ALBERTSON, LINKLETTER SET TO COMPLETE BOSTON / OTTAWA MARATHON DOUBLE ON SUNDAY
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission.
OTTAWA (24-May) — It all started with a conversation at last October’s Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
American C.J. Albertson and Canadian Rory Linkletter were sitting at a table with Stephen Andersen, the Tartan Ottawa International Marathon elite athlete coordinator, and Andersen was talking about the merits of his race. Albertson, who was in Chicago as a competitor, and Linkletter, who was there as a pacemaker, were intrigued by what they heard. Both athletes were planning to run the 2025 Boston Marathon in April, so doing Ottawa five weeks later would present a special challenge.
“Stephen was pitching Ottawa to C.J.,” Linkletter recalled in an interview yesterday with Race Results Weekly. “Why don’t you come to Ottawa after Boston? I knew I was doing Boston at that point, and so I was like, maybe I’ll do the Boston/Ottawa double kind of thing as well.”
Albertson, 31, didn’t need much convincing. A veteran of over 20 marathons, he had run back-to-back marathons before and Andersen’s pitch was definitely landing.
“It seemed like a nice course and some other people said good things about the race,” Albertson said. “So, I’ve done doubles before. The timing worked out.”
Both athletes tailored their training so that they could peak for Boston, get a short recovery, then resume their training for Ottawa. For Linkletter, his first race running under coach Jonathan Green, Boston was a smashing success. Linkletter led the race at halfway and finished sixth in a personal best 2:07:02, the fastest-ever Boston Marathon by a Canadian.
“Boston was our first big moment together when things really clicked, and it was awesome,” Linkletter said of his relationship with Green. “It was sweet.”
Linkletter, 28, who represented Canada at both the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships and the 2024 Olympics, recovered quickly from Boston.
“Honestly, I was doing workouts four or five days after the race and feeling pretty good immediately after,” Linkletter said. “We’ve just been really cautious, me and my coach, just about our approach on not digging too deep again post-race.”
Linkletter shifted his thinking about Boston as he looked ahead to Ottawa. The Boston Marathon morphed into a key workout as part of his Ottawa preparations.
“Boston was a huge race and a huge workout stimulus,” Linkletter explained. “I was just like, how do I remain healthy and fresh enough to go back to that same place again?”
Albertson had a similar recovery experience. Boston did not go quite as well for him (he finished 14th overall and was the fourth American in 2:10:16), but he quickly resumed his normal training.
“I’ve run twenty-something marathons now,” Albertson said. “You’re sore for a few days then you’re pretty much back to normal three days later. That was pretty much how Boston went.”
Both athletes said that they were here in Ottawa to compete for podium finishes. The elite field is led by Kenyan veteran Albert Korir, the 2019 Ottawa champion, who was supposed to run the Boston Marathon but had to scratch with an ankle injury. Linkletter said he was running to win.
“My goal is to win, but I think success looks like competing for the win,” Linkletter said. “You know, being in the lead group as long as possible, and at some point trying to win the race. I don’t know what that looks like, whether it’s following a move or matching a breakaway of some sort, or making a move on my own. Like, I’d love to at least be like, I went for it. Hopefully, worst case scenario ending up on the podium.”
Albertson felt the same way.
“I think we’re going to go out like 2:07 pace,” Albertson said. “So, I’m just going to try to hang with the pack as long as possible. Then, the second half of the race when the pacers step off just seeing what I can do.” He added: “I know I can close hard the last mile of a marathon, so if I’m there with a mile to go I like my chances.”
The weather should play a significant role. Unlike last year’s race when it was sunny, warm and humid, runners this year will be greeted by overcast skies, temperatures around 9C/48F at the start, and light winds. Linkletter said that these conditions should allow his fitness to show out.
“It’s all about running fast and competing,” Linkletter said. “If you’re in a controlled setting then the fitter person usually wins. You add variables like heat, hills, humidity and things like that, it opens the door for something to go wrong. The marathon is tricky, you know?”
Albertson thought that warmer conditions might give him an edge. At the 2024 USA Olympic Team Trials in Orlando, Albertson blitzed through the hot and sunny second half, moving up from ninth place to fourth by the finish.
“Competition-wise, maybe I would prefer it a little bit warmer,” Albertson said. “I do pretty well. But, it’s also nice to have pretty much perfect conditions, and it’s fun to run fast, too.”
The race winners will earn CAD 20,000 (USD 14,560). Should Linkletter win he would also earn CAD 3000 as the first Canadian, and special bragging rights as the first Canadian man to win in Ottawa in 25 years (the last Canadian champion on the men’s side was Bruce Deacon in 2000). Linkletter is optimistic, especially after his breakthrough day in Boston.
“I’m hoping that that amount of grind I had to have in the last 10-K in Boston after Heartbreak Hill will hopefully carry my legs home here in Ottawa on Sunday,” he said.
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Fans can watch the Tartan Ottawa International Marathon LIVE and FREE via the Run Ottawa Youtube channel. The broadcast begins at 06:40 EDT at https://www.youtube.com/@
