NEW:Former PC Runner Finishes Top 20 in Olympic Marathon

NEW:Former PC Runner Finishes Top 20 in Olympic Marathon

Providence College alum Dylan Wykes finished 20th in the London Olympic marathon today, with a time of 2:15:26. The exhausted 29-year old had to be helped away from the finish line on a day in which many of the runners were affected by the scorching heat. Uganda's Stephen Kiprotich finished first with a time of 2:08:01, a full minute-and-a-half slower than the olympic record.

Wykes was the first to finish for a typically strong Canadian team, followed shortly by teammates Eric Gillis in 22nd and Reid Coolsaet in 27th. It was the first Olympic Games since 1996 in which three Canadians qualified.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

Wykes attended Providence College from 2003 to 2007, running for coach Ray Treacy in several NCAA championships in cross country and the 3,000-meter indoor race. He set his personal best in the Marathon earlier this year in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where his time of 2:10:47 not only qualified him for the Olympics, but made him the second-fastest Canadian marathon runner of all time.