We’re still a few months out from the Saskatchewan Marathon, which is poised to take over the Saskatchewan river valley the last Sunday in May, but race organizer Kim Ali is already anticipating a year of records: a record number of participants, a record number of volunteers and course records going down.
This week, Ali speaks with the Brainsport Times about what participants can expect from this year’s event.
Last year the Saskatchewan Marathon welcomed a record number of participants. How is registration tracking this year?
We’re excited already because we’re tracking well ahead of last year. Last year we had record numbers — more than 5,000 participants — and we’re expecting to blow that out of the water this year.
In some of our virtual races over the past few years, many participants were new to running and racing. Last year was the first time they were really ready for an experience in the community with other runners. And we see that trend continuing this year.
What will those likely record numbers mean for participants?
It’s exciting for them because they’ll have support along the course with many others. Runners generally train on their own or with a small club so having a race experience with other runners and being able to celebrate with the running community and our community partners is an important part of the experience.
What is new for the 2025 race?
We have new branding and we’ve launched a new website that’s Saskatchewan oriented. Our colours are the green, yellow and orange similar to the Saskatchewan flag. You’ll see that reflected through all our branding this year.
For 2025, the Saskatchewan Marathon is hosting the provincial championships for all distances: 5km, 10km, half marathon, and full marathon. Last year, we featured championships for just the marathon and half marathon, so expanding to all distances is an exciting new opportunity for us. Saskatchewan Athletics will be at the finish line presenting provincial medals, which adds an extra layer of excitement to the high-performance aspect of the event. We’re anticipating strong competition, with participants aiming for provincial medals and breaking records across all age groups
Our elite program has changed somewhat too. We’re working more closely with Saskatchewan Athletics to try to attract elite athletes and make the race side of it really exciting at the finish line.
The women’s marathon course record has gone down twice in the last two years. Are you expecting more course records to go down this spring?
Of course. We’ve already had interest from David Mutai (who set the men’s marathon course record of 2:22:09 in 2019) and Kip Kangogo (who won the 2024 men’s marathon in a time of 2:28:23).
It’s inspiring and motivating for everyone who’s running to see those athletes and what they can do. That high-performance side of things makes it interesting to be at the finish line for the volunteers and all the spectators.
What will routes look like this year?
For the people who organize the race, every year there’s a challenge. For the marathon, I can’t remember a year when we didn’t have to measure a new course. This year will be no different. Broadway Bridge is closed for renovations so we have to have a new course for our longer distances.
Pending other changes, the marathon and half marathon courses will see participants cross to the west side of the South Saskatchewan River using the Victoria Bridge where they will run north along the river before turning back. 10km participants will also cross the Victoria Bridge and turn west toward the Remai Modern before coming back over the same bridge. You can find the course maps online.
What are you most excited for this year?
One of the things we’re focusing on is having a stronger presence on the course with more volunteers, more golf carts and things to support the runners. We’re really trying to engage the community along the course. We’ll be doing a few more things along the course and have more animation stations and more volunteers doing things that make it exciting, not only for the participants, but also for the community who lives along the course.
Leading up to our 50th event (in 2028) we’ve been doing Saskatchewan souvenir shirts that draw inspiration from vintage highway signs, travel posters, and iconic Saskatchewan landmarks and we’re continuing that this year with a new road sign design. The swag is a reward for running the race and we have about 40% of our participants come back each year so we want to make sure each experience is new and different.
