Running News Daily

After years of setbacks, Bob Hardy, the walker-runner, returns to Ottawa race weekend to race the 10K

When Bob Hardy of Alexandria, Ont., gave up bike racing due to blood clots in 2012 at age 61, he felt lost. Hardy had to sell his best friend (his bicycle) and move away from the sport he loved. But Hardy is accustomed to treating barriers as challenges, and for him, this was just another challenge to be overcome. It’s what led to him entering running races, using a walker for balance.

In 2001, Hardy won a long battle with leukemia, thanks to a bone marrow transplant. He describes himself as a go-getter, inspired by challenges (adding that his wife says he’s crazy). After losing cycling, he was craving his next challenge. The 2012 surgery for the blood clots left him without balance. As he recovered in 2013, his wife saw a half-price advertisement for the Hugo rolling walker, which he realized would allow him to get around, even though he’d lost his balance. “I reached out immediately,” Hardy says. “I told them: I want to race with the walker.”

Since 2013, Hardy has logged more than 11,000 kilometers with his walker, including 11 half-marathons, six marathons and one 100K ultra. He’s unable to go as fast as the other runners, so he starts at the back of the pack and continues to chip away at his seven- to eight-minute-per-kilometer pace.

Like any new skill, running with a walker took time to learn. “I studied race walking, and had to install aero bars on the walker to make it more sporty,” he says. In 2016, Hardy found himself on the start-line of his first marathon, at Ottawa Race Weekend. He finished, but was disappointed with his time of 6:38. Over the next three years, he managed to get his time down to 5:23, which he ran at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2018.

To this day, Hardy still battles with his balance. He also suffers from severe sciatica in his hips. “No matter the obstacle, I know I can’t give up,” Hardy says, adding “I’ve been fighting for more than 20 years now, from my bone marrow transplant for leukemia to a blood clot in my intestine and neck.”

Hardy returns to Ottawa Race Weekend on Saturday evening to run the 10K and get as close as he can to that one-hour mark with his new best friend — his Hugo walker.

TCS becomes new title sponsor of Toronto Waterfront Marathon

Canada Running Series (CRS) has announced on Tuesday morning that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will take over from Scotiabank to become the new title sponsor and technology partner of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon until 2026.

The TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon will join other world-class marathons like New York City and London to carry the TCS sponsorship.

“The first year of our sponsorship will be all about discovery,” says Haley Price, Head of Sports Sponsorships at TCS. “We love that this race is engraved into Toronto and that the race starts just steps from our Toronto office.”

TCS aims to grow marathon running in Canada through a new official Toronto Waterfront Marathon race app, which will offer a carbon footprint calculator for attendees to track and offset their impact on the environment when attending the race. “Innovation has been at the forefront of everything,” says Charlotte Brookes, National Event Director at CRS. “We’ve always been striving to take our race to that higher level.”

The goal for CRS and TCS is ‘Evergreen’ certification from the Council for Responsible Sport, which recognizes sustainable sporting events globally. CRS and TCS plan to work with two Canadian charities – Trans-Canada Trail and Trees for Life, to improve green space in the city of Toronto. Runners will have the opportunity to donate money toward both charities during registration or via the race app.

Registration for the in-person 2022 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon opens on Tuesday, Jan. 25.

Canadian Ben Flanagan is after one thing at the Houston Half Marathon, I have my eye on the Canadian half-marathon record of 61:28, he says

The 2022 Houston Half Marathon is set to take place this Sunday, drawing many of the world’s top elite to the event. In the field is Kitchener, Ont’s., Ben Flanagan, who ended his 2021 season on a winning note, looking to continue his string of solid performances into the new year. He is heading to this weekend’s half marathon with one thing on his mind: Jeff Schiebler’s 23-year-old Canadian half-marathon record of 61:28.

“I am looking forward to competing,” Flanagan says. “The plan is to run conservatively to tackle the Canadian record. It’s engraved in my head.” The 21.1 km distance isn’t foreign for the former NCAA 10,000m champion. In 2020, he ran 1:03:19 to win his half-marathon debut in South Carolina. His debut time was the 10th fastest ever by a Canadian male, and on Sunday he has the chance to better his result on one of the fastest courses in North America.

“My results at the Scotiabank Waterfront 10K and Manchester Road Race gave me a lot of confidence in the fall,” Flanagan says. He won both races skillfully, breaking away from his competition in the mid-stages of the race and not looking back.

Flanagan made his decision to run Houston in late November. “The timing of this race fit in perfectly in my training,” Flanagan says. “I had a lot of strength built up after Manchester, so we focused on building endurance over the past month and a half.”

Although Flanagan has shown a lot of success on the roads, he isn’t quite done with the track yet. He will be running a few 5,000m and 10,000m races this spring to secure a spot on Team Canada at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Ore.

When asked about when he was going to step up to the marathon, Flanagan mentioned he would love the opportunity to represent Canada in the marathon at the Paris Olympics. “Stepping up to the marathon this year might be a stretch, but I want to give myself a chance to qualify for Paris.”

Flanagan won’t be the only Canadian elite in the race Sunday. Alberta native Rory Linkletter, who was second at the California International Marathon a month ago, is in search of another personal best in Houston. In 2020, Linkletter ran 61:44, only 16 seconds off the Canadian record.

In the women’s elite field, Calgary’s Emily Setlack returns to Houston following the 1:11:40 PB she ran in 2020.

Toronto woman sets Guinness World Record at L.A. Marathon

On November 7 at the L.A. Marathon, Toronto-based runner Bridget Burns set the record for the fastest marathon dressed as Michael Jackson. This brings her total number of Guinness World Records up to seven since she set her first one dressed as a boxer in 2014.

Running in costume

Burns was introduced to costume running when she was an extra in a Nike commercial, where she saw someone running in a banana outfit in her hometown of London, Ont. Costume running hadn’t really taken off in London, but when she moved to Toronto she began to see more people dressing up at local road races, including Canada’s joggling sensation and multiple Guinness World Record-holder, Michal Kapral. “I was inspired by him,” she says.

Burns chooses her costumes based on what interests her, and it was her love of the Rocky movies that inspired her to dress up as a boxer for her first record attempt at the 2014 GoodLife Fitness Toronto Marathon, which she ran in 3:52:27. She also has an interest in exotic animals and zoos (she has three parrots of her own and one domesticated pigeon), so for her second record, she dressed as a zookeeper at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon later that year in October, where she ran 4:08:17.

She went on to set four more records, including the fastest half-marathon dressed in an animal costume (which has since been broken), the fastest half-marathon in motocross gear (2:14:34), the fastest half-marathon dressed as a zookeeper (2:04:46) and she was part of a group who set the record for the largest number of runners to complete a 10 kilometre run in 24 hours this September. “If there’s something I find interesting, I’ll see if anyone has a record in that and then I’ll attempt it,” she says.

A record-setting run in L.A.

“Over the summer I downloaded some Michael Jackson on my iPod, and wondered if anyone had set a record in that,” says Burns. She found out that one person had done it before but no entry to the Guinness World Record was conducted, so she decided to give it a shot.

Her attempt was successful, bringing her total up to seven, but this one had a few more challenges on the way. Burns battled a bad case of bursitis in her knees for two months before the race, requiring her to take Prednisone for two weeks to decrease inflammation to allow her to run. Prior to the marathon, she worked five night shifts in a row (Burns works the night shift at the Etobicoke HomeSense so she can train during the day and be home with her 10-year-old daughter), went immediately to the airport and took a seven-hour flight to Los Angeles.

Aside from her costume, she packed only a couple of pairs of socks and underwear, her toothbrush and a map and travel book about the city. Despite her knee issues, she still managed to finish the race in 5:07:18 and set the record for the fastest marathon dressed as Michael Jackson.

More records on the horizon

For her next Guinness World Record attempt, Burns has her eyes on the 2022 Philadelphia Half Marathon, where, fittingly, she’ll be running dressed as Rocky Balboa. If the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon is bringing the GWR program back again, she says she’ll likely do something for that as well, but she hasn’t decided which record she’ll attempt yet.

In the meantime, keep your eyes open for Burns at your next road race, because you never know — she may go running by as your favourite film character.

Previous champions will headline the men's and women's races at the 125th Boston Marathon

It’s official – Boston is back with 20,000 of the world’s best marathoners taking to the start line on Monday, Oct. 11. This year’s field is locked and loaded, for the first-ever fall edition of the marathon.

This race will feature a massive elite field of 140 athletes, headlined by previous champions Lelisa Desisa, Des Linden and Edna Kiplagat plus top American runners Jordan Hasay, Molly Huddle and Abdi Abdirahman.

The women’s race

The women’s race only features two women who have run under 2:20, Mare Dibaba of Ethiopia (2:19:52) and 2017 champion Kiplagat (2:19:50). Kiplagat has raced twice this year at NYRR races, finishing sixth and third. This will be her first marathon since finishing second at Boston in 2019. Dibaba had a DNF in 2019 and was plagued with an injury at the start of the pandemic. This race will mark the return of the 2015 world champion to the marathon distance.

Another athlete to keep your eye on is Kenya’s Angela Tanui, who won the Siena Marathon in Italy earlier this year, running a nine-minute personal best of 2:20:08. Atsede Bayisa of Ethiopia, who is a part of the NN Running Team, is competing as well, after taking four years off competition. Bayisa has two road race victories to her name, which came during her training build-up to Monday’s race. Former 10-mile world record holder Caroline Chepkoech makes her marathon debut, with a half marathon personal best of 1:05:07. Chepkoech has recently changed citizenship from Kenya to Kazakhstan and will be representing her new country at this event. 

Outside of the international favorites, American track fans continue to wait for Hasay’s breakthrough. She has been third at two major marathons and has been agonizingly close to Deena Kastor’s American record, running the second-fastest time by an American (2:20:57 at Chicago 2017). Since then Hasay has changed coaches, from the controversial Alberto Salazar to former marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe, when the Nike Oregon Project disbanded due to Salazar’s investigation. Linden was the last American to win the Boston Marathon, in 2018, and will be running Boston for her seventh time. She enters the race with a PB of 2:22:38.

Toronto’s Brittany Moran is the only elite Canadian in the women’s field, coming in with a personal best of 2:36:22. Moran won Toronto’s Yorkville 5K in mid-September in a time of 16:40.  

The men’s race

The men’s race is loaded, having eight men who have run under 2:06. It is headlined by two-time Boston champion, Ethiopia’s Lelisa Desisa. Desisa is one of the best marathoners in the world in recent years, having won the event twice in 2013 and 2015, and finishing second in 2016 and 2019. Desisa will be challenged by his countrymen Asefa Mengstu (2:04:06) and Lemi Berhanu (2:04:33). Berhanu beat Desisa to get on the 2016 Ethiopian Olympic team, but has only finished one of his last five marathons, which was a second-place finish at Toronto’s Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon in 2019.

Kenya’s Benson Kipruto (2:05:13) and Wilson Chebet (2:05:27) are two experienced racers in the field who can wear down opponents over the Newton hills. Kipruto won the 2018 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. 2012 Olympian Dylan Wykes is the top-seeded Canadian in the field, with a personal best of 2:10:47. The last time Wykes competed in a marathon was at the Scotiabank Toronto Marathon in 2019, where he placed 30th. Rory Linkletter from Alberta will compete in his first Boston Marathon, and will look to follow in the footsteps of his U.S. Hoka NAZ Elite training partner Scott Fauble, to run under 2:10 at this race. Linkletter ran his marathon personal best of  2:12:54 at the Marathon Project in 2020. Thomas Toth (2:16:28) of Ontario is the other Canadian in the men’s elite field. 44-year-old American runner Abdirahman will be on the start line as the top U.S. athlete, only 64 days after he competed in the Tokyo Olympic marathon.

The 2021 Boston Marathon will mark the first time the race will take place on the same day as a Boston Red Sox playoff game. The Red Sox will play Game 4 of the ALDS series at Fenway Park on Monday evening. The weather is calling for 17 to 20 degrees C in the morning, with only a 20 per cent chance of precipitation. 

