Mary Davies Wins 2012 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

By: Karen Karnis

When Mary Davies was the first woman to cross the finish at the 2012 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 14, no one was more surprised than Davies herself. “My goal was to run under 2:30, but looking at the field, winning the race wasn’t even in my head,” says Davies.  “It was surreal.”

Having made the mistake of starting out too fast in the past, Davies was determined to stay calm and steady at the start.  Canadian runners Krista DuChene and Lanni Marchant, who were trying to break the Canadian marathon record of 2:28:26, were going to be running 3:30/km with pacers, so she decided to start with them. After the turn around at 23K or so, Davies realized the 2^nd and 3^rd place women weren’t too far ahead, so she decided to gradually increase her pace.  Between 38 and 39K she thought she was going to hit the wall, but then she spotted the leader, Agnes Kiprop.  Davies passed Kiprop just after the 41K point, but it wasn’t until she saw that sign that said, “400m to go!” that she realized she would win.

The 30-year-old runner, who is from New Zealand and lives in Ottawa, chose the race to try to qualify for the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow.  While New Zealand hasn’t released their qualifying standards yet, having run the fourth-fastest marathon for a New Zealander, Davies probably stands a good chance of winning a spot on the team.

All of this is even more impressive when you consider that she had a baby only 14 months ago.   “If anything, I have been running faster since Lucas was born,” says Davies. In addition to faster workouts and higher mileage, Davies has managed to turn her Saturday tempo runs into family time.  “My husband, Gabriel, rides beside me with Lucas in the bike trailer,” she says. “We try to make it around naptime because Lucas goes right to sleep.”

But the transition from runner to runner-mama wasn’t seamless.  “I started running again a little too soon, I think,” says Davies of starting back into training about four weeks after Lucas was born.  “I wanted to run the Paris Marathon in April to qualify for the London Olympics, but I ended up injuring my sacroiliac joint and had to withdraw.”  She was disappointed at the time, but she quickly shifted her focus to the World Championships.

Davies was 20 when she started running seriously.  She briefly considered packing it in back in 2007 when she had a rough year recovering from a bout of mononucleosis.  But it was clear that she missed the competition, and her husband encouraged her to return to the sport she loves.  It’s a good thing, too, because she’s got some big goals.  After the World Championships next summer, she’ll be gunning for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, where she’ll have something like a hometown crowd, since her husband, Gabriel, is originally from Brazil, and her in-laws still live there.

Davies is glad she’s been working with Mizuno.  “I have had a lot of injury issues this past year and it has been wonderful knowing I had the support of Arnold [Tse, from Mizuno],” she says. “I love the brand.  The Precision shoes are great and the best shoe by far that I have worn,” she adds. She’s currently running in the Wave Precision 13 and says, “the bright pink colour is awesome too.”