Kaden Nilson - left on the podium following this past weekend's Saskatoon Marathon (submitted photo/Kaden Nilson)

By Ben Tompkins

Track and Field Athlete

Former Huskie, Choiceland native, finishes second in Saskatoon Marathon

May 29, 2024 | 5:09 PM

A former University of Saskatchewan Huskie was in the winner’s circle this past Sunday, following the 2024 running of the Saskatoon Marathon.

Choiceland native Kaden Nilson finished second in the men’s portion of the event, clocking in with a time of 2:34:43.

“I was hoping to be on the higher end of the placing, so to come out with a solid performance like that was good. I knew that my body could probably run in that time range, but the marathon is a gruelling distance, so you’re never sure exactly how things are going to turn out,” he said.

“I think the experience of being a husky athlete was hugely beneficial, just being a part of a team and working towards a common goal, I think that really helps build character. That has given me some skills that are going to help me be successful in life, so I just cannot give my former coaches at the University of Saskatchewan enough credit.”

Nilson ran five years of track at the U of S, from the 2017/18 academic year until 2022/23.

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His achievements include a Canada West Silver Medal in the 4x800m in both 2021-22 and 2022-2023, a U SPORTS Team Bronze in 2020, and a Canada West Team Championship in 2019. He was also a five-time U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian.

“I came from the track and racing shorter races when I was in college, however, that stuff is taking one minute, two minutes, a lot less time than a marathon, so the big thing that I really tried to focus on was just kind of tuning out in that first 10 kilometres. I just had to control things and stay calm and collected,” added Nilson.

“There was definitely a lot of crossover, just knowing how to train and manage my body was probably the biggest thing as far as getting ready for the race. Then during the race, having that previous experience, I’m able to know where that red line is and how not to cross it in order to make it through the full distance.”

This was Nilson’s first-ever marathon, as he plans to do it again next year. He has also signed up for the Edmonton marathon, which will take place in mid-August.

After spending so many years as a track and field athlete, Nilson explained it seemed like a bit of a no-brainer that this was the next step.

“It’s always been a bucket list thing. I figured that now was probably as good a time as any to try to get into one and I knew that I’d be able to get some good training in over the winter while I was going to school. I thought let’s just give it a try and see how it goes,” he concluded.

“I’m just always trying to push my limits, so this was another opportunity to go out there and see how far I could go and how fast I could go. I felt that on a good day, I could probably run and compete with anybody else in the field, so I was just trying to perform at the highest level I could and see where that put me.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

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