Last day is best one for Nova Scotia marathoner

Eric Gillis was the first in and he will be the last out.
 
The Antigonish native, a former standout cross-country runner at St. Francis Xavier University, will cap the 2012 London Olympics for the record-setting, 11-strong Nova Scotia contingent by running the men’s marathon on Sunday morning (7 a.m. in Nova Scotia).
 
Gillis, 32, who has set up shop in Guelph, Ont., in recent years to train at the Speed River Track and Field Club with coach Dave Scott-Thomas, will be one of three Canadian men in the event, which will be contested over several loops of central London beginning and ending at the Mall near Buckingham Palace.
 
One of the coincidences of the race, which will be his fourth career marathon, is its timing. He will pass many people along his route who are heading to Olympic Stadium in advance of the closing ceremonies.
 
It will be the second Olympics for the 127-pound Gillis, who competed for Canada in the 10,000 metres in Beijing, placing 33rd, before switching to the marathon distance.
 
He achieved the standard to run the marathon in the Olympics with a 2:11.28 last fall in Toronto, making him, at least unofficially, the first Nova Scotian to qualify for London. He did so alongside friend and training partner Reid Coolsaet of Ontario, who ran a 2:10:55 for the second-fastest marathon in Canadian history.
 
British Columbia’s Dylan Wykes will be the third member of the team. He has the best time among the three after running a 2:10:47 in Rotterdam in April.
 
Gillis only broke the barrier by a single second and had to wait until May to see if the time would stand up to the challenge of other Canadian marathoners. It did.
 
“Basically I’m keeping things normal and not thinking too much about the race at this point,” he said this week after wrapping up a staging camp in Germany.
 
“The work is done. I’m confident and I’m ready. I’m looking forward to the race and beyond.”
 
Like most of the Nova Scotians in London, he has been hearing a steady drumbeat of encouragement from home. He got some Antigonish love earlier this summer when he participated in the Highland Games.
 
“Thanks for all the support, Nova Scotia,” he said. “I’m proud to call Antigonish my hometown.”
 
Gillis, who has a young daughter, and Coolsaet have formed a dynamic partnership, pushing each other to the brink of a a sub-2:10 marathon.
 
“We did the last two marathons training together,” said Gillis. “We’ve been training together on and off for 10 years now, so we know what works.
 
“We’re friends away from racing as well. We wouldn’t be able to do this without each other. For the most part, it just makes the workouts go by quicker having someone else there.”
 
During the height of his pre-Olympic training, he averaged 210 kilometres on the roads per week.
 
Gillis had mixed feelings about his first Olympic experience. He was not initially selected to the Canadian team and then was added later after an appeal.
 
He placed a great deal of pressure on himself about results, wanting to justify his position on the team, and didn’t achieve what he wanted.
 
Age and experience have created a different perspective for 2012.
 
“Competing on the last day, it’s kind of like just going into a regular marathon weekend,” he said. “They’ll be some hoopla around it.
 
“The last Toronto race was so stressful with me having to hit (qualifying) time and Reid going for the Canadian record. The last three days before the race, it was crazy windy, so we were stressing about that, but we were able to keep it in check and then run well. So we have the confidence from that.”
 
Six men in the men’s marathon field have run sub-2:05. They are Wilson Kipsang and Emmanuel Mutai of Kenya, Dino Sefer, Getu Feleke and Ayele Abshero of Ethiopia and American Ryan Hall.
 
Other top picks for gold are American Meb Keflezighi, the 2004 gold medallist from Athens, and two-time world champion Abel Kirui of Kenya.