True or False: Throughout this freezing and icy winter in Saskatoon, one of the world’s fastest female marathon runners has been training on the Meewasin Trails?
Answer: True. Robyn Luthi is using Saskatoon’s amazing trails as her prepping stage for the 2026 Abbott World Marathon Majors Age Group World Championships on May 24th in Cape Town, South Africa.
As the world celebrated International Women’s Day 2026 on Sunday, Luthi deserves to be celebrated as a role model for running – and for emerging through the other side of two challenging years.
The 45-year-old Saskatoon native has run 10 world-major marathons since 2018, taking a PB in the challenging New York City Marathon (2:50.45) in 2024 and then completing the Abbott Seven Star Challenge (running in each of the seven majors) last year with a 2:56 clocking in Sydney, Australia.
“I was the fastest Canadian woman (in that race) and the fourth-fastest Canadian overall,” said Luthi. These statistics are even more impressive: she was 46th among more than 11,000 women in Sydney and 7th among more than 1,500 in her age group.
But she almost pulled-out of Sydney because her training had gone off-the-rails because of personal struggles. In fact, she had missed every tempo run in her training. “I had a lot personal life stress and family change,” said Luthi. “My coach said: ‘Let’s go (to Sydney) and see what happens.'”
Luthi’s time in Sydney got her an invite to the world age-class championships. But more importantly, running is what has helped Luthi with life. “Running has helped me get through the most stressful time in my life,” she explained. “It has helped me tremendously. It’s my thinking time. I don’t run with music. I go through (in my mind) what has been thrown my way and figure things out. My most rationale thinking happens then.”
When you ask Luthi what her secret is to crushing world major marathons on a regular basis, her answer may surprise you. She doesn’t log huge mileage – at the peak, she hits 60 miles (almost 100KM) a week. She doesn’t cross-train.
“It’s a balance. I don’t sleep well. I can crush a beer and eat a burger, but within reason. Running is meant to be fun,” she explained. “It shouldn’t take you over. But I put-in the work and I have a coach that keeps me accountable.”
Beyond the running accomplishments, Luthi is a dedicated mom to two teenage daughters and operates a successful real estate business (Prairie Skies Realty in the area of Melfort, Saskatoon and Candle Lake). And if that wasn’t enough, she is also the Chair of the Saskatchewan Relators’ Association.
A role model in running, family and work.
