John Gay completed his debut marathon Sunday in Ottawa, something he and those close to him never dreamed possible as recently as a year ago.
Gay tore his left hamstring in 2023 and left Achilles tendon the next year. Later in 2024, an MRI revealed a torn right hamstring he had run with for about six weeks. Gay returned to track running in 2025, only to be sidelined several more months after throwing out his back.
“It seemed like it was going to be curtains on my career,” the 29-year-old said last week from his home in Kelowna, B.C. “I was definitely in a position where it seemed getting myself to the previous version of John Gay, the runner, seemed like a tall order.”
He covered 42.2 kilometres in two hours 14 minutes 16 seconds for 12th place on a cool, rainy and windy Sunday.
Hope for Gay to build back up arrived in the fall of 2024, courtesy Canadian marathoner Rory Linkletter, who called his close friend of five years to “talk shop.” Seeking a training partner, Linkletter informed Gay he was joining coach Jon Green and Verde Track Club, based in Flagstaff, Ariz.
Gay visited for a month, “hit it off” with Green and relocated with his wife, Camille, in January 2025.
“That breathed some life into my career,” Gay recalled. “The impetus for the move to Flagstaff was to give myself a final shot at regaining some relevance as an athlete.
“He [Linkletter] had come off his best season and making his first Olympic team. It felt like it would be the right move. I believe it has been the right move. It’s just taken longer for it to play itself out the way I had envisioned.”
Three consecutive years of injury forced Gay from the 3,000-metre steeplechase after several successful seasons. He won back-to-back Canadian titles (2021, 2022), competed at two World Athletics Championships and placed 15th in his 2021 Olympic debut in Tokyo, where he ran an eight-minute 16.99-second personal best in the heats.
The torn Achilles tendon sullied Gay’s bid for a second Olympic appearance two years ago in Paris.
“At that point, I felt my career was on borrowed time,” he said. “I hadn’t produced enough recent results to remain relevant or justify focusing on the sport as my primary occupation.”
He made it through a marathon [training] block, which a year ago looked to be an impossible feat. It’s nothing short of a miracle he is as fit and healthy as he is.– Rory Linkletter on John Gay’s marathon debut
Gay hit rock bottom in 2025 when he couldn’t run respectable paces in training.
“I was skeptical,” said Linkletter, who first met Gay in 2019 and was his roommate at the World Cross-Country Championships in Denmark. “I was like, ‘I don’t know if we’ll ever see John on a start line again.’ It was sad and hard to watch because I wanted it for him.
“He made it through a marathon [training] block [for Ottawa], which a year ago looked to be an impossible feat. It’s nothing short of a miracle he is as fit and healthy as he is.”
Former Canadian Olympic steeplechase runner John Gay discusses his relationship with coach Jon Green while preparing for the Ottawa Marathon.
Linkletter’s belief saved career
Linkletter was third in Sunday’s race in 2:09:43 after placing second a year ago.
If not for Linkletter’s belief, Gay probably would have retired from competitive running.
“This is a guy who picked me up and was in my corner when most people weren’t,” Gay told CBC Sports.
Four months ago, Gay experienced a turning point in his fitness and health when Linkletter visited him and Camille with his wife, Jill, and two children. The Calgary-born Linkletter has grandparents who live near Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley.
Gay wowed his friend during a couple of training sessions.
“He looked amazing,” remembered Linkletter. “This isn’t the same guy who left [Flagstaff in January]. From a training capability standpoint, he is leaps and bounds ahead of where he was.”
Gay moved back to Kelowna four months ago to wait for his U.S. Permanent Resident Card that was issued last month via Camille, a dual Australian-Canadian citizen. Gay returned to Flagstaff for a week in March to help with her move back to B.C. They intend to move back to Arizona this fall.
“It was the end of my Boston [Marathon] build and [Gay’s] peak for Ottawa,” said Linkletter. “I got to watch him do the best long progression marathon-pace run of his build. I think he’s in a good spot for what would be a respectable debut.”
Canadian marathoner Rory Linkletter talks about his friend John Gay, “one of the hardest-working guys I know,” ahead of the latter’s debut marathon this Sunday in Ottawa.
Gay eyes 2:10 finish in Ottawa
Linkletter finished the Ottawa Marathon in 2:08:31 last year, nine seconds behind the now-suspended Albert Korir of Kenya. The Canadian charged late and narrowly missed his first marathon victory in 13 attempts.
In better conditions Sunday, Linkletter was hopeful of pacing for a 2:06 or 2:07 finish, while Gay had an eye on the 2:10-2:12 range.
“I’m finally in a place where I’m healthy enough to race, but also fit enough to compete to the best of my abilities,” said Gay, who clocked 28:44 over 10 km at the Vancouver Sun Run on April 19. Justin Kent, Canada’s fifth-fastest marathoner, finished 4-100ths ahead of Gay to win the race.
“I trust my body again, I trust the training I put in and the people who have believed in me have trusted in my ability to get this done. I would love to feel like I was able to compete through the end of the race [in Ottawa].”
Gay is fully aware of the challenge to become a men’s marathoner in Canada, where Cam Levins has held the national record of 2:05:36 for over three years and Linkletter is inching closer to that mark with a 2:06:49 PB. Ben Preisner (2:08:58), Thomas Nobbs (2:09.25) and Kent (2:09.29) also have shone in the distance.
“I would love to throw my hat in the ring as one of Canada’s top distance runners again,” said Gay. “That 2:10 mark is probably the starting point to put your name in the conversation.
“Whether it’s me or three other [Canadian] athletes, it’s going to be a difficult [2028 Olympic] team to make in [Los Angeles]. I want to do everything in my power to make it as difficult a team to make for other people, so whether I’m one of the [maximum] three [men’s marathoners] or not, we’re sending the absolute best contingent.
“It’s as close to a home Games that I’m going to have in my career,” Gay added.
Tom Longboat became the first Indigenous person to win the Boston Marathon in 1907. His great-great-grandson Kristian Jamieson will try to match Longboat’s record-breaking time at this weekend’s Ottawa marathon. He spoke with CBC Ottawa Morning’s Rebecca Zandbergen ahead of the race.
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