Dylan Wykes (born June 6, 1983) is a Canadian long-distance runner. He represented Canada in the marathon at the 2009

IAAF World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the ...

Berlin, Germany Berlin is the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, as measured by population within city limits having gained this stat ...

as well as the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. In April 2012, Wykes ran the

Rotterdam Marathon The Rotterdam Marathon, currently branded NN Rotterdam Marathon, is an annual marathon that has been held in Rotterdam, Netherlands since 1981. It has been held in April every year since the third edition in 1984 and attracts many top athletes. ...

in a time of 2:10:47 and qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics. With this mark, he is currently the third fastest Canadian marathoner of all time.

Early life

Wykes was born and raised in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, where he attended

Frontenac Secondary School Frontenac Secondary School is a high school in the west-end of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Limestone District School Board. Its sports teams play under the nickname "Frontenac Falcons". History Frontenac Secondary School was foun ...

. He competed successfully throughout high school, winning the provincial high school (

OFSAA The Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) is an organization of student-athletes, teacher-coaches, student-coaches, teachers, principals, and sport administrators in Ontario, Canada. OFSAA is the second largest high school ath ...

) cross country championships in 2001 as well as the 3000m at the 1998, 2000 and 2001 OFSAA track & field championships. He also won the junior race at the 2002 Canadian Cross Country Championships in

Moncton, New Brunswick Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the Maritime Provinces. The city has earned the nickname "Hub City" because of ...

. Following high school, Wykes attended

Providence College Providence College is a private Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the local diocese, it offers 47 undergraduate majors and 17 graduate programs. It requires all of its undergradua ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

. Under the coaching of Ray Treacy, he competed in several NCAA cross country and track & field championships. Wykes finished 49th at the 2003 cross country championships and 15th in the 3000m at the 2004 indoor track championships.

Career

In 2008, at the age of 24, Wykes ran 2:15:16 and finished 16th at the Fortis Rotterdam Marathon, his debut performance at the distance. The time was the second fastest by a Canadian in 2008, surpassed only by Olympian Jon Brown's 2:12 performance at the

Fukuoka Marathon The is an IAAF Gold Label international men's marathon race held in Fukuoka, Japan. It was previously known as the Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship between 1947 and 2021, when it was announced the race would be discontinued on its ...

, and one of the fastest marathon debuts in Canadian history. In the fall of the same year, Wykes ran the

Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon The Toronto Waterfront Marathon is an annual marathon held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in October. The race day also includes a half marathon and 5 km race. The race has quickly become an elite level marathon and is one of just five World A ...

, and placed 11th in a time of 2:16:20. In 2009, he represented Canada in the marathon at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and finished 33rd in 2:18:00. In his fourth effort at the distance in December 2010, Wykes won the Sacramento International Marathon. He led the race from start to finish and set a new personal best of 2:12:39, proving himself a contender to represent Canada at the

2012 London Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. After two failed attempts at reaching the Canadian Olympic standard of 2:11:29, Wykes surpassed the mark at the 2012

.2012 ABN AMRO Rotterdam Marathon Results
/ref> He finished 7th in the race with a time of 2:10:47, currently the second fastest marathon of all time by a Canadian. Wykes concluded his 2012 season at the London Olympics where he finished as the top Canadian and 20th overall in the marathon. Wykes has also represented Canada internationally in cross country. He ran as a junior at the 2002

World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

and as a senior at the 2007 championships. He placed 3rd at both the 2007 and 2008 Canadian Cross Country Championships and finished 3rd at the 2008 and 2nd at the 2009

NACAC Cross Country Championships The NACAC Cross Country Championships is an annual regional cross country running competition for athletes representing member nations of the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC). The event was inaugurated in 20 ...

. Wykes continues to improve his track ability, and set personal bests in both the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

and

10000 metres 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

in the early part of 2011.

Personal bests

Achievements

References

External links

*
Profile at Athletics Canada

Dylan Wykes Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wykes, Dylan 1983 births Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Canadian male long-distance runners Living people Olympic track and field athletes for Canada Sportspeople from Kingston, Ontario Sportspeople from Vancouver