Marathoner Wodak has quad muscles seize, stomach cramping in failed bid for Olympic standard

The Paris Olympic dream is over for Canadian marathoner Natasha Wodak.

A 15-month journey to run under the 2:26:50 automatic Olympic entry standard ended unsuccessfully in Hamburg, Germany, where Wodak clocked two hours 30 minutes 24 seconds on Sunday, two days before the qualifying window closes.

The 42-year-old was on pace for a sub-2:26 finish midway through the 42.2-kilometre race before her quadricep muscles seized around the 30 km mark. She opted to keep running, even though she had experienced abdominal cramping from the outset that didn’t subside after surfacing on Friday night.

“Sadly, my Olympic dream has come to an end,” the national record holder said in an Instagram video post from her hotel room. “I’m proud of finishing, of hanging in there when it wasn’t my day.

“I came [into the race] like I was in 2:24 shape but that’s marathoning for you. This sport can be amazing but also cruel.”

Wodak had been running at marathon pace — three minutes 25 seconds per km — in recent workouts and was in that range early Sunday on a comfortable day for running (about 15 C with light wind).

“It seems unfair,” the Vancouver athlete said, “to run 2:23:12 [in Berlin in September 2022] and know that I’m in that same shape and not be able to get that Olympic standard.”

The Paris window opened five weeks after Wodak took down the Canadian record from good friend Malindi Elmore that September day in Germany.

At last year’s World Athletics Championships, Wodak was in the mix with the lead group but later felt nauseous, she said, racing in the heat of Budapest, Hungary, where she finished in 2:30:09.

WATCH | ‘I seem to be getting faster as I get older,’ Wodak says

Solid half marathon effort

Wodak was “frustrated and heartbroken” after competing with tight hamstrings and a cramp in her right calf late in the Houston Marathon this past Jan. 16, finishing nearly two minutes shy of the Olympic standard (2:28:42).

She wasn’t 100 per cent recovered a month later but decided to build for Hamburg, and impressed with a 1:11:52 performance on March 26 at the Comox Valley Half Marathon in B.C.

While she couldn’t properly fuel during Sunday’s race, Wodak said the pace was otherwise manageable, but she didn’t have an answer for the way it played out.

“The last year of hard, consistent work leaves me feeling confident and ready,” she said earlier in the weekend. “While there have been minor injuries, crap workouts and failed marathons, the majority of my training has been awesome.”

Following Sunday’s race she added: “There’s lots more to come. I will be OK.”

Elmore, 44, is the only Canadian female to have run standard, having clocked 2:23:30 last September in Berlin. Vancouver residents Leslie Sexton, Dayna Pidhoresky and Ben Preisner also tried to qualify for Paris in Hamburg but none of them finished the race.

Levins 20 seconds off his Canadian mark

In another road race Sunday, Cam Levins of Black Creek B.C., came within 20 seconds of his Canadian half marathon mark on a rainy morning in Istanbul, Turkey.

The 35-year-old was eighth across the finish line in one hour 38 seconds after setting the national mark of 1:00:18 in February 2023 at the First Half event in Vancouver.

Hicham Amghar of Morocco won Sunday in a 59:47 personal best, one of 16 men under 62 minutes, after placing second last year.

Three weeks ago, Levins was in strong form and nearly picked up his sixth Canadian mark on the road at the Asics Festival of Running in Paris.

Like Elmore, Levins earned an early nomination from Athletics Canada in February to represent Canada at the Olympics this summer. It will be the third appearance for both athletes.

Levins’s 2:05:36 PB at the Tokyo Marathon 13 months ago helped him achieve the Olympics standard. Calgary-born Rory Linkletter, who also has U.S. citizenship and now lives in Flagstaff, Ariz., is the only other Canadian male to run standard for Paris.

Lyles, Brown 1-2 in Bermuda 100 metres

Toronto native Aaron Brown ran his third 100 metres of the outdoor track season and posted a wind-aided 10.09 seconds (3.0 metres per second) for second behind Noah Lyles (9.96) of the United States at the USATF Bermuda Grand Prix in Devonshire.

Brown was coming off a second-place finish (wind-aided 10.05) last weekend at the LSU Alumni Gold meet in Baton Rouge, La.

The 31-year-old will race at the May 4-5 World Athletics Relays in Nassau, Bahamas with 100m teammates Andre De Grasse, Brendon Rodney and Jerome Blake.

Lyles, 26, captured silver in the 60 at indoor worlds last month and has previously won a combined six world titles in the 100, 200 and 100 relay.