Eric Gillis' long awaited Marathon Debut was well worth the wait, as Gillis blazed a 2 hour 13 minute and 56 seconds debut at the Chevron Houston Marathon, Sunday in Houston, Texas.
In near perfect conditions, Gillis was like a metronome in his early pacing, sticking to his pre race plan as he moved through the first 30 kilometres on pace for a 2 hour 14 minute and 30 seconds debut. Over the last ten kilometres Gillis began to gradually pick up his pace, with his last four miles being progressively faster, finishing with mile 26 being his fastest of the race. A textbook way to run a marathon, his second half was 25 seconds faster than his first.
Gillis' run ranks him fourteenth all-time in Canadian history and is the third fastest time performance by a Canadian since 1996. Although it is not a widely tracked statistic, it is believed that this is the second fastest debut marathon in Canadian history, behind only Peter Fonseca 2 hour 12 minute and 7 second debut in 1990.
Gillis and Coach Dave Scott-Thomas will be speaking about his race and the preparations for it, next Sunday at the monthly Guelph Runners' Brunch hosted at Shakespeare Arms; the brunch will start at 10 am.
Chris Moulton
Director of Communications
Speed River Track and Field
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