The second-fastest Canadian marathoner of all time, behind 1977 Boston Marathon champion Jerome Drayton, Dylan Wykes has represented his country at the 2009 World Championships Marathon and the 2012 London Olympic Games Marathon, where he finished first Canadian and 20th overall. Running his debut marathon in 2008, at the age of 24, Wykes finished 16th in Rotterdam and later in the year placed 11th in Toronto. In 2010, he won the national title in the 5,000m and then won the California International Marathon, and improved his personal best to 2:12:39. In preparation for qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Games Marathon, Wykes entered the Lake Biwa Marathon, but was unable to finish. He says this disappointment taught him “that not everything goes to plan, you have to be prepared for anything, and to never give up on your dreams.” Six weeks later he ran a personal best of 2:10:47 at the Rotterdam Marathon, and qualified for the Canadian Olympic team with Eric Gillis and Reid Coolsaet. At the Olympic Marathon, the trio placed higher as a team than every country except Kenya and Brazil.

“I feel like I’m coming into my best years as a marathon runner and wanted to run Boston while I was in my prime,” says Wykes. “I’m looking forward to a marathon race. So many of the marathons I’ve run have been about time [to qualify for the World Championships or Olympics]. I’m really looking forward to the watch and time being secondary and to simply try to beat as many people as possible.” Wykes attended Providence College, where he was coached by Ray Treacy, and graduated with a B.A. in mathematics in 2005. He also holds a M.Sc. in epidemiology from Queen’s University, Canada. Wykes was born in Kingston, Ontario, and now lives and trains in Vancouver, British Columbia, with the BC Endurance Project. He works part-time at a running specialty store owned by elite runner Peter Butler. Wykes is married to Francine and the couple has a baby girl named Sasha, who was born this past November.

“Boston is the marathon that defines all marathon runners. Shortly after the Olympics I was speaking to a woman at a running event and telling her about my experience. Her follow-up to all this was to ask if my times would qualify me to run Boston! That’s when I knew Boston really is everyone’s Olympics.”