How to watch the 2021 Boston Marathon

Live coverage of the event will begin at 8 a.m. ET, with the men’s and women’s wheelchair races setting off at 8:02 and 8:04 a.m. ET. The elite female runners will begin at 8:32 a.m., followed by the men at 9:00 a.m. ET.

Live race coverage will be broadcasted on NBC Sports Network for cable subscribers from 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET. If you are looking for an online stream of the race, it will be on RunnerSpace, where you can sign up to follow all the action.

Athletics Canada mandates full vaccination at all events

Athletics Canada announced today that all athletes, coaches, and fans over the age of 12 who are planning to attend Athletics Canada events must be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. This new mandate will also apply to volunteers, media and event staff on-site for Athletics Canada events.

The new vaccination policy will take effect immediately, and will apply to events and in-person meets.

This mandate will apply to anyone who was registered for the 2021 Canadian 10K Championships as part of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Oct. 17, as well as the 2021 Canadian Cross Country Championships in Ottawa on Nov. 27.

“Since we began organizing events in 1986, we promised our community an accurate and safe course,” said Alan Brookes, Race Director, Canada Running Series, in the Athletics Canada press release. “This has been a core value for more than four decades. As we look forward to a return to in-person racing this fall, the health and safety of our participants, staff, and volunteers remain of utmost importance.” This mandate will apply to anyone who was registered for the 2021 Canadian 10K Championships as part of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Oct. 17, as well as the 2021 Canadian Cross Country Championships in Ottawa on Nov. 27.

“Since we began organizing events in 1986, we promised our community an accurate and safe course,” said Alan Brookes, Race Director, Canada Running Series, in the Athletics Canada press release. “This has been a core value for more than four decades. As we look forward to a return to in-person racing this fall, the health and safety of our participants, staff, and volunteers remain of utmost importance.” 

“We share Athletics Canada’s commitment to require full vaccination for participants, staff and volunteers as the best way forward to restart in-person road racing. We’re excited to get back to what we love and see thousands of people cross that finish line on Oct. 17,” says Brookes. 

This Athletics Canada mandate does not apply at provincial athletics sanctioned events yet. Each provincial athletics institution has the right to make its own jurisdiction regarding in-person events and activities. 

Further details will be shared on the implementation of the policy, per Athletics Canada.

NN Running has announced its elite field for Mission Marathon

Set to run in the Netherlands on April 18, Eliud Kipchoge will headline the race of about 60 athletes.

The fields for the NN Mission Marathon have been released, and the world finally knows who will toe the start line with Eliud Kipchoge. The races are set to be run in Enschede, the Netherlands, on April 18, and fields of 23 women and 35 men will line up to compete. Kipchoge is the clear favourite for the win, but second place in the men’s race and first place in the women’s are both anybody’s to claim, which will make for a couple of exciting and dramatic competitions.

The men’s race

In the men’s race, the pre-race seed times aren’t even close, and there’s really no debate as to who is most likely to win. Kipchoge owns the world record in the marathon with his PB of 2:01:39, and he has also run an unofficial record of 1:59:40. While many of the other runners racing the NN Mission Marathon are looking to qualify for the Tokyo Games or prove that they deserve to be chosen for their national Olympic teams, Kipchoge has a simpler and less stressful reason to run: he needs to bounce back from his poor race at the London Marathon last fall.

He’s still a heavy favourite heading into the Tokyo Games, but his poor 2:06:49 showing in October proved that he is human, and for the first time in years, his competitors might seriously believe they have a chance to beat him. A great race in the Netherlands can boost Kipchoge’s confidence while also knocking down that of his rivals ahead of the Olympics.

The next fastest PB in the men’s field belongs to Felix Chemonges, who owns the Ugandan national marathon record of 2:05:12 (which he ran at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2019). Chemonges hasn’t raced since March 2020, though, and his last result was a sub-par 2:10:08 run at the Lake Biwa Marathon in Japan.

Only one other man in the field, Kenya’s Laban Korir, has run a sub-2:06 marathon in his career, and his 2:05:54 PB puts him at third-best in the men’s race. Out of the 35 men set to race the NN Mission Marathon, 17 have run faster than the Olympic standard of 2:11:30, and 11 runners from that group have broken 2:10.

It’d be safe to bet on Kipchoge for the overall win in the Netherlands, but with so many other runners hovering around the same seed times, the battle for second and third place — plus the mad dash to cross the finish before the clock hits 2:11:30 — will produce must-watch coverage.

The women’s race has the potential to be much more competitive than the men’s when it comes to the overall win. Mexican marathon record holder Madai Perez has the fastest PB of any of the women in the field. The only thing is that she ran her national record of 2:22:59 all the way back in 2006, and the last time she broke 2:30 came in Chicago in 2017, when she ran 2:24:44. She certainly could take the win in the Netherlands, but her seed time is a bit misleading considering how long ago she ran it.

Next up are Jessica Augusto and Sara Moreira, a couple of Portuguese runners. Augusto owns a PB of 2:24:25, just ahead of Moreira’s career best of 2:24:49. Both of these women have posted tremendous times in the past, but neither has completed a marathon in recent years. Augusto’s last finish came in 2017, and she has one DNF since then.

Moreira has had an even worse few years, and her last finish came in 2015. Since then, she has DNFed three times, including in the marathon at the Rio Olympics. In 2015, though, she placed second at the Prague Marathon and fourth at the New York City Marathon. The next athlete on the start list is Kenya’s Gladys Chesir, who has a PB of 2:24:51, but like her Portuguese competitors, she hasn’t completed a marathon in years, and her last official finish was in 2017.

In total, nine of the 23 women in the field have beaten the Olympic standard of 2:29:30, with several others knocking at the door of sub-2:30 results. Like the men’s race, the women’s run should be an exciting affair, and it’s an event no running fan will want to miss.

Canadian Justin Kent and Natasha Wodak continue stellar seasons ahead of December marathon

Despite having limited opportunities to race this year, Justin Kent and Natasha Wodak have had great seasons. The pair of B.C. runners have both run half-marathon PBs in 2020, they took the wins in the virtual Canadian 10K Championships in July and they’re both headed to Arizona in December to compete in the Marathon Project with some of the top marathoners in North America.

Over the weekend, they added another couple of big results to their lists of accomplishments for 2020, with Kent breaking the Canadian 20,000m track record in 1:01:01 on Saturday and Wodak coming close to the national half-marathon record with a 1:10:01 showing at the Fierce Half Marathon in B.C. on Sunday. 

Kent’s 20,000m record 

Kent’s 20,000m best is his first Canadian record. Tom Howard was the previous record-holder in the 20,000m with a time of 1:01:10, which he set in 1974. Kent’s result works out to an average pace of 3:03 per kilometre, and while this was on the track and not the road, the result is proof that he’s in tremendous form with just over a month to go until the Marathon Project, which is set for December 20. The race will be his debut marathon, and he’ll undoubtedly be chasing the Olympic standard of 2:11:30. 

Kent was supposed to run for Team Canada at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Poland in October, but Athletics Canada pulled out of the race just days before it was held due to health and safety concerns. In lieu of the world championships race, he ran a solo half-marathon and set his PB of 62:34. With that result and his shiny new Canadian record, Kent will be a runner to watch at the Marathon Project and beyond in 2021. ⁣⁣

Wodak’s near miss 

Earlier in 2020, Wodak became the first Canadian woman to run sub-1:10 in the half-marathon when she ran a 1:09:41 at the Houston Half Marathon in January to set the national record in the event. She only got to enjoy the record for two weeks, though, because in February, Andrea Seccafien ran 1:09:38 at a race in Japan, which is the current Canadian best. Wodak, who owns the 10,000m national record with a time of 31:41.59, was looking to lower the half-marathon bar once again at the Fierce Half Marathon on Sunday, but she came up just short. Still, her 1:10:01 is the third-fastest time in Canadian history, and if she had run it in any other year, it would have been the national record.

Even though she couldn’t beat Seccafien’s time on Sunday, this result is a good sign for Wodak, and it looks like she is in great form just six weeks out from the Marathon Project. Unlike Kent, Wodak has run a marathon before, but just once — seven years ago when she posted a 2:35:16 at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2013. This is basically her Debut 2.0 at the distance, and based on her last few years of results, it would be safe to bet that she will smash her marathon PB. Wodak will have her eye on the Olympic standard of 2:29:30 in Arizona, and she’ll have dozens of the best road runners in North America to work with as she chases that time. 

At the Los Angeles Games 36 years ago, Canadian Silvia Ruegger finished in eighth in the first-ever women's Olympic marathon

On August 5, 1984, the inaugural women’s Olympic marathon was held in Los Angeles. Fifty runners lined up for the 42.2K run and American Joan Benoit-Samuelson took the win in 2:24:52, grabbing the first Olympic gold in women’s marathon history. Three Canadians raced that day 36 years ago in L.A., including marathon legend and former national record-holder Silvia Ruegger. Ruegger finished in eighth place on the day, running to a 2:29:09 top-10 finish. That was the sole Olympic race of Ruegger’s career, and since then, no Canadian — male or female — has finished in a higher position in the Olympic marathon. 

Women’s marathoning through the years 

Benoit-Samuelson won the race in L.A. in impressive fashion, beating silver medallist Grete Waitz of Norway by more than a minute to take the gold on home soil. Going into the race, Benoit-Samuelson was a two-time Boston Marathon champion, and a year later, she won the Chicago Marathon and set an American record in the process. Her time of 2:21:21 stood as the national marathon record until 2006, when Deena Kastor beat it at the London Marathon. Benoit-Samuelson is still the fourth-fastest woman marathoner in U.S. history. 

The women’s marathon has come a long way since its introduction to the Olympics in 1984. At the time, the world record was 2:24:26, set by Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway (who finished in fourth in L.A.). Today, 36 years later, that record has been lowered by 10 minutes, and it currently sits at 2:14:04 following Brigid Kosgei‘s dominant performance at the 2019 Chicago Marathon.

Canadians at the 1984 Games 

Ruegger qualified for the Olympics at the 1984 Ottawa Marathon, which she won in a Canadian record of 2:30:37. She broke that record just a few months later in L.A., becoming the first Canadian woman to dip below 2:30 in the marathon. Ruegger raced alongside fellow Canadians Jacqueline Gareau (1980 Boston Marathon champion and the previous national record-holder before Ruegger won the Ottawa Marathon) and Anne Marie Malone. Gareau didn’t finish the race in L.A., but Malone recorded an impressive result to follow Ruegger’s, finishing in 17th place with a final time of 2:36:33. 

The following year at the 1985 Houston Marathon, Ruegger beat her record yet again, posting a 2:28:36. This remained the Canadian record for almost 30 years before it was broken in 2013 at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon by both Lanni Marchant and Krista DuChene. A car accident following her record in 1985 left Ruegger to deal with injuries for the rest of her career, and she never returned to her previous record-setting form. Ruegger passed away in August 2019 at the age of 58 after a battle with cancer, but she remains one of the greatest athletes in Canadian history.

The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, set to take place on Sunday October 18th has been cancelled, making a transition to a virtual race

 Working closely with the City of Toronto and Mayor John Tory, event organizers Canada Running Series have made the decision to cancel the international event that generates $35 million in economic impact annually, due to COVID-19 related health and safety concerns.

"Sadly, we have reached a point where it is clear we will not be able to bring a mass event of 25,000 people from more than 75 countries, safely to downtown Toronto this October, and have officially canceled the 2020 in-person event," said Race Director Alan Brookes. "We have shared so many unforgettable moments over 30 years at this race and are enormously disappointed. We greatly appreciate the support and understanding of the community and are pleased to announce that we will be transitioning to a virtual event this year, to continue to offer the best possible running and fundraising goals in these challenging times."

