Rain or shine, Melanie DesAutels trains constantly for the marathons she runs, doing this since she crushed her first one – the Manitoba Marathon – back in 2012.
On Sunday, she ran 42.2 kilometers in 2:46:16, winning the Montreal Marathon for a second time.
“It started at quite a like a breakneck speed,” explained the elite runner. “With the adrenaline, the rush, the crowd.”
The Winnipeg-born athlete who moved to Sherbrooke, Que., took the win back in 2022 and returned this year hoping to make the podium once again. But it was no easy feat – going head-to-head with another participant.
“She was ahead for the first kilometre and suddenly I took the lead for the next couple of kilometres,” said DesAutels. “She took the lead again, kilometres three to nine.”
But from kilometre nine, DesAutels managed to hold onto the lead until the very end.
“As of kilometer 40, the crowd gets much more dense and then you see the Olympic stadium in the distance,” said DesAutels. “So you know you’re nearing the end.”
“You’re not going to lose this within the last two kilometres,” she recalled telling herself. “I gave it all I had.”
The red-carpet finish marked her 11th marathon completed.
“Winning the Montreal Marathon twice is, I think, by far my biggest running achievement,” she said.
Her talent has taken her across the globe. And it takes up most of her time – running 175 kilometres over six days some weeks – with two to three workouts per day.
“My life revolves around running a lot,” she said.
Next? She said she might aim for another marathon in spring 2025.
“I decided to follow my dreams at 27 and I won the marathon, the Montreal Marathon twice,” she added. “It’s never too late to go after your dreams.”
