With his fourth-place finish in Boston last year, Vitaliy Shafar set a personal best of 2:09:37. He followed up with a consistent performance in Toronto, finishing fifth in 2:09:51. Shafar represented his country at the 2012 London Olympic Games Marathon and says, “The most intense, pivotal moment of my career was running in the London Olympics in the marathon distance. It was tough and it was challenging, but I’m proud I finished it, no matter what; it was very important for me to finish there in London.” Shafar has made the podium three times in his career. He won the 2006 Warsaw Marathon, placed third at the Debno Marathon, and placed third at the Belaya Tserkva Marathon.

Shafar says he was always interested in sports, but when he was 16 he began to focus on running. At 17
he was the Ukrainian junior national champion in cross country, and continued competing at the Volinskiy
State University of Physical Culture and Sports. His fiancée is elite runner Aleksandra Duliba, who is also
running the 2015 Boston Marathon. Shafar trains in Kislovodsk, Russia, at altitude and in Krim, Ukraine.
He says he and Duliba ski and mountain bike together, although not that often now that they are focusing
on improving in the marathon.