Elissa Legault | From the Chambly Marathon to the World Championships

Parking lot of the Théâtre du Vieux-Terrebonne, June 15, 6:58 a.m. Élissa Legault arrives from Mascouche, gets out of her car and takes off her Quebec team hoodie. Two minutes later, she’s ready to go.

Simon Drouin
The Press

All tanned, she returns from a trip to Guadeloupe. “I hadn’t planned on going to the World Championships,” she smiles.

Yes, in five weeks, the 28-year-old accountant will start the Worlds marathon in the kingdom of running, in Eugene, Oregon.

She had to request two more weeks of vacation from her employer, the manufacturer and integrator of packaging equipment Procepack, located in the industrial district of Terrebonne, where she is financial controller.

She is working this morning, her time is limited. The interview will therefore take place during her leisurely 5 km jog, which for her means a pace of 4 min 30 s to 5 min per kilometer. So I accompanied her… on a bicycle.

No, Élissa Legault had not considered going to the World Championships. Before the Ottawa Marathon on May 28, she had only five 42.195 km races to her credit. Last fall, she clocked a personal best 2:38:13 in Berlin, despite a four-minute stoppage due to stomach issues. She therefore hoped to pass under 2:35 in the Canadian capital.

For the first time in his life, two rabbits accompanied him. The first dropped halfway, after 1 h 17 min. Eleventh at that time, the Quebecer was on time. She started joining rivals one by one. The second rabbit pulled over after 26 km. She continued to catch up with competitors.

Present on the course, her sister, triathlete Emy Legault, told her that the third was just ahead. “I couldn’t believe it. After the abandonment of an Ethiopian runner, Legault fell to second, a rank she kept until the line.

His time on this more bumpy course than anticipated: 2h 33 min 27 s, a huge improvement of nearly 5 minutes.

In the finish area, Natasha Wodak came to congratulate her.

The second Canadian in history on the marathon (2 h 26 min 19 s) told her that her result could qualify her for the Worlds. Legault did not attach importance to it. After all, the Kenyans were absent for a visa problem. Would his performance really be considered?

Three days later, she was packing for her trip to Guadeloupe when Wodak followed up with a link leading to the World Athletics rankings. The points associated with her Ottawa performance effectively made her eligible for Eugene.

Why not Oregon?

Moreover, Wodak, first in the country on the 2021-2022 list, told her that she would not go to Oregon, preferring to treat an injury. Legault thus became the third Canadian and could hope for a selection.

“I don’t know why, but in my head, it was inaccessible,” says Legault, trotting along a gravel path on Île-des-Moulins.

The Quebecer signaled her interest to Athletics Canada, which told her three days later that she had been chosen.

“I don’t realize it yet! “, she says after crossing the dam to reach Île Saint-Jean.

His vacation, planned to recover from his run in Ottawa, therefore turned into a (quiet) resumption of training through the sweltering Caribbean island and its sometimes intrepid drivers.

A late marathon runner, Élissa Legault does not come out of nowhere. Originally from Île-Perrot, she started athletics at the age of 9 after finishing third in a school cross-country. Coach Claude David guided his first steps on the track at the Vaudreuil-Dorion club. At 11, she tried triathlon. For a few years, she traveled the Quebec circuit, training her sister Emy in her wake. She is now the highest ranked Canadian in World Triathlon and has just climbed on a first podium in the World Cup in Mexico.

Two falls while cycling and the fear of riding in a peloton prompted her to quit triathlon in her late teens. After a brief return to athletics, she completely stopped training when she arrived at CEGEP. “I wanted to enjoy the time with my friends. »

At university, a friend suggested that she take part in the Montreal half-marathon. “I said to him, ‘Are you sick!’ I had never run more than three or four kilometers and I already thought it was long. She ended up convincing me, and we ran it together. »

She had the passion. In 2017, for the challenge, she signed up for the marathon. She bought herself a book and followed a program to the letter.

Four days before the start, the heat forced the cancellation of the Montreal event. After having sought the advice of Claude David, she fell back on the Chambly marathon, disputed three weeks later. She won it… in 3 h 32 min 42 s “At first, I did it to keep myself in shape, for the challenge. »

The three o’clock mark

In 2019, she went under three hours for the first time at the Canadian Championships in Toronto. The following year, during the pandemic, she took part in a small 15-runner marathon organized by the Waterloo club.

On a particular course (25 loops of 1.7 km), she achieved a time of 2:39:7. like it, I want to see how far I can go.” »

After 5 km straight, we stopped to finish the interview on a bench. A reduced work schedule of 25 hours now allows him to cover 145 to 170 km per week. Working from home gave her the opportunity to train for the first time at altitude last winter in Arizona, where she joined her sister. It now benefits from a few sponsors, including a shoe supplier. In Ottawa, she won money for the first time in a marathon.

Fourth at the Canadian 10,000m championships in the spring, Legault feels she still has room for improvement in speed.

His ambition for the Worlds on July 18? “Of course I would like to improve my time. If the course is flat, I certainly think I can do it. Regarding the position, it is very difficult to say. I want to adopt a strategy like in Ottawa and leave in a “conservative” way. There are always girls who end up breaking up. It’s more motivating to catch up than to be caught up. »

Will we see the Legault sisters at the Paris Olympics in 2024? “Emy has many, many chances. Mine are very limited. You never know, but it happens quickly. The more experienced runners who have done Tokyo may still be there. The goal for me might be more 2028.”