Olympics trials (1,500m) last summer and didn’t really have the result I was looking for. I haven’t done a marathon so let’s give this a go!”
“Toronto is as great a place as any other to start my marathon journey just because it’s home and I am familiar with it, and I have tons of people support. I am looking forward to it.”
With both Reid and Hughes often accompanying him on their bikes he has increased his training volume to around 160km a week. Whereas his longest run a year ago might be roughly 28 kilometres during this buildup for Toronto Waterfront he has added some Sunday runs of 40-43 kilometres.
“The big challenge has been getting used to the fluids and nutrition intake kind of taking it in right,” he reveals. “After the first few workouts while practicing nutrition I threw up immediately after.”
“I remember thinking to myself ‘Oh my God what have I signed up for? ’Practicing that over the last few weeks I have honed in on that and it’s going well.”
At the beginning of 2024 Reid and Hughes helped arrange a six-week altitude training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona for their athlete – his first experience at high altitude. Alexander stayed with the Under Armour Dark Sky Group and called it a ‘gut punch’ as the acclimation took some time. Still, he believes it helped lay a base for the upcoming season.
Alexander attended Neil McNeil High School in Scarborough, Ontario – an institution where the late comedian John Candy also studied – and while running for the school he earned a place on Canada’s team for the 2017 World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, Uganda.
After he had won the Ontario High School championships (OFSAA) for Neil McNeil he accepted a scholarship to Notre Dame University. Five years with the ‘Fighting Irish’ led to him coming home with a Bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and a Master’s in Business Management. For the moment he is focusing on his running career and has temporarily delayed a career that would utilize his education. Working part time in a specialty running store together with an online apparel store provides income.
Turning his attention once again to the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon he eventually concedes having thought of a time goal for his debut – a couple of minutes on either side of 2 hours 10 minutes would be sufficient he says. But being a Canadian champion is the primary motivator.
“The national championship side of it definitely excites me,” he explains. “I have heard there is more depth on the Canadian side this year which I am super excited about. I just love the competition and competing against our Canadian guys.
