Melfort marathon runner Robyn Luthi completed her goal of running the six Abbott World Marathon Majors after completing the New York Marathon in November of 2024.
She added the eighth World Major when she completed the Cape Town Marathon on May 24 with a time of two hours, 58 minutes, and 37 seconds. Luthi said the marathon was a tough one.
“The race was a tough course. I would compare it to Sydney for how hard it was. It was extremely hilly that first 15 kilometres. There’s actually a lot of up and down, and then there was a very large hill at kilometre 30. Nice scenic views. You finish along the coast and in by the DHL rugby stadium. So it’s actually quite a nice course that way,.”
Luthi said the marathon has less spectators that some of the other major marathons, but anticipates that will change in future years..
“It’s also still kind of being audited right now to become a world major marathon, so hopefully in the years to come, their crowds are going to pick up a little bit.”
At the time of the interview, Luthi explained that the Cape Town Marathon would soon be the eighth Abbott World Major Marathon. The Cape Town Marathon was officially named the eighth Abbot World Marathon Major on June 10.
Luthi chose Cape Town as her next marathon because it was an invitation to the World Age Group Championship.
“I knew that it was getting adjudicated to be the eight star so that if I ran it, I would get credit for the eight star,” she said.
Luthi placed sixth in her age group and 35th overall for women in Cape Town.
“I didn’t have my best time,” she said. “I was actually hoping I would finish a little bit stronger than what I did. I ran into a little bit of issues around kilometre 30 just with that hill and some fatigue and some tight hip pain. But (I’m) still happy overall, I ran another sub three hour marathon, so that’s pretty, pretty good.
“Not many can say they ran one period, let alone consistently running sub threes.”
Her next race is her third run of the Chicago Marathon in October.
“I’m hoping to post a very quick time there just because it’s a really flat, fast course and I’m familiar with it. Just hoping that I have a little bit of a better training session,” Luthi said.
She explained that her spring marathon is a bit tougher because of the training conditions at home. However, she has run enough marathons with winter training that she knows what to expect.
“It’s always hard training through a Saskatchewan winter, particularly the one we just had. You always know in a spring marathon you’re probably not going to run a personal best just because your training’s a little bit different going into it,” Luthi said.
“I always train in winter, but I also always have a little bit slightly slower every spring marathon.”
Cape Town was her eighth marathon completed among the ‘major’ marathons, known as the Abbott World Marathon Majors. She has previously completed marathons in Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, Tokyo, Sydney and New York. She said that being a competitive runner has allowed her to see the world and compete.
“I have now ran on five continents and seven different countries, so I definitely have had the opportunity to travel to some pretty cool places because of marathon running.”
Luthi said that South Africa is one of her favourite spots to visit.
“I love South Africa,” she explained. “That’s my second time going to South Africa actually. I was there a few years back. It’s a beautiful country. It’s got a lot of history there. It’s absolutely stunning. I have nothing bad to say about South Africa.”
The only real downside is the travel time according to Luthi.
“It is a little bit longer and more difficult to get to just because of the travel from Saskatchewan, but highly recommend if it’s on someone’s bucket list to go, they should go,” she said.
Luthi has now competed in 11 marathons since 2017.
