This Sunday, the 2025 Servus Edmonton Marathon will take on a new role as host of the Canadian Half Marathon Championships, and the inaugural year has drawn a stacked lineup. Both Canadian marathon record holders, Cam Levins and Natasha Wodak, will headline the men’s and women’s half-marathon fields with more than $20,000 in prize money on the line.
The men’s field
The men’s race is set to be one of the most competitive in Canadian history, featuring the country’s three fastest marathoners: Levins, Rory Linkletter and Ben Preisner. Levins has won the national half-marathon title the last three years when the race was held in Winnipeg. Now, in Alberta, Calgary native Linkletter will aim for his first career national title on home soil as he continues his buildup toward a fall major marathon.
Levins and Preisner are also gearing up for the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo next month. Preisner clocked 2:10:32 earlier this year at the Osaka Marathon, while Levins holds the Canadian marathon record at 2:05:36—also set in Japan. Joining them on the elite start list are Toronto’s Andrew Alexander (62:44), Nova Scotia’s Kieran Macdonald (65:45) and Edmonton’s Nageso Nyafaro (64:34).
The women’s field
On the women’s side, two-time Olympian Wodak will look to defend her 2024 title and sharpen her fitness ahead of the World Championship marathon. Fellow Canadian marathon team member Leslie Sexton, 38, will also use the race as a fitness test. Sexton, last year’s Canadian cross-country champion, finished second to Wodak at the 2024 Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2:33:15 but has raced sparingly in 2025.
Several rising Canadian stars will make their half-marathon debuts, including NCAA collegiate standouts Florence Caron and Sadie Sigfstead, both top-20 finishers at NCAA XC last fall.
Another name to watch is Kelowna-based British runner Lauren McNeil, who owns a personal best of 1:10:10 from 2024. If she matches that performance, she’ll be tough to beat, as the time hasn’t been matched by a Canadian female athlete since 2022.
The male and female champions will take home a cool $2,500, while second and third will be awarded $1,500 and $750, respectively.