"Although, this year’s Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon will not be taking place in person, I want to thank Canada Running Series for putting the health and safety of spectators, runners and volunteers first by organizing a virtual event," said Mayor Tory. "The virtual race this year presents a great opportunity to train and stay active throughout the summer and into the fall. I encourage residents to participate this year or to cheer on all the participants who are raising money for over 150 charity organizations in our community through the Scotiabank Charity Challenge. I know I speak for Torontonians across this city when I say I look forward to 2021 when we can come together again and celebrate our vibrant city."

"Every year, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon brings people together from around the world to raise millions of dollars for charity," said Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario. "While there are a few changes to the run this year that put everyone’s health and safety first, it’s more important than ever to find ways to support those who might be in need during these unprecedented times. I encourage everyone to participate in this community-building event if they can, and support a great cause."

All currently registered runners have been contacted with information regarding their 2020 registrations. New runners who want to sign-up for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Virtual Race can do so starting today at STWM.ca. The virtual event includes two new distance options: a four-person marathon relay and a 10K as well as the traditional marathon, half marathon and 5K.

The virtual event will be supported by a training program from Running Room and New Balance, who will also be designing official race merchandise. Participants will be invited to stay connected online in a variety of ways including bi-weekly Facebook Live get-togethers, a new running podcast and Spotify playlists to motivate them on training runs.

Unchanged, participants can sign up to fundraise for one of the race’s official charity partners in the Scotiabank Charity Challenge. In 2019, participants raised over $3.5 million for 190 community charities. Every Dollar Helps. We encourage those in the position to do so, to support our charitable partners, who need our help now more than ever.

"Since 1990, like running itself, we’ve had good days and bad days" reflected Brookes. "We’ve learned to bear down and overcome injuries, illness, a multitude of setbacks and adversity. And now we have COVID-19" said Brookes. "But our community is made of sterner stuff: dedicated, determined, courageous and strong. Together, we will prevail and return to the races that are beacons of solidarity and joy in our country and our lives."

The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Virtual Race will take place between October 1st and 31st 2020. Online registration is open now at STWM.ca.

Marathon world record holder Wilson Kipsang alleges doping authorities conspired against him

Race-news-service.com quotes an article by Michael Reinsch in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in which former Marathon world record holder Wilson Kipsang alleges doping authorities conspired against him and plans an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

Kipsang accused the Integrity Unit of World Athletics of racism and the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) of feeding “wrong information” to the AIU in attempt to undermine Kipsang’s position as founder of a professional body for Kenyan runners (PAAK). “Everyone knows that we have a bad relationship with Athletics Kenya, which in turn led to this ban,” he alleged.

AIU commissioned the Swedish judge Conny Jörneklint with the case who justified the ban over three missed tests and supplying an incorrect address within one year. Kipsang’s excuses for missing tests included in one instance a landslide and on another occasion an overturned truck blocking the road. The court noted that it was “unable to confirm either incident.

There were no records of bad weather at the specified location at the specified time, nor had the police recorded a truck accident and any resulting traffic disruption on the day in question. A photo submitted for evidence, according to research, was taken three months after the alleged accident. The athlete has acted fraudulently by intentionally providing the AIU with incorrect and misleading information,” read the AIU judgement.

“People have doped for years and have been banned for four years,” said Kipsang. “I had an accident, had to go to the hospital, and was then banned for four years. That’s not fair.”

AIU had given a proportionately lengthy sentence in June 2020 to the Ethiopian distance runner Etaferahu Temesgen after she tested positive at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon for EPO and testosterone in October 2019. On appealing the original four-year ban Temesgen submitted a forged medical certificate and had the ban extended to 12 years.

On August 13, Kenyan marathon runner Florence Jepkosgei Kosgei is due to appear at a criminal court in Eldoret charged with presenting forged documentation to the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya. If found guilty she could face imprisonment.

The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon will be pausing its registration for the next few weeks

STWM is scheduled for October 18, but CRS officials are unsure whether the City of Toronto will allow such a large gathering to be held by that time in the fall (more than 20,000 athletes are expected, plus spectators along the course).

In Wednesday’s press release, organizers said they have been communicating with the city and public health officials to figure out what will be permitted by October. 

“At this time,” wrote CRS organizers, “the City of Toronto has not been able to confirm if the ban on mass events of over 25,000 will be extended beyond August 31st.”

Because of this ambiguity, race registration will be frozen until the city, public health officials and CRS team can determine definitive answers regarding the fall race. 

Although it’s unclear if the event will go ahead as planned this year, fundraising for the Scotiabank Charity Challenge is still open, and CRS officials have said the race’s charity partners “need our help now more than ever.”

In 2019, $8.5 million was raised for more than 500 charities across the country, and since the challenge was created in 2003, almost $80 million has been raised. 

Canada's largest running festival, the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend cancelled due to coronavirus, but there will be virtual run

Run Ottawa announced on Monday that the 2020 Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend is cancelled. The running festival, which is the largest in Canada and was scheduled for May 23 and 24, features six races. It is the latest Canadian event to be forced to cancel because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The cancellation, Almost 18,000 runners have already registered for the Ottawa Race Weekend, which includes the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon and Half Marathon, as well as a 10K, 5K, 2K and the Ottawa Kids Marathon. All race entrants will receive their race kit, including their medals and shirts, and they will be automatically entered into a virtual Ottawa Race Weekend as well.

"We wanted to put together a response that provided the best value that we can find for our participants while still being able to survive for the future,” says Ian Fraser, the executive director of Run Ottawa. Those already registered will get 50 per cent off the 2021 Ottawa Race Weekend entry fees.

“We looked at the possibility of postponing to the fall and what that would look like, but we also noted that the fall calendar has become so jam-packed,” Fraser says. “Finding an appropriate weekend that we could have any kind of certainty around was a challenge.”

The Run Ottawa team ultimately decided against postponement, and Fraser notes that a fall race date still could be cancelled. He says he didn’t want to “doubly-disappoint” runners by postponing to the fall and then having to cancel it all over again if the coronavirus outbreak doesn’t clear up.

There will be virtual runs for each of the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend distances, and they will be open to more runners than just those who have already registered. Plus, the virtual races will not be held on any specific day and they can be done whenever’s best for each individual.

“We’re giving people the bulk of the summer to participate in the virtual event,” Fraser says. “We wanted to really make sure that we gave a long window for participants so that people could be active in our Scotiabank Charity Challenge.” Last year, the event raised $800,000 for a number of charities, both local and national.

Fraser says he knows the decision to cancel without refunds might not sit well with everyone, but that his team at Run Ottawa “made sure that we were precise in our calculations about what we could and couldn’t do.” He says it was a difficult decision to make, but he wants his event to make it to 2021.

“The running community needs to have events to be vibrant and alive, and those events have to be able to survive.”

The 2021 Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend will take place May 28 and 29.

Organizers of the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend announced that they will increase the overall prize purse for Canadian athletes in the Ottawa 10K event

Organizers of the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend announced today they will be significantly increasing the overall prize purse for Canadian athletes in the Ottawa 10K event to CAD 35,000 (EUR 24,000) – the largest prize for any of Canada’s championship events this year.

As it has done since 2016, the 2020 Ottawa 10k will again host the Canadian 10K Championships with CAD 6,000 going to the top male and female Canadians in the 10K.

The Ottawa 10K will also maintain its unique gender challenge whereby the women are given a head start, and whoever crosses the finish line first (man or woman) wins an extra CAD 2,000.

The event will also host the Canuck 10K Team Competition, where a Canadian elite runner will have the chance to pick 3 compatriots to form a co-ed team of four. The fastest team wins CAD 6,000 to be split evenly amongst the team, as well as an additional CAD 1,000 that will go towards the Scotiabank Charity Challenge participating charity of their choice.

Organizers also announced today they have elected not to renew their World Athletics (formerly IAAF) gold certification for the Ottawa 10K event, choosing to focus their resources on participant experience, the Canadian 10K Championships and the development of Canadian athletes. The organizers of the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend have, however, renewed the gold certification for the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon.

Dylan Wykes, who won the men’s 10K in 29:56 last year, joins the organizing team as its new Elite Athlete Coordinator, replacing Manny Rodrigues, who had been in this volunteer role for the past 20 years. Wykes said: “The road racing scene in Canada is on fire right now with records being set in all distances.

I’m honored and excited by the opportunity to work with Ian and the entire Run Ottawa team as the Elite Athlete Coordinator. I know I have big shoes to fill, as Manny has done an incredible job over the past 20 years building the elite athlete program.

I’m looking forward to contributing to the Ottawa running community in a new way that doesn’t involve making my own two feet move fast”.

Canadian Malindi Elmore recovered from injury is getting ready to race in Houston

The 2020 Houston Chevron Marathon is less than two weeks away, and while it’s technically an American race, it also serves as the winter running event of choice for the many Canadian runners. For the 2020 edition lots of Canadian elites are heading south of the border to try and run fast times, but a race we’re particularly excited to see is Malindi Elmore’s.

Elmore shocked Canadian runners a year ago when she ran a 2:32 marathon debut in Houston, which she would later describe as “a fun family project.” Since her debut, Elmore’s cranked out several impressive times, including a 1:11:08 half-marathon and a 32:44 10K. The original plan was to run the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, which doubled as the 2020 Olympic Trials. Elmore pulled out one week from the race due to a hamstring injury.

Elmore was targeting the Olympic standard of 2:29:30 and the automatic qualification spot that came from winning STWM. If she was successful, she would have qualified for her second Olympic team, 16 years and two babies after qualifying for her first (she competed in the 2004 Olympics for the 1,500m). The runner still has until May to run standard and put herself in the conversation for the Olympic team, but making the 2020 marathon squad will be harder than ever.

Canada can send up to three runners, but with Dayna Pidhoresky’s spot already guaranteed, Lyndsay Tessier’s top-10 finish at the World Championships acting as the equivalent to standard and Rachel Cliff knocking off the year with a new Canadian half-marathon record, the Canadian women’s road scene is deeper than it has been in years.

If Elmore is able to run under standard (2:29:30), there will be four Canadian women who’ve achieved it. And that’s not including Emily Setlack, who was only 18 seconds off at STWM. It’s far from cut-and-dried when it comes to who will be making this Olympic marathon team. There were years when Canada was excited to send one runner, and now there will likely be a marathoner, with standard, who won’t make the team.

But personally, Elmore isn’t overly concerned about the standard. “My goal is to run as fast as I can run, and if I perform how I think I’m capable of, it’ll land me within standard.”

The runner says that this build has been a little different than her first, due to her past injury. “Returning from injury wasn’t too bad, it took me about four weeks. That’s a pretty quick turn-around, all things considered. It was certainly a shorter build than I anticipated because I wasn’t starting from scratch.” Elmore was still working with the fitness she’d gained leading up to Scotia. She says she was very happy to see Pidhoresky and Hofbauer’s performances at STWM. “It was a really exciting race to watch. I was really happy for them and really happy to see how well they’d done.”

When asked about how Canadian running has changed over the past 20 years, Elmore says that connectedness is the biggest difference. “There’s a connection between runners and the public now. I felt much more alone doing my training and racing in 2004. Running was my personal story that I shared with people closest to me but it wasn’t available publicly the way things are now with social media.”

Elmore jokes that when she ran her lifetime personal best in the 1,500m she didn’t know for about an hour, because the results weren’t available. Then, she couldn’t tell her loved ones until she got back to the hotel and made the collect call home. “Now I put a workout up on Strava and get immediate kudos. I think there’s a greater awareness of what people are trying to achieve and what they’re doing to get there. It’s easier to build and maintain a community through technology where we can cheer people on from a distance.”

Ben Preisner and Emebet Anteneh, won the Boxing Day 10 Miler, beating the reigning champions Matt Hughes and Robyn Mildren.

The 99th annual Boxing Day 10 and 4 Miler took place on Thursday morning in Hamilton, Ont. The race draws huge crowds of runners to compete in an off-distance road race. Among the runners were Olympians, Canadian record holders and national champions.

This year saw two new victors in the men’s and women’s races, Ben Preisner and Emebet Anteneh, who beat reigning champions Matt Hughes and Robyn Mildren.

