Kleefeld runner completed his first-ever marathon in Sunday's heat

With a heat warning in effect, and the course officially closed, Tyler Unrau from Kleefeld finished his first-ever marathon. 

Unrau ran in the Manitoba Marathon Sunday morning. 

"It started at 7 A.M. and it was already pretty hot already and I don't know when it was but about an hour in, they said that the course was cancelled due to heat and I was like, 'man, this is my first marathon, I just want to keep going,' so I kept going."

There appears to have been mixed messaging when the race was called. Some runners say they were told they had no choice but to stop, but Unrau says he was given the option to continue. 

"There were police and also volunteers saying that the course is closed and I asked one of the course people there if I could keep going and they said 'yeah, but it is at your own risk,' so I said 'okay, I am going to go."

Around 4 hours and 15 minutes after the race began, Unrau crossed the finish line. 

"It was a really good feeling to finally cross that finish line and know that my hard work actually paid off at that point. I had my parents from Calgary come out and I had my in-laws and grandparents there to support me as well and so that was really cool."

That said, Unrau notes the heat and humidity did get to him. "As soon as I stopped, I was blacking out, I had to sit down and as soon as I got up, I was blacking out again and my legs, they were completely wrecked." 

Unrau says it was a wild way to run his first marathon and the conditions certainly weren't fun, but he is glad he was able to finish what he set out to do. He adds he has recovered nicely.

Tyler Unrau and his wife Tamara just after the Manitoba Marathon. (Photo credit: Tyler Unrau)