The best way to promote course certification is to give it some significance. Many, but not all, Canadian marathons are certified because it is a requirement for Boston Marathon qualification. The importance of course certification would receive a boost if Athletics Canada and its provincial branches kept records of its best overall and age group performances for standard distances.

I find it highly unusual that Athletics Canada and its provincial branches do not keep records and rankings for standard road running distances other than the marathon; yet in 2005 has hosted the IAAF Half Marathon World Championships, a National 10 km Road Race Championship, and has sent athletes to the North American 5 km Road Race Championships.

The only age groups recognized by Athletics Canada for records and rankings are: 17 and under, Junior and Senior. Omitting the Masters category entirely excludes a significant percentage of athletes in road running. Race directors recognized long ago that attracting athletes of all ages and abilities ensures the survival of an event and the sport itself.

Athletics Canada will remain road running's national governing body in name only until it applies its standards for track and field to road events, and recognizes that athletes need not be in the prime of their life and compete solely in Olympic events to be considered competitive.

Laurent,

My guess is the masters records are not maintained because of the volume of work required. In the US, Ryan Lamppa at the Road Running Information Center in Santa Barbara has the enormous task of gathering results from road races throughout the US. He maintains the records for Open and Masters groups. A week ago he submitted 90 pending records for ratification at the USATF National meeting later this year. Of that group, 80 are pending masters long distance running records.

2005 pending US LDR records

Athletics Canada may not have the same volume, but it's still a big task to validate courses, check the timing, proof of age, etc. Maybe, we can find someone that can tackle both US and Canadian LDR records. -- Justin