Preisner caught Canadians attention when he won the 2019 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Half-Marathon. There he ran a two-minute personal best, hitting 1:03:02 for the half-marathon win. He won Thursday’s 10 miler in 48:18, just 13 seconds off of Hughes’ course record. Second place went to ACXC (national cross-country) champion Mike Tate (48:47) and third place to the Canadian steeplechase record holder Hughes (49:21).

In the women’s race, Emebet Anteneh won in 55:18, almost a full minute ahead of the second place finisher. Anteneh has been a force on the Canadian roads in 2019. She ran a 1:10:28 at the Edmonton Half-Marathon and a 16:04 5K in the fall. Anteneh comes from a track background, owning an extremely impressive 14:43.29 5,000m personal best.

Second place in the women’s race went to Sanna Mustonen (56:04) and third place to Leslie Sexton (56:19).

Philemon Rono won the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon for the third time on Sunday

The Kenyan, nicknamed ‘Baby Police’ for his role as a policeman, smashed his own Canadian all-comers’ record with a time of 2:05:00 at the IAAF Gold Label road race.

Behind him, Lemi Bernahu of Ethiopia, who had been leading until the final kilometer, took second in 2:05:09, Uganda’s Felix Chemonges third in 2:05:12 and defending champion Benson Kipruto of Kenya fourth in 2:05:13.

“It was important to win three times, because Toronto is like my home,” said Rono. “When I come here, I enjoy myself. I have a lot of friends from Kenya here. I am really, really happy to win today.”

While Rono achieved an incredible record, earning CDN$30,000 for the victory along with CDN$50,000 for the all-comers’ record, it was his compatriot Magdalyne Masai-Robertson who claimed the women’s victory with an enormous personal best of 2:22:16. That beat the course record set by Mimi Belete last year by 13 seconds and improved the Canadian all-comers' record by one second.

For the first time in its 30-year history, conditions were near perfect (8C and 5km/hr wind at the start).

A trio of pacemakers took a pack of six men through the halfway point in 1:03:08 and 30 kilometers in 1:29:24 before Lemi Berhanu hinted that the tightness in his legs, which had bothered him in the days immediately preceding the race, had vanished. By 38 kilometres he had surged to a lead of more than 15 seconds. But incredibly Rono closed the gap in the final two kilometres to snatch victory.

“I was running at my own pace,” Rono explained. “The pace at the front was really moving so I maintained my own pace. At 38km when he ran away I said ‘let me maintain my pace’. And I knew I could catch him.”

For his part, Berhanu, who was the 2016 Boston champion, complained of a stitch in his right side and was in distress. Disappointment registered on his face at the finish where he sat alone on the ground for 10 minutes before his coach Gemedu Dedefo collected him for the awards ceremony.

“I was thinking when I made the break I could run sub 2:05 and keep pushing, but after 40km I could not really move because of a stitch,” he explained.

Felix Chemonges took four minutes off his personal best to break 2012 Olympic champion Stephen Kiprotich’s Ugandan record with his 2:05:12.

The women’s race was equally compelling as eight women ran together through 30km. Five survived Birktuyat Eshetu’s surges up until 35km including Kenya’s Betsy Saina, Rachel Mutgaa and Masai-Robertson and then the race blew up. The latter took off, fearful of being caught. At 40km she spared a look over her shoulder and realised her nearest pursuer was Eshetu and quite a distance separated them.

Canadian Kinsey Middleton is set to defend her title this Sunday at Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

Sunday is the 2019 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon and Canadian Olympic Marathon Trials, and the Canadian elite lineup is killer. Kinsey Middleton is the defending champion, following her impressive 2018 run where she took the win in her marathon debut.

The Boise, Idaho native says that her build has been great, with more miles than ever before, and a broader variety of workouts. She jokes that she’s becoming accustomed to the marathon, or at least as accustomed as you can be for only having run one.

The runner lives at 800m altitude, surrounded by mountains (she has dual citizenship, since her mother is Canadian), so she has relatively easy access to higher altitudes for training purposes. She’s looking to run Olympic standard on Sunday (2:29:30) and sounds confident in her ability to do so.

Middleton’s race day plan is to wake up roughly three hours before the race, and have a coffee and peanut butter and jam on toast. After breakfast she’ll take 10 minutes to visualize her race day plan and put her feet up, then she’ll take the bus to the course.

The runner jokes that the funny thing about marathon warmups is how short they are. “They’re the shortest warmup ever, because you don’t want to take any energy away from your race. The bigger the race, the smaller the warmup.”

Middleton’s race plan is all about standard. “I am hoping that there’s a solid group of women to run with. I’ve talked to Malindi [Elmore] and Emily [Setlack] about the pace they’re trying to run. It’s better if we all run together.” The runner says that they’ll sort out pacing at the technical meeting, but her plan is to go out on 1:14 pace for the half. “You really want to negative-split a marathon, otherwise it doesn’t feel good,” she says, referring to the practice of running the second half of the race faster than the first half.

“I’m really confident about the time, because I think if your goal is to make an Olympic team, the time shouldn’t scare you, it should feel possible. It’s all about executing on the day.”

Middleton races for the Idaho Distance Project and is hoping to get its logo added to a plain black crop top. Her plan is to race in that black top, or if it’s cold, a black tank top and Asics shorts. For shoes, she’ll be wearing the green Nike Next%.  “I like the upper a lot better on the Next%. I didn’t like the knit upper on the Vaporfly as much. I have narrow feet, so my foot would move around in them.”

Scotiabank Toronto marathon switches from Gatorade to Nuun Endurance for their marathon event

Nuun has been updating its various sports hydration products, and Nuun Endurance, designed specifically those expecting to be out on the course for more than 90 minutes, will replace Gatorade at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon’s water stations on October 20.

Some commercial sports drinks contain a lot of sugar, artificial dyes and unnecessary chemicals–things that more health-aware athletes are trying to get away from, since they do nothing to improve either performance or health (and may do the opposite). Nuun unveiled its new Sport product earlier this year, and now endurance athletes in Canada can enjoy Nuun Endurance, formulated with their specific needs in mind.

According to Nuun, “as more research into hydration science demonstrated the ineffectiveness of traditional sports drink formulas, runners demanded healthier options with cleaner ingredients designed specifically to hydrate for high-intensity activities.”

Formulated as a powdered mix rather than a tab, Nuun Endurance is non-GMO and Informed Sport certified (Informed Sport is a third-party quality assurance program for sports nutrition products), kosher, vegan and gluten-free–which means you can rest assured there’s no funny stuff in your hydration product. It comes in four flavors: Mixed Berry, Citrus Mango, Lemon Lime and caffeinated Strawberry Lemonade, and is available in 16-serving tubs or single-serving packets. (The Strawberry Lemonade flavor contains 25 mg of caffeine derived from organic green coffee beans.)

Nuun Endurance’s delivers just enough electrolytes to optimize hydration, and its low sugar content is designed to minimize the potential for gastric distress.

Ethiopia’s Bekelech Gudeta Borecha will make her Debut at Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

A first-time marathon requires a great leap of faith as any distance runner can attest. And so it is that Ethiopian distance star Bekelech Gudeta, who will turn 22 nine days before the race, enters the unknown at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon tackling one of the strongest women’s fields assembled on Canadian soil. Though she has no experience at the classic marathon distance she has performed admirably these past two years in the half marathon, running under 1:08 on three occasions, most recently on September 15th. That time of 1:07:21 earned her 6th place in the Copenhagen Half Marathon, which, like Toronto, is an IAAF Gold Label race. A year ago, she recorded her personal best 1:07:03 on the same course.

"I am really happy to start the marathon," she reveals. " have run some half marathons and I think I can run a (good) marathon as a half marathon is a quicker pace than the marathon. I started preparation for the Toronto Waterfront Marathon from June. My target is to run a fast time in Toronto."

The women’s course record in Toronto is 2:22:29 and was set a year ago by Mimi Belete the Ethiopian who now runs for Bahrain. This doesn’t seem to faze Gudeta.

"My coach is Dawit Hiluf and he is telling me that I can run sub 2:22 in my first marathon," she says. "He is telling me the athletes with 1:07 in the half marathon have run 2:19 to 2:21 in the marathon and he is telling me it is possible to run fast in the first marathon. He is telling me that the Toronto marathon has a fast course. We expect to see me on the Toronto marathon podium with a fast time."

What gives her more confidence is that she has increased her training volume significantly this year but did not reduce it for her Copenhagen appearance. Training through Copenhagen and still coming away with a time just 18 seconds slower than her best must have been satisfying to her and her coach.

"Last year I was doing 100km per week now it’s 160 - 170km. So, I was expecting to run 1:05 (in Copenhagen) but this year there was too much wind. We ran against the wind. Especially when I dropped from the leading group it was difficult. But I am happy as I ran sub 68 for my third time."

Gudeta is a member of a training group put together by Volare Sports, a Netherlands based sports management company. It includes Hiwot Gebrekidan (2nd in Ottawa in both 2017 and 2018) Betelhem Moges (2nd in Ottawa 2019) and Abeba Gebremeskel (2nd place Seville marathon 2019). Like other runners she lives in the Ararat area of Addis, Ethiopia’s capital and shares a ride to training sites outside the city.

"Our training is in different places around Addis most of time we train in Sululta, Sendafa, Kaliti, Entoto, Sebeta and around Ararat inside Addis," she continues.

"We have a Volare team bus and we meet 3-4 times per week training program with a team. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and sometimes Sunday we train together with the team and Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we have easy training separately. When we are not with the team I train around Ararat."

Bekelech has not always lived in Addis. She was born in Shona just 50 kilometers outside the capital. After being introduced to running at school and having some success one of her brothers encouraged her to move to Addis and become a serious runner. She credits him with her success.

In Toronto she will face her experienced compatriots Dibaba Kuma, Eshetu Biruktayit and Hiwot Gebrekidan as well as Kenya’s Magdalyne Masai and Ruth Chebitok.

While the Toronto Waterfront Marathon signifies a dramatic change in direction for Bekelech Gudeta she sees it as a step towards meeting her ultimate goals.

"My goal is be a world class athlete like (Kenya’s four-time New York Marathon champion) Mary Keitany and Tirunesh Dibaba (three-time Olympic champion from Ethiopia)," she declares. " have represented my country during the World Half Marathon Championship last year in Valencia and I was 8th place. I want to represent Ethiopia again in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics or in other Olympics. It is my dream as a runner."

Gene Dykes was hoping to break Ed Whitlock's M70 record at STWM, but a lingering illness has taken him out of contention

Gene Dykes, who came close to breaking the late Ed Whitlock’s M70 marathon world record at last year’s Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, and broke it unofficially in Jacksonville, Florida in December (on a non-record-eligible course) was hoping to make another attempt at this year’s Scotiabank Toronto race on October 20, but has decided to bow out due to illness and the resulting loss of training time.

Whitlock’s record, set in 2004, is 2:54:48. He was the only person ever to run a sub-3 marathon over age 70 until Dykes, who has now done it four times: first in Rotterdam in 2018, where he ran 2:57. At last year’s Scotiabank Toronto (which doubled as the World Masters Marathon Championships), he ran 2:55:18, missing Whitlock’s record by 30 seconds. At Jacksonville, he ran 2:54:23, breaking the record by 25 seconds–or so he thought, until he discovered that although the course is certified, the race is not USATF-sanctioned, which means you can’t set records there. At Boston this year he ran 2:58:50, shattering his own age-group course record of 3:16:20.

Dykes is optimistic he is on the mend, and has a number of fall races scheduled, including a 100K in Texas this weekend, a small marathon in Maine (on the same day as he would have raced Scotiabank), and the New York City Marathon on November 3.

Dykes remains the only living human over 70 years of age to run a sub-3 marathon.

Uganda’s Felix Chemonges goal is to win the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

No Ugandan runner has ever won the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon a blemish which Felix Chemonges wishes to eradicate October 20th on the race’s 30th anniversary.

