Marathoner Rory Linkletter has made notable strides. Now he’s got Canada’s best in his sights
Rory Linkletter was in his junior year on a track scholarship at Brigham Young University when Cam Levins shattered a 46-year-old Canadian record in the marathon at the Toronto Waterfront event in 2018.
By then, Linkletter had represented Canada internationally for the first time in 2015 at the World Cross-Country Championships and again in 2017, a year in which he also finished second in the 10,000 metres at the NCAA championships as a sophomore. But all along, he was drawn to the marathon.
At BYU in Provo, Utah, Linkletter was coached by American Ed Eyestone, who ran the marathon at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics. Levins’s success on that Oct. 21 day in Toronto, a two-hour nine-minute 25-second performance in his first marathon, only served as further inspiration.
“At the time, 2:09 seemed like a lifelong achievement goal,” said Linkletter, “but the idea of chasing something at that level was enticing.”
After graduating a year later with a major in political science and minor in communications, Linkletter made his marathon debut in Toronto, posting a time of 2:16:42.
With added experience and a few coaching changes, Linkletter has evolved with the sport and made notable strides over 42.2 kilometres. He ran 2:08:01 to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics and a 2:07:02 personal best earlier this year in Boston.
At the 47th Chicago Marathon on Sunday, Linkletter will target Levins’s 2:05:36 Canadian and North American record when he begins his journey at 8:30 a.m. ET in the professional men’s group.
“I’m highly motivated by the idea of being revered as one of the greatest Canadian runners of all-time,” Linkletter told CBC Sports this week from his home in Flagstaff, Ariz. “I’ve already started that momentum.
“I’m building this resume, reputation, whatever you want to call it, towards something that means a whole lot to me.”
Calgary’s Rory Linkletter spoke with CBC Sports ahead of his attempt to break the Canadian record at this Sunday’s Chicago marathon.
Olympic debut ‘humbling experience’
Linkletter, 29, said his Chicago build was “successful in every measure” and better than Boston as far as training load and workouts.
“And I do believe marathons build on each other, so by virtue of what I did in Boston,” he added, “I should be a better version of myself in Chicago.”
Linkletter has said his 2024 Olympic marathon debut in Paris was a “humbling experience.” He finished 47th, 11 spots behind Levins.
The 36-year-old Levins is “interested and excited” to see how Linkletter performs Sunday, telling CBC Sports he will probably watch the back half of the race, if not all of it, from his home in Portland, Ore.
“No matter what he does, I’ll have to go faster to make [the record] harder to beat or try to take it back,” said Levins, who was 12th in 2:11:07 in the Tokyo heat at the recent World Athletics Championships. “If he takes it, I’m not planning on letting him keep it.
“You want the best marathoners in Canada pushing each other.”
That was on full display in August when Linkletter beat Levins to the finish line by one second to take his Canadian half marathon crown, ending the Black Creek, B.C., native’s three-year title reign.
“He’s made massive gains from last year to beat me,” said Levins, who will race the Houston Half Marathon on Jan. 11 and look to lower his 1:00:18 Canadian mark. “Even if I’m not in my best shape, I was still good enough to take 12th [at worlds]. It wasn’t like I was a pushover, and he beat me soundly [in Edmonton].
“The fact he outsprinted me was a surprise. With how he’s been running [this year] it only makes sense [the Canadian marathon record is] the target he should be aiming for.”
WATCH | Highlights of Linkletter’s final training run of Chicago build:
Expects to ‘grind and hurt’ Sunday
Sunday is the third of seven marathon majors for Linkletter, a father of two who was a pacesetter for the pro women’s group the past two years in Chicago.
However, despite his knowledge of the course, there are no assurances.
“I remember certain sections and what might be challenges. It’s going to take a good day from my own performance and a good day in the sense of uncontrollable variables that can help me,” said Linkletter, who moved to Utah from Calgary at age five with his mom after his parents divorced. “I envision having to grind and hurt for a while and compete, above all else.”
The Calgary-born marathon runner, who lives and trains in Flagstaff, Ariz., says he is considering moving his family back to Canada when he retires from running.
Should he need help along the way, longtime friend Conner Mantz might be nearby. He’s gunning for Khalid Khannouchi’s 2:05:38 American record that has stood since 2022. Mantz ran 2:05:08 earlier this year in Boston, which is not record-eligible.
“I would love that. Me and Conner ran together in college and against each other in high school,” said Linkletter. “We’ve discussed working together [in Sunday’s race] but when the start [gun] sounds you never know.
“He’s probably in a slight league above where I’ve been the last couple of years, so there’s a possibility he’s running faster than what I’m ready to run, and then I’d have to make a tough decision [to try to keep pace with him].”
“That record was a lot easier,” said Linkletter, laughing. “I knew that record was doable, just not by how much. I needed to do well to prove myself in the sport because I was at a desperation point.
“This time, I feel I have less to prove but at the same time, I’m hungrier because the stakes are higher. Never has there been a bigger goal that I felt was more realistic.
“This isn’t life changing but it is a career altering type of performance,” continued Linkletter. “If I run 2:05, I think it puts me in a different class of runner.”
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