Thomas Fafard shatters Alain Bordeleau's 40-year-old Quebec record at The Marathon Project

In his first marathon, Thomas Fafard set a Quebec record, finished inside the top 10 and beat one of the top United States distance runners of the last decade.

Fafard looked strong and relaxed on a sun-drenched Sunday morning in Chandler, Ariz., covering 42.2 kilometres in two hours 10 minutes 29 seconds to place sixth of 50 finishers in the second installment of The Marathon Project and first since December 2020.

His time was nearly four minutes faster than Alain Bordeleau’s 2:14.18 provincial mark from the 1984 Olympic trials in Ottawa.

It ranks as the eighth fastest by a Canadian male runner and third fastest in history among Canadian men in a debut marathon.

“Our goal was 2:12 or faster,” Fafard’s coach, Félix-Antoine Lapointe told CBC Sports from Arizona. “He was on 2:09 pace until 38 kilometres but the last few kilometres were more challenging but normal for the marathon, especially a first one. It was a good debut.”

Cam Levins and Ben Preisner are the only Canadians to run faster to begin their marathon career. Levins, the national record holder, clocked 2:09:25 in Toronto to beat Jerome Drayton's 43-year-old Canadian mark by 44 seconds in 2019. Preisner ran 2:10:17 at the inaugural Marathon Project amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Sunday, Fafard, with his parents and partner also in attendance, felt good early in the race and with the weather co-operating, decided to run with a group pacing for a 2:10 finish as he eyed the provincial mark.

“[Breaking it by] almost four minutes, that means a lot. I’m really happy,” Fafard told CBC Sports after a post-race dinner of chicken wings and bottle of beer. He added it was special and motivating to have a support group along the course.

“[My parents]