"My goal is to win the race and improve on my personal best as I want to get selection with my Toronto performance for Tokyo 2020," he explains. "My future goals are to be a world class star."

"I have only run two marathons before, which were smaller marathons. Both times I finished second. Toronto will be my first big one and I am really looking forward to it."

In recent years, beginning with the inspiring victory of Stephen Kiprotich at the 2012 London Olympics, Ugandans have strived to match the competitive results of their East African rivals from Ethiopia and Kenya. Now, with young athletes like the 23-year-old Chemonges (he turns 24 on October 10th), the country’s fortunes are indeed in good hands.

One of those aforementioned second place finishes came at the 2019 Linz (Austria) Marathon back in April and yielded a personal best of 2:09:19 but since then he has also lowered his PB at the half marathon distance with a 61:03 clocking in Zwolle Netherlands. That is, indeed, encouraging as he builds towards the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon - an IAAF Gold Label race.

Netherlands based Global Sports Communications which represents world half marathon record holder Geoffrey Kamworor, world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge (both from Kenya) and Ethiopia’s world 5000m and 10000m record holder Kenenisa Bekele, in addition to Kiprotich, operates a training camp in Uganda where Chemonges trains.

It is in Kapchorwa in Eastern Uganda which is around 50km from the border with Kenya. The elevation is roughly 2000 metres above sea level but they can reach even higher elevations nearby - perfect for training. "I live in the camp then we meet with other marathoners from different groups and train together," Chemonges says.

Under the guidance of coach Nalis Bugongo the group which can number as many as sixty athletes and includes Joshua Cheptegei, the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Champion, Robert Chemonges (no relation) and Jackson Kiprop, winner of the 2019 Nagano Marathon, has a strict training regimen running twice a day.

Highlights are a 35 kilometre run on Thursdays and a Tuesday track session which sees the group running one kilometre ten times at 2:06 marathon pace with a very short recovery.

The camp is not far from the village of Chebungai where Chemonges grew up and where his siblings still live and farm, so he is able to return home on occasion. But like their Kenyan rivals they are incredibly dedicated to the end goal of achieving success on the roads. Everything points in that direction from getting enough rest as well as massage between training sessions, eating healthy and pushing each other.

It cannot be stressed enough what the impact of Kiprotich’s Olympic gold medal offered the young runners. Although he trains mainly in Kenya at the Global Sports Communication camp in Kaptagat he returns home on weekends.

"His medal has inspired me to strive for the same title and many medals for myself in the future," Chemonges says of the Olympic hero. "It’s the biggest inspiration for all of us from Kapchorwa region.

"I meet with him and he encourages me. We often train together when he is at home. He is the most well-known Ugandan and he also competed in Toronto last year."

The 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships were held in Uganda’s capital of Kampala which was an incredible source of national pride. Kiprotich returned home to be a member of the Ugandan team even though he is now a fully-fledged marathoner. At that point Chemonges had not yet distinguished himself. But that would change a year later.

Selected to represent Uganda for the first he finished 26th in the 2018 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia recording a then personal best of 62:10. That was just four places ahead of Canadian marathon record holder Cam Levins who is also racing for Olympic selection in Toronto.

Later the same year he finished second at the Beirut Marathon, with a promising debut of 2:11:57 on a demanding course.

"We chose Beirut with my manager Jurrie as it was a good place to debut and learn the distance and be competitive," he reveals adding, "I learnt that I can run a faster competition and time when I prepare well and that I can be confident."

As for Toronto his knowledge is limited to what he has gleaned from his management and Kiprotich. "I just know it is a marathon in Canada with a strong course and it can be cold," and then adding rather prophetically, "And no Ugandan has won, so far."

Ethiopia’s Lemi Berhanu Hayle targets Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Record

Many target course records and victory in the weeks preceding a major marathon, but few can achieve this glory. Ethiopia’s Lemi Berhanu Hayle, however, has the fast times and experience to do it.  

Berhanu has confirmed he will attack Philemon Rono’s Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon course record (2:06:52) on October 20th. With Rono also committed to this year’s event, plus last year’s champion Benson Kipruto, Lemi’s addition to the field sets up a compelling showdown for the CAN $30,000 first place prize and, if things go right, CAN $40,000 course record bonus.

Lemi is held in such high regard by Ethiopian selectors that he was selected to his nation’s 2016 Olympic team (he finished 13th). Earlier that year he won the 2016 Boston Marathon. But it was his victory at the 2015 Dubai Marathon in 2:05:28 - the fourth fastest time in the world that year - which introduced him as a world-beating athlete.

Though he was beaten during his Dubai title defence in 2017 he came away with a new personal best of 2:04:33, in second place. Against this backdrop a Toronto course record assault is more than viable.

"My target is to have the course record time and of course to win the race," he says adding he will ask the pacemakers to go through halfway in 1:03. It appears, too, that he is familiar with Toronto.

"I always watch the (Scotiabank) Toronto Marathon on television. I have never missed (watching) the race every year. I heard some of the things about the race from my teammates; that the course and the weather is good."

Lemi is coached by Gemedu Dedefo as part of the Demadonna Athletics Promotions group in Ethiopia. Several athletes from this team have raced in this IAAF Gold Label race over the years most notably past winners Shure Demise (2015- and 2016-women’s champion) and Derissa Chimsa the 2013 men’s winner.

Poring over his impressive competitive record with those fast times, he doesn’t have to think long to determine which of his races yielded the most enjoyment. His Boston and Rio Olympic experience are top of his mind.

"The 2016 Boston Marathon was my favorite race," he reveals. "During that time, I was in very good shape, so I easily won that race.

"As it was my first time to compete in the Olympics, I feel very proud, but I faced injury in my leg and was not in the top three. That didn’t make me to change my plan, rather, it makes me feel that I have the ability and potential next time on world stages."

Born in Asasa about 220 kilometers south of Ethiopia’s capital city of Addis he grew up to the exploits of the leading Ethiopian runners.

"I saw (Olympic champions) Kenenisa (Bekele) and Haile Gebrselassie running on TV. Their great talent inspired me to follow them. I started running school championships and, when I saw my results, I thought of continuing athletics," he explains.

In 2013 he moved to Addis to train with Gemedu and after a short time made his debut in the 2014 Kampala Marathon. He recorded his first victory at the Zurich Marathon the same year in an eye catching 2:10:40 - at age 19. Training with the group has certainly proven advantageous in several ways.

"We are all like friends with most of my teammates we go out together to some recreational areas when we have time," he reveals adding, "I married my friend and fellow athlete, Melesech Tsegaye, last year. We have no children for the moment."

With his previous earnings he has built his own house in Addis and has plans to start a business sometime in the future.

Lemi joins a strong field which includes his compatriot Abera Kuma (2:05:50 PB) and the Kenyan trio of Festus Talam (2:06:13 PB), the aforementioned defending champion, Benson Kipruto, and Canadian All-comers’ record holder, Philemon Rono.

Ethiopian Tigist Girma Withdraws from Toronto Waterfront Marathon

Following last announcement of Tigist Girma´s participation in the 2019 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon we were surprised to receive an email from her management company, Elite Sports Management International, says Alan Brookes, the race director.

The email, sent on Monday September 9th, informed us that the athlete was withdrawing from the race because the athlete’s husband did not think the course was fast enough to match her condition.

We are surprised and disappointed as a contract was signed and returned to us on July 11th, 2019.

Furthermore, the Toronto course record set last year by Mimi Belete ( is 2:22:29 more than four minutes faster than Tigist´s personal best. Sharon Cherop ( and Koren Yal ( both ran 2:22:43 in 2010 and 2011 respectively. These times compare favorably with most IAAF Gold Label races.

As a professional IAAF Gold Label organization we enormously value our relationship with the world´s media. We understand athletes sometimes are injured and must withdraw. But, in this case, we hope that these unforeseen circumstances do not reflect badly upon our efforts to further grow the sport we love. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Though we are disappointed we wish Tigist well with her career.

Ethiopian Tigist Girma is going after the Toronto Marathon title

Tigist Girma’s best marathon time may not have caught up with her impressive competitive record but the Ethiopian is quickly establishing herself as a world-class athlete to be feared. When she lines up for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 20, however, it will be a reality check of epic proportions.

Among the athletes she will face at this IAAF Gold Label road race are her countrywomen Bruktayit Degefa and Belaynesh Oljira who have run much, much faster times. Oljira, for instance, has a best of 2:21:53, almost five full minutes faster than Girma’s PB of 2:26:34 which she set in winning the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon in May. However, the 26-year-old Girma remains undaunted.

“Whenever I train for a specific competition, I have the goal to win as well as to run as fast as my training partners like Roza Dereje and Ruti Aga,” she says when asked what her target might be for Toronto. “So, I will try to run fast and win the race as well.”

Her resolve to match times recorded by members of her training group is decidedly ambitious. Dereje has a best of 2:19:17 while Ruti Aga has run 2:18:34. But it is the way Girma wins that is compelling. In each of her victories she has gone to the front with more than 12-15km remaining and simply run away from athletes, many of whom have superior personal bests.

“My coach (Haji Adilo) always trains us to run following our heart and condition. So, I am not afraid of running in front,” she explains. “My victory in both races (Guangzhou and Ottawa) with new personal bests was not only because of my strength but it was also with God’s support.

“According to my condition during the race I could have run better. But I won’t complain with the results I got in both races.”

The question of whether she can outwit and outrun her compatriots remains to be seen but there is much on the line. Toronto has seen the breakthrough of many international athletes. Past winners Sharon Cherop (Kenya) and Shure Demise (Ethiopian) went on to compete in the prestigious World Marathon Majors with Cherop finishing third in Boston in 2011, six months after her Toronto victory and was Boston champion in 2012. Demise went on to finish on the podium at both Tokyo and Chicago.

Girma first emerged on the scene with a victory in the 2016 Beirut Marathon where she ran a then personal best of 2:32:44. That was on a day when the temperature at the start was 21C. More recently she won the 2018 Guangzhou and 2019 Ottawa Marathons - both IAAF Gold Label races.

It is hard to believe that she has accomplished so much considering this is just her fourth season of competition. Moreover, coach Haji has reigned in her willingness to run three marathons in a year. Toronto Waterfront will be only her second marathon of 2019. She seems pleased with her training since Ottawa.

“I train four days a week with the team with coach Haji. Right now, I am doing all the training program my coach gave me and I run 170km each week,” she reveals.

Some of Haji’s favourite sites are well outside of Addis, the capital. This is because Addis traffic is notoriously heavy and not conducive to training. Haile Gebrselassie, for example, ran on a treadmill each afternoon in the basement gym in his office building.

 “Since the training sites are quite far and it’s long drive there my boyfriend drives me up and down,” Girma says.

The unpredictable weather coming off Lake Ontario in late October should not be a problem for her. Two of her victories were in heat and humidity while in Guangzhou it was cold and raining.

“I think (Toronto) is good timing for me,” she confirms. “Since it’s now winter-time here in Ethiopia I have been training in rain and very cold weather conditions. I don't think cold weather will be problem for my result.” 

Welsh marathon runner Josh Griffiths will be seeking olympic selection at Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

The IAAF Gold Label race (October 20th) is serving as the Athletics Canada Marathon trials for Tokyo 2020 and Josh Griffiths, fresh off his personal best performance in London (2:14:25), has chosen to make his own run for an Olympic berth.

The 25-year-old is presently ranked fifth in Britain behind Mo Farah (2:05:39), Callum Hawkins (2:08:14), Dewi Griffiths (2:11:46) and Jonny Mellor (2:13:25). Like the Canadians he will face in Toronto, he believes a 2:12:30 performance might be enough to cement a place on his national Olympic team. Asked what he is looking for in Toronto he is succinct.

"Just a really good, competitive race," he offers. "Malcolm (Anderson, his manager) said it would be a really good Canadian field, so if I can just get in the mix and, on a good day, see how far I can go with them.

"There's three really good British guys now. Obviously, it all depends on if they all stay fit and if they all choose to do the marathon. All I can do is focus on myself and if I run the best I can then I can’t really ask for more."

