Three time Canadian Marathon Champion Liodmila Kortchaguina is coming to Vancouver to compete in the 21.1 km Half Marathon.  Liodmila has personal bests of 2:29:42 for the 42.2 km Marathon and 1:10:46 for the 21.1 km Half.  This year, she has run 2:30:43 and finished third in the very competitive Houston Marathon.  The Toronto resident is originally from Russia and has recently become a Canadian citizen.  Liodmila is a world class runner winning numerous races around the world has also competed at the Commonwealth Games. 

2008 BMO Vancouver Marathon Champion, Mary Akor from California, is returning to Vancouver to defend her winning title.  Mary will be competing only 13 days after completing the Boston Marathon where she finished 13th in a deep women's field.  Mary is originally from Nigeria and has been living in the United States since 1993 where, at the age of 16, she aspired to run the Boston Marathon.  Due to her young age, she didn't run Boston that day but has since won races all around the world.  Mary's training regime consists of running 150–160 miles a week and she has run a total of 17 marathons in 2005 and 2006.