Champions of Calgary, Red Deer, and Victoria set to race in Vancouver.

In front of the thousands of participants at the BMO Vancouver Marathon will be a strong field of recent Marathon Champions. Suzanne Evans, Melissa Kendrick and Claudette Augert will be ready for another win.

Local talent Suzanne Evans will be gearing for her first BMO Vancouver Marathon after dominating events in Western Canada for the previous twelve years. Suzanne has been a runner since moving to BC from Quebec in 1996. The 1998 Royal Victoria Marathon was her first marathon and she has been slowly, but steadily, increasing her speed ever since. In 2008, Suzanne ran a personal best of 2:44:23 at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. Other achievements include winning the Royal Victoria Marathon three consecutive years in a row (2005-2007), being heralded the course champion in the Diez Vista 50K Trail Run and the Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Run (38 miles) and being invited to participate as part of Team Canada at the International Team Challenge in Austin and Toronto.

Hot on Suzanne’s heels will be two runners from Alberta. Melissa Kendrick is the current champion of the HSBC Calgary Marathon. She is a 25 year old native of Calgary with a passion for distance running. Her running career began in 2002 when she joined the University of Calgary Track and Field/Cross-Country running team. Since that time, she has developed her running skills, and has found her favorite distance: the marathon. Joining Melissa will be 2008 Red Deer Champion Claudette Augert who is set for her first BMO Vancouver Marathon. In 2006, Claudette ran the prestigious Boston Marathon and placed 7th overall in the Women Master’s division with a time of 2:59:34. In 2008, Claudette claimed her first win at the Red Deer marathon. Her success continued when she was the first Master woman at the Martian Marathon in Deerborne, MI, and at the Calgary Marathon, Alberta, in the 2009 season. This past fall, she finished first overall at the Five Peaks Trail Running series (Enduro distance) in northern Alberta and most recently, Claudette started off 2010 with another first place finish at the Arizona Rock’N’Roll marathon in a time of 3:05:51.

With very impressive resumes from all three ladies, the race will be one to watch. Racing for hometown pride and the elusive overall women’s title, the 2010 BMO Vancouver Marathon will showcase some of Canada’s best marathon champions.