Canadian record holder Cam Levins (2:09:25) will be seeking to run with the international elite and improve upon the record he set a year ago, while fellow Olympians Dylan Wykes and Reid Coolsaet want to be in that 2:12 - 2:13 range that Griffiths is targeting.

Although he represents Swansea Harriers, Griffiths has lived all his life in Gorslas, Carmarthenshire in rural Wales where there are few runners. As a result, he is self-coached and does all his training alone. He supports himself financially by providing an online coaching program as well as some funding from Welsh Athletics and the London Marathon.

"It’s mentally tough getting out the door," he says of the solitude. "Sometimes it’s the hardest part of the run. I just think if it’s going to be that grim in training I am really prepared. If it rains in Toronto, I am prepared for anything.

"The weather is not always great in Wales; it rains a lot. But on those days, you have got to think what the goal is. If I want to run well in Toronto, then I have got to put the work in. I don’t struggle like that. I am in a pretty good position I can run all these amazing races and it’s well worth putting in the work."

The toughness that has characterized so many British runners over the years is epitomized especially by Welsh hero, Steve Jones, who set the world marathon record in the 1984 Chicago Marathon and won the 1992 Toronto Marathon.

"I met Steve a few times but when he was at his peak I wasn’t born yet. I have met him many times since," Griffiths reveals.

"We met at the Welsh track championships a couple of years ago. I went along to watch and so did he. We kind of got to chatting. It was after the London Marathon. He is always supportive."

Like Jones, he recalls his early start in athletics came as a schoolboy where he was exposed to many different sports.

"When I was in university I kind of took it seriously, started working with a good group of athletes in Cardiff. In 2017 I decided to do the marathon to try and qualify for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast Australia. I had to run 2:16 and I managed to run 2:14 which qualified me for Gold Coast and for the World Championships."

In 2011 he visited southern Ontario on a schoolboy rugby trip. At the time he was billeted by families in Coburg, Brantford and Lindsay, Ontario. They also visited Toronto’s tourist sites. There will be little time for site seeing on this trip however as so much is at stake.

"I will be looking to go through halfway just under 66 minutes," he says returning to the reason for his Canadian adventure. "One thing I have learned in the marathons I have done it’s much better to feel good in the second half. I don’t want to go crazy at the start. If there is a good group, then I will work my way through."

50K relay will be added to the 2020 Calgary Marathon weekend event

Registration is now open for the 56th running of the Scotiabank Calgary Marathon, which takes place on Sunday, May 31, 2020, and next year’s race weekend will offer an exciting new event: in addition to the very popular 50K ultra, which had 138 finishers in 2019, there will be a 50K relay, in which teams of two to four people can sign up to cover the distance together over four legs that vary from 7.8K to 18.6K.

In addition, Roundup registrants (who race the 5K at noon after completing one of the other distances in the morning) will receive a special Roundup bib and swag item, and finishers’ medals for both events can be combined into one super-medal, introduced in 2019.

Race distances include the GoodLife Fitness 5K, the Jugo Juice 10K, the Centaur Subaru 21.1K, the Scotiabank Calgary Marathon 42.2K, the 50K Ultra, the 50K Relay and the Scotiabank Kids Marathon, as well as the Roundup, in which runners may race any of the Sunday morning distances in addition to the 5K, which starts at noon.

“We launched this quietly last year, as it was something we heard from runners that they were doing already, running the 5K in addition to another distance at our race weekend,” says race director Kirsten Fleming, “and participants wanted it to be official. We didn’t realize how popular it would be, so we really formalized the program this year, streamlining the registration… and they get a special swag item in addition to their two medals (that fit together) and their two shirts.

They will have special bibs that identify them to people and their own package pick up area, and some surprises and delights along the way.”

The 50K relay reprises an event introduced for the race’s 50th anniversary in 2017, which was also Canada’s 150th birthday. It was called  the Confederation 150K, and it was so popular that people have been asking ever since if the race was going to bring back a relay of some kind. 

The regular 50K has also been Canada’s national 50K championship since 2014, and many past podium finishers have gone on to represent Canada at the world 50K championships.

Ethiopians Belaynesh Oljira and Bruktayit Degefa Eshetu, are ready to compete at Toronto Marathon

Belaynesh Oljira brings an enviable reputation to the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon October 20th which includes two 2013 IAAF World Championships bronze medals at 10,000m and in cross country.

The Ethiopian star, who also represented Ethiopia at the 2012 London Olympics, has run 2:21:53 (Frankfurt 2018) for the marathon staking her claim as one of the heavy favorites to win this IAAF Gold Label race.

Oljira will be joined in Canada’s largest city by a member of her training group, Bruktayit Degefa Eshetu, who is also a world class marathoner. In January of this year Degefa ran a personal best of 2:23:28 to earn herself a hat trick of Houston Marathon victories. A year ago, Degefa beat Oljira in Houston by a mere six seconds.

Despite sharing a coach and training group their contact has been minimal and it will be every woman for herself when they line up in Toronto. 

“I train with the Demadonna Athletics Promotion team,” Oljira says, “which includes also Biruktayit Degefa. We don’t train together, except when there is group training, we meet with others.

“We are not friends. I joined the team recently, I didn’t socialize with most of them but once I met her at the Houston Marathon she seems sociable and I hope we will be friends in the future.” 

Their casual relationship is not unusual. With training groups numbering as many as a hundred the athletes will meet their coach - in this case Gemedu Dedefo - two or three times a week at some of the popular training sites such as Sendafa, a thirty-minute drive outside Addis Ababa. Athletes might ride share. Training sessions begin just as the sun is rising so it is not unusual that runners might get out of bed at 4am to be picked up.

After a brief warm-up the training session starts and from then on, it’s all business. If the athletes are going to socialize it is likely to be in Addis away from training. Another barrier in their relationship is the fact Degefa is also married to an American-based Ethiopian named Abinet Adraro and spends much time in the U.S. This past spring, she prepared for the Boston Marathon for several months there. She was eighth in Boston. 

“Training with the group can benefit you with different things like you share experience, you find new friends, you have fun with them especially when you train with them you don’t think of your tiring moments of training.”

Among their training group are a strong contingent of world-class women including Tirfi Tsegaye (2:19:41 personal best, who ran an impressive 2:22:44 in Toronto in 2010), Aberu Kebede (2016 Berlin winner in 2:20:45) and two-time Toronto champion, Shure Demise.

“Yes, Shure has told me about the Toronto marathon, about its course and weather, and all the good people there,” Degefa admits. “My expectation in Toronto is to win with a good time.”

Not surprisingly Oljira is also targeting victory in Toronto.

“My main goal as for any athlete is to run a good time and to win the race,” she declares.

The pair come from vastly different backgrounds. Oljira grew up in Wellega district about 315km west of Addis. She started out running cross country and track with immediate success. Indeed, her first overseas venture was a cross country race in France where the first-place prize was a car. She won.

Kenya´s Philemon Rono will be looking for another title at Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

Philemon Rono of Kenya has won the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon twice–the first time in 2016, and the second time in 2017, when he set the Canadian all-comers record of 2:06:52 (also his personal best).

Rono, who trains with NN Running (marathon world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge’s group), was dealing with a calf injury and didn’t have a great race in 2018, finishing ninth in 2:13:36, but the diminutive runner they call Baby Police is healthy and will be back on October 20, hoping not only to win, but to lower his Canadian soil record.

Rono raced at Boston in April, finishing eighth, in 2:08:57–which he was happy with. He is currently running about 200K per week with the NN Training group in Kaptagat under the direction of coach Patrick Sang.

Kipchoge has a big influence on the training, Rono says. “We watch everything he does.” Many accounts of Kipchoge’s training make note of the fact that while living in camp from Monday to Saturday, he takes his turn mopping floors and scrubbing toilets like everyone else. When not working out, the group loves to watch soccer on TV. Like Kipchoge, Rono travels home to his farm on weekends, where he spends time with his wife and young son, and tends his cattle.

Rono’s stiffest competition so far announced will be Abera Kuma, who has a personal best of 2:05:50, and Benson Kipruto, who won last year’s marathon in 2:07:24 (which was seconds off his PB).

The race will also serve as the Canadian marathon championships and unofficial Olympic trials, with the top Canadian male automatically qualifying for Team Canada at Tokyo 2020 (provided he achieves the Olympic standard of 2:11:30 within the qualifying window). 

Reid Coolsaet, Dylan Wykes, Rob Watson and Canadian marathon record-holder Cam Levins will all be on the start line on October 20.

Mexican runner Juan Luis Barrios will be racing the 2019 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

Mexico’s great distance runner, Juan Luis Barrios, will race the 2019 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 20, he and it race director Alan Brookes announced in Mexico City last month.

Barrios has fond memories of Toronto, where he won the gold medal in the 5,000m at the 2015 Pan Am Games.

Barrios was scheduled to represent Mexico at the Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru this month, but an injury prevented him from racing. However he expects to be fully healthy in time for the Toronto event later this fall. He told a Mexican media outlet his doctor advised him to rest for two to three weeks before resuming training.

Like many elites racing STWM this year, he will be trying to qualify for the 2020 Olympic marathon. The men’s Olympic standard is 2:11:30, which should hopefully be attainable for Barrios on the fast, flat STWM course. Barrios ran 2:10:55 at the Tokyo Marathon in 2018, and 2:12:00 (good enough for an enviable third place, but narrowly missing the Olympic standard) at this year’s Los Angeles Marathon.

Mexicans comprise one of the biggest international groups at this marathon, with 700 expected to toe the line this year.

Barrios is sure to benefit from the support. Brookes extended some welcoming words to Barrios and his many compatriots who will be on the course in Toronto: “Bienvenidos a todos nuestros amigos Mexicanos… We love our Mexican runners in Toronto! They bring the city alive with their passion, strong running, and love of a fiesta!”

Abera and Dibabe Kuma are brothers and sister and both will be going for the win and course records in Toronto

The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon has announced that the Kuma siblings of Ethiopia, Abera Kuma and his sister Dibabe Kuma, will toe the line this year on October 20. With personal bests of 2:05:50 and 2:23:34, both are in a position to contest not just the titles but the course records–and it would be a notable first for this event if a pair of siblings were to win at STWM.

This will not be the first Canadian marathon for Abera, 28, a former track runner who represented Ethiopia at the 2011 and 2013 World Championships: he finished second on a very humid day at this year’s Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon, in 2:08:14. His PB of 2:05:50 is from the 2018 Rotterdam Marathon, where he finished second.

Dibabe, 22, has always focused on the road since fairly early in her career, setting her marathon PB of 2:23:34 with her third-place finish at the Ljubljana (Slovakia) Marathon last October, and winning this year’s Hamburg Marathon in 2:24:42 (where Magdalyne Masai, who will also line up against Kuma at STWM this year, finished second).

Both siblings are considered to have potential to break the course records, depending of course on the weather. The women’s record of 2:22:29 was set last year by Mimi Belete, while Philemon Ronoholds the men’s course record of 2:06:52 (from 2017). Kuma says she is not daunted by the prospect of cold weather, having triumphed in cold and wet conditions in Hamburg.

It will be the siblings’ first time traveling together to race.

Canadians Reid Coolsaet, Dylan Wykes & Rob Watson will return to the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

Three very familiar faces will be among the outstanding Canadian entries for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon October 20th, all lured by the Athletics Canada National Championship which runs concurrently in this IAAF Gold Label race.

Moreover, this year’s event also serves as Canada’s Olympic trials with the ‘first past the post' earning an automatic spot on the team bound for Tokyo provided he or she has achieved the Olympic standard (2:11:30/2:29:30).

Two-time Olympian Reid Coolsaet will seek a third berth, Dylan Wykes a second and Rob Watson, a three-time World Championships performer, relishes the challenge of earning another podium finish. The ‘three amigos’ between them have won twenty-one national titles.

Coolsaet turned 40 on July 29th and acknowledges his best days are behind him - he is Canada’s third fastest marathoner of all time with a 2:10:28 personal record - but believes he has the experience to make the team for Tokyo. "Yeah, it is my goal, I am totally focused on making the Olympics," said Coolsaet, who has run under 2:11:30 six times in his career. "It’s definitely my main motivation for training as hard as I do in the marathon.

"If it wasn’t for the 2020 Olympics, knowing I am not really looking for a PB anymore, I think I would have moved to the trails last year. I am happy to train this hard knowing the reward would mean a lot to me."

With Cam Levins (2:09:25) also returning to the site of his dramatic Canadian record-breaking performance, Coolsaet realises that something would have to go seriously wrong for Levins to miss the automatic place. Still, he remains optimistic he has a chance.

"I know what it takes to run the level I need to run to potentially qualify for the Olympics," Coolsaet says believing a 2:12:30 might be good enough to earn a place through the IAAF ranking system.

"Although I don’t want to get hurt, I don’t want to sell myself short and think ‘what if?’ I am going to be smart about my training and listen to my body. "I am not going to run quite as much mileage as in the past. But I know I can’t let being 40 be an excuse to back off my training because I can't handle it or something like that. Although there will be some slight changes, they are going to be very slight."

Wykes who was Canada’s top finisher in the 2012 Olympic marathon (20th in 2:15:26) has a personal best of 2:10:47 making him the fourth fastest Canadian of all time. Many were surprised by his return. After failing to make the Rio Olympic team he effectively retired to focus on his family - he and his wife Francine have two young children - and his coaching business ‘Mile2Marathon’.

Coach Richard Lee had once declared that he doubted Wykes would ever want to put himself through the disruption which ultimately led to his place on the 2012 London Olympic team. He made three attempts to achieve the standard sacrificing much in the process. His 2:10:47 came at the 2016 Rotterdam Marathon. Reminded of this the now 36-year old laughs.

"It’s certainly taken a few years to wrap my head around things and realize I am probably not going to do it again if it’s like the buildup was to London," he admits. "I would be lying if I said Tokyo wasn’t in the back of my mind. But I think I am trying to see things less ‘big picture’ and trying to focus on staying healthy and getting to the finish line in Toronto.

"If Cam Levins is on his game he’s in a different stratosphere. But I guess guys like Tristan Woodfine, Reid, Trevor Hofbauer, these kind of guys, if I am going well, I will mix it up with them.That is kind of what I am most excited about."

Following the 2012 Olympics, Wykes’ motivation was at a peak. The London experience had left him excited with endless possibilities to set about achieving. But there were obstacles that cropped up along the way. "I was as focused or more focused after London as any time in my career and the years between London and Rio were going to be my best," he reveals. "But a lot of that was injuries and kind of biting off more than I could chew.

"Some of that had to with the buildup to London and having to run so many marathons. And I made the silly mistake of trying to chase down (Jerome Drayton’s Canadian record). After London that became my focus. And, when I didn’t make Rio, I was kind of done."

A year ago Wykes and his family moved east from Vancouver after Francine received a post-doctoral position at Carleton University. Together with Rob Watson he coaches runners of all abilities through their company ‘Mile2Marathon’. With over 200 clients and ten coaches it is a thriving business. Somewhere along the way he rediscovered his own love for disciplined training. At his peak Watson achieved a personal best of 2:13:29 at the 2013 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

Jake Robertson’s wife Magdalyne Masai wants to be in the top three at Toronto Waterfront Marathon

Magdalyne Masai’s performance at the Hamburg Marathon on 28 April earned her praise from around the world given that she had run a personal best of 2:26:04 and finished second in the highly competitive race.

Moreover, it earned her an invitation to this year’s Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label road race, on 20 October.

She will arrive in Canada’s largest city privy to useful knowledge of the city and the race as her husband, Jake Robertson of New Zealand, finished fifth here a year ago.

“I want to get a personal best and finish in the top three,” she said, speaking during a video call from her home in Iten, Kenya. “That is my aim. I want to be in top three. I think 2:23 or 2:22 is within reach.”

That would challenge the ‘family record’ held by her elder sister, Linet Masai, who ran 2:23:46 In her debut last year in Amsterdam.

‘Magz’, as she is affectionately known, comes from a family of runners. Linet was the 2009 world 10,000m champion while the eldest of the 10 Masai kids, Moses Masai, was the 10,000m bronze medalist at those same championships in Berlin. Another brother, Dennis Masai, won the 2010 World Junior Championships in Moncton, New Brunswick. A younger brother, Alex Masai, is currently running for Hofstra University in New York State.

It’s not difficult to see where her influences came from as she grew up in the Rift Valley of western Kenya where the altitude is roughly 2,500m above sea level.

“We moved a lot,” she says of her upbringing. “I was born in Mt. Elgon forest. After some point we moved to Kapsogom. Currently my parents are in Trans Nzoia district.

“I met Jake in Iten because my sister Linet was staying in Iten. I had come to start training in Iten as well and was staying with her.”

Robertson and his twin brother, Zane, had arrived in Kenya as teenagers fresh out of high school. Their intention was to live and train like the Kenyan runners they admired. He and Magdalyne fell in love and, after a six-year relationship, he famously proposed at the finish line of the 2017 Great North Run. Moments before, he had finished second to Olympic champion Mo Farah and Magdalyne finished fourth in the elite women’s race.

“So far in my training not only am I looking at time but also how I am feeling,” she explains. “Mostly I judge myself when we do long intervals on the roads. We run 4km at about 3:30 (per kilometre) pace. Then for one kilometre easier at 4:00 pace. We do that five times. If I finish that feeling like I can continue that’s when I know I am feeling good and ready to go." 

Magdalyne Masai may not have the fastest time among the elite women who will toe the line on 20 October, but she certainly will be prepared to run with the leaders. And nobody could be prouder than Jake Robertson if she achieves her goal of a top three finish.

Kenya´s Benson Kipruto will Defend his Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Title in October

"If I can defend my Toronto Marathon title it will be very good for me and for my marathon career," he declares with a smile. He remembers well the joy his 2:07:24 performance brought him and the festivities which followed upon his return to Kenya.

"I started the celebration at the (Eldoret) airport with my family, my friends and my training mates and also my coach," he recalls of the celebration which included drinking fermented milk called Mursik in the Kalenjin warriors’ tradition. "We extended the celebration to my camp. We feasted on some goats with my friends and training mates.

"This year I would like to run my personal best in Toronto. Hopefully, if the weather will be good and also, if the pacemakers do a good job, I am hoping to run maybe 2:06 and maybe try to run a course record."

Kipruto’s best is 2:07:11 set in finishing third at the 2018 Seoul Marathon and he also ran 2:07:21 at the 2017 Gongju Dong-A Marathon in Korea. With three recent 2:07 results he is clearly on the verge of another major breakthrough which could see him tackle the current Toronto course record held by his compatriot Philemon Rono (2:06:52 in 2017).

Asked what his greatest impression from last year’s five day visit to Toronto was he is quick to credit the organizers.

"The people I met, they are friendly like the first one, Alan Brookes the Race Director, he is very friendly," he reveals. "The course itself is good. And also, I think the weather that day was not so good."

Last year runners awakened to temperatures hovering near freezing point and also encountered a strong headwind coming off Lake Ontario. Still, winning this IAAF Gold Label race caught the attention of the world’s marathon running aficionados.

"I would say it opened doors to my future," Kipruto explains. "I was invited to the 2019 Boston Marathon because of Toronto. So my name has grown. (Toronto) was my first victory.

"Boston was a good performance for me; I managed to finish, first of all. I was injured during the race."

Kipruto’s feet were badly blistered during the race. But his coach Claudio Berardelli offers another explanation saying that he pushed Kipruto perhaps too much over the final three weeks of his preparation and so he was also over-trained. Ultimately, he finished a respectable 10th in 2:09:53 within two minutes of the winner Lawrence Cherono, also from Kenya.

Performing at this level has paid dividends for Kipruto. First place in Toronto earns CAD $30,000 while a course record is worth another CAD $40,000. In a country where the per capita income is less than $2,000 it is a lucrative business. He sees it as an investment for the future.

Though he was born in the village of Tolilet he recently bought some land 40 kilometres away in Kapsabet and moved his wife and one-year old daughter, who is called Princess Camille Chemutai, to the place.

Now his family is nearer to the training camp where he resides during the week and where he trains with such elite athletes as Amos Kipruto (2:05:43 personal best), Vincent Kipchumba (2:06:56), Solomon Yego (2:06:23) and Barselius Kipyego (2:07:57). He goes home on weekends.

Kinsey Middleton and Malindi Elmore are both seeking a spot on Canada's Olympic marathon team going to Tokyo

Kinsey Middleton and Malindi Elmore both ran their first marathons in the last nine months, Middleton becoming Canadian champion at Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon last year, and Elmore making a strong debut at Houston in January.

Though they are at very different points in their lives and careers, their times were almost identical (2:32:09 and 2:32:15), and both are now chasing a spot on Canada’s Olympic team in the marathon. Middleton and Elmore will contest the Canadian Marathon Championships (which double as the Canadian Olympic marathon trials) at Scotiabank on October 20.

Middleton, 26, claims to have learned a lot from her first marathon. A native of Boise, Idaho, which is at 800m altitude and surrounded by mountains (she has dual citizenship, since her mother is Canadian), Middleton has relatively easy access to higher altitudes for training purposes.

She says she may plan to surpass the 190K peak weekly mileage she reached during last summer’s build, with the goal of getting even faster.

Malindi Elmore 39, represented Canada at the 2004 Olympics, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 2011 Pan Am Games, then became a triathlete for a while before returning to running. She has two children, and is in the midst of a comeback after retiring from her career as a 1,500m runner seven years ago–a comeback that surprises even her.

“I didn’t see this coming at all,” Elmore told us last month after her third-place finish at the Vancouver Sun Run. “I didn’t even think this was possible a year ago. I started running for fun and then the marathon went really well along with my 10K and half training. I’m feeling fresh again.”

Middleton and Elmore went two and three at this year’s Vancouver Sun Run, behind Canadian 10K and 10,000m champion Natasha Wodak.

Two of Canada's fastest-ever marathoners Cam Levins and Reid Coolsaet are going to battle it out at this year's Edmonton lululemon 10K

Natasha Wodak, Cameron Levins and Reid Coolsaet are leading the field for the 2019 Edmonton lululemon 10K. The three Olympians and previous lululemon 10K winners will line up against a strong elite field in the sold out event.

The 2019 race sold out in a record time of 10 hours and will host 7,000 runners.

Wodak is on a tear this season. The B.C native has won five races in 2019 alone and come away with two Canadian championship titles. Wodak has been named to the World Championship team for the 10,000m following a huge run at Payton Jordan in early May where she hit world standard and narrowly missed her own Canadian record, and a win at the Canadian 10,000m trials in June.

Coolsaet had a slightly later start to his 2019 season following a setback in training which meant he wouldn’t be prepared for the Hamburg Marathon where he initially intended to open his season. He instead ran his spring marathon in Ottawa, 10 years after debuting on the same course. Following Ottawa, he’s lining up for the Edmonton 10K and will race Canadian marathon record holder Levins.

Levins had to withdraw from the London Marathon earlier this spring due to injury, but he’s back in good form and using a series of summer races to gear up for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon this October. At STWM Levins hopes to lower his own Canadian record.

He told Canada Running Series, “My training since [the Toronto lululemon 10K] has been great. It has taken a step forward and I think there is a tendency to do that once you get your first race out of the way.”

Race race goes at 7:30 a.m. on July 7 starting at the Alberta Provincial Legislature.

Cam Levins will return to the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon to defend his national title and hopefully lower his own Canadian marathon record

On Sunday, October 21, 2018, Levins broke a record that had stood for many more years than he’d been alive. Levins crossed the line in his marathon debut in 2:09:25, 44 seconds ahead of the record set 43 years ago by Jerome Drayton.

Levins had hoped to take another stab at the marathon in London this year, but was sidelined due to injury. Since withdrawing from the London Marathon, Levins has gotten healthy and announced his fall marathon will take place in Toronto.

Levins told journalist Paul Gains, “I was thrilled with how I performed, and I will probably remember crossing the finish line there for the rest of my life. It’s exciting to go back to a race where I now know the entire course.

I also feel like I know what to expect. I may not feel the same as I did last year, but if I can go and have a similar experience, I will be happy.”

As an added bonus, the 2019 STWM is also the Canadian Marathon Championships, and therefore, an Olympic qualifier. The first Canadian male and female finishers will receive automatic pre-selection for the Tokyo Olympic marathon next August, provided they achieve the 2:11:30 (male) and 2:29:30 (female) standards.

If they do not go under those standards on October 20th, a place will still be held open for them until May 31, 2020 to allow them to attain the standard. Anyone else hoping to represent Canada in the marathon in Tokyo will have to wait until June 1, 2020 before selections are announced, so the Toronto Championship race offers a huge incentive.

Ottawa's John Halvorsen directed his last Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon last Sunday, and was inducted into the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame

A week after his final stint as race director of the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon, Run Ottawa president John Halvorsen was inducted into the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame on Friday evening.

Halvorsen, along with a number of other prominent figures in the sporting life of the nation’s capital, became one of the more than 250 Hall of Fame inductees at a ceremony and dinner at Lansdowne Park’s Horticultural Building.

An Ottawa resident since his early teens, when his family moved there with the Norwegian Embassy, Halvorsen had a stellar running career, winning the Canadian university cross-country championships four times and the Canadian senior men’s title twice, competing at the World Cross Country Championships eight times, winning multiple Canadian 10K (road) championships and making it to the final of the 10,000m for Norway at both the 1988 and 1992 Olympics.

The first time Halvorsen won the Ottawa 10K, in 1988 (he would go on to win three more times), he set a course record of 28:12, which stood for 21 years, until it was finally broken by Ethiopia’s Deriba Merga in 2009, lowering it to 27:24.

A graduate of the University of Ottawa in both mechanical engineering and its MBA program, Halvorsen worked in Ottawa’s high-tech sector for 18 years while raising a family with his wife Susan, and running the not-for-profit Run Ottawa for several years on a volunteer basis before it became a full-time gig in 2013.

Over his 20-year tenure as race director, Halvorsen has shepherded the growth of the Ottawa race weekend event from a relatively modest affair involving 10,000 athletes to the biggest running event in Canada, with 40,000 participants and not one, but two IAAF Gold Label designations (for the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon and the Ottawa 10K).

Halvorsen was in good company on Friday evening, with a number of fellow inductees being honoured in similar fashion, including Glashan Public School coach Rick Desclouds, wheelchair athlete Chantal Benoit, retired Ottawa Senators defenceman Chris Phillips, and the 1968 and 1969 Ottawa Rough Riders.

Canadians Catrin Jones and Calum Neff head to Comrades Marathon

Catrin Jones and Calum Neff, two of Canada’s strongest ultrarunners, are heading to South Africa this week to tackle the 94th running of South Africa’s most famous and historic ultramarathon, the Comrades, next Saturday, June 8.

Neff ran it for the first time last year, finishing in 31st position overall, in 6:08:06. Jones will be racing Comrades for the first time.

Jones is a veteran of the BC trail and road scenes who has eased back into racing since having her daughter, Elodie, who is now two.

“I’ve been wanting to go for years and thought about it many times,” says Jones, inspired by her friend, the much-decorated ultrarunner Ellie Greenwood, who won Comrades in 2014.

Jones won last year’s Squamish 50K and Whistler 30K, and finished third at the 2018 BMO Vancouver Marathon.

Neff holds the Guinness World Record for fastest marathon while pushing a stroller (2:21:22), set with his daughter Alessandra at the 2016 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

(Neff also held the half-marathon stroller record for a time, but his 1:11:27 from 2016 was eclipsed in 2017.) Neff is from Ontario but lives and trains in Houston, Texas.

Albert Korir was the surprise winner of the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon on Sunday

Korir and Ethiopia’s Aberu Kuma, who has a personal best of 2:05:50, were running side by side after dropping Ethiopia’s Tsedet Ayana, Kenya’s Martin Kosgey and Ethiopia’s Adugna Takele when Kuma came to a complete stop at the water station. Seizing the opportunity, the tall Kenyan took off and quickly opened up an insurmountable gap.

Kuma eventually finished second in 2:08:14 with Ayana completing the podium with 2:08:53.

“This is a great achievement. It is a dream,” said the winner. “Kuma is a strong guy, I didn’t know I would beat him. But at 40km I saw he somehow stopped so I made a move to go.

“It’s a dream. I was hoping to improve my personal best; I didn’t know that I could improve. The weather was good and the course is flat, good. The first half was hard (1:03:35) but when the pacemakers went out, the pace went down.”

This was the second victory this year for Korir. He was the Houston winner in January and now, understandably, he has huge ambitions.

“I have to improve my athletics career,” he offered, “at least win a World Major and have a better time, 2:04 or 2:03.”

If Kuma was disappointed, he masked it well. With a stellar career to date, he had been the favourite to win the race.

“At 35km I didn’t take any water and so I knew I must drink water at 40km,” he explained in English. “I take water – the guy’s gone. That’s my problem. “The weather really affected my running.”

The women’s race resulted in another Ethiopian victory – the 10th consecutive time – with the ever improving Tigist Girma dropping her compatriots Bethelhem Moges and Etaferahu Temesgen at 28km. She and one of the elite women’s pacemakers opened up a gap and many observers wondered if she had moved too early.

Girma was full of confidence and ran across the line in a personal best of 2:26:34, throwing her arms up in the air in joyful celebration. She earned herself CDN$30,000.

“I was extremely ready for this race,” Girma declared. “I tried my best. Because I was all alone, I couldn’t push because the weather was not good so that’s why the time is slow. I really had good preparation.

Rachel Hannah and Reid Coolsaet are Canadian headliners for Ottawa Marathon this weekend

Last year’s Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon saw a new female Canadian All-Comers record set at 2:22:17 and the field for the 2019 event could rival that of 2018.

Shuko Gemeno, Abeba-Tekula Gebremeskel and Tigist Girma all have personal bests under 2:27:00 and all have recent wins under their belts. The three Ethiopian women could work together to being each other to new personal bests and challenge the Canadian All-Comers and course record.

The Canadian women’s contingent includes 2:32 marathoner Rachel Hannah, Dayna Pidhoresky and Anne-Marie Comeau. Hannah and Pidhoresky are no strangers to the distance, but Sunday will be Comeau’s debut. The 22-year-old winter Olympian has been dominant on the roads for several years and we’re excited to see what she can do over 42.2K.

In the men’s field, Abera Kuma of Ethiopia has run under 2:06 twice, most recently 2:05:50 at the 2018 Rotterdam Marathon. Joining Kuma is Adugna Takele who was third in Ottawa a year ago, and ran a huge personal best in February at 2:06:32. The fastest man in the field is Getu Feleke at 2:04:50. Kenyan Martin Kosgey is also racing with an incoming time of 2:06:41.

The dark horse in the field is 23-year-old Ayana Tsede who comes in with a recent win at the 2019 Seville Marathon and a new personal best of 2:06:36.

Reid Coolsaet leads the Canadian men on his 10 year anniversary since his debut marathon. “I’m going to try to run as fast as I can on the Ottawa course, which will hopefully give me a solid placing and some points to help with my world ranking.

I’m realistically aiming for a 2:13 on the weekend.” The world championships in Doha this fall are also on Coolsaet’s radar. “Worlds would actually be a great setup for the Olympics. If you finish well at worlds the points could qualify you for Tokyo. It will be very hot in Doha, which will be good training for Tokyo as well.”

Coolsaet is coming off his longest altitude stint yet. “Boulder was really great. I got good training in and I had great people to train with. My son liked it too–any time we did some technical mountain climbing he got really into it.”

80-year-old Denis McKee is set to run his fourth 5K at Tamarack in Ottawa

80 years old, McKee will be running the 5K at the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend on Saturday at 4 p.m.

“It’s good for you, but it’s hard work … I think there’s a payoff. I’m still here, that’s one thing,” McKee said. “I feel good about it after I’ve done it. I’m tired … but I feel like I’ve accomplished something.”

Exercise was reintroduced to his life after he got into a car accident in 2013.  Luckily, he could turn to his daughters, Heather McKee and Nancy Fay, for some motivation.

“I felt I had to do something to get training because of the pain … I saw Heather, who started (running half marathons) in her early 40s … and my other daughter, Nancy, has been trekking … the Himalayas, the Andes,” McKee said. “I guess they inspired me.”

In 2016, he tried exercising again. Currently, he heads to the gym for an hour most mornings. He hits the treadmill and does some other leg-strengthening exercises.

“I do it because it feels OK for me. I don’t train so much for races. I just do the exercise. Racing is the cream on the pie,” he said. Though this year’s Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend won’t be his first run, it’s his first since turning 80.

In October 2017, he ran his first 5K during the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. McKee said he was nervous at the time.

“I was embarrassed to be there. (I’m) tall and skinny and (didn’t feel) like (I was) in the greatest condition. (I) expected to see a whole bunch of real jocks,” he said.

All McKee wanted to do was finish, and he did. “I was quite arrogant. I was pleased with myself,” he said. “It was an amazing experience to see the people, all ages, sizes, shapes and conditions, getting out there.”

Next, he ran the 5K in last year’s Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend, then followed that up by running his third 5K back at Toronto’s Waterfront in 2018.

Tirfi Tsegaye was ranked amongst the world’s greatest marathoners is now returning from maternity leave to run the Ottawa Marathon

Three years ago, and prior to giving birth to a baby boy, Tirfi Tsegaye was ranked amongst the world’s greatest marathoners with some incredible performances. Now, after gradually returning to training, the Ethiopian Olympic runner makes her first start at the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon, May 26th since the arrival of young Tilember Miresa.

Tsegaye, 34, ran the world-leading time of 2:19:41 in January 2016 in Dubai – her personal best time – then three months later finished 2nd in the Boston Marathon. At the Rio Olympics, she missed the podium by 17 seconds finishing 4th in 2:24:47. It was quite a year, indeed.

As if these credentials aren’t impressive enough, consider she also won the both the Tokyo and Berlin Marathons in 2014 and finished 3rd in London. Few athletes have made the podium in one World Marathon Major let alone four.

“Training is going good,” Tsegaye says from her home in Addis Ababa. “But, I’m not like how I was before. It’s been a little different for me coming back but still training. I’ve missed it a lot. I’ve even missed the training more than the actual competitions. I’m pretty excited about the Ottawa marathon.”

Under coach Gemedu Dedefo she has slowly regained her form and counts such stalwarts as Shure Demise, a two-time Toronto winner, and Alia Mohammed, 2018 Ottawa 10k champion amongst her training partners.

During her maternity leave, she split with her husband and is combining motherhood and marathon training, which would cause concern but for the fact she is such a disciplined and highly experienced athlete.

“It’s tough but I manage,” she admits. “I have a nanny and she helps me out with the baby and other errands. When I come back from training I get exhausted, so, it’s really nice to have some help around the house.

“Pregnancy takes a lot from you and the time I had off was really therapeutic. I feel like I’ve recovered enough for now.”

Tirfi grew up in the town of Bekoji, 220 kilometres south of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. Bekoji was immortalized in a documentary “Town of Runners” as an unusually large number of Olympic champions have ‘graduated’ from the training of local coach Sentayehu Eshetu. These include Kenenisa Bekele, Tirunesh Dibaba and Derartu Tulu.

“Growing up in Bekoji was an inspiration in itself,” she admits. “Tulu was a major inspiration for me since we were one of the same. My coach was Sentayehu Eshetu at the time when I was in Bekoji. I moved to Addis in 2008.”

“Yeah, Derartu, Haile (Gebrselassie), Kenenisa and others have inspired me to try and push myself and be my best. I fell in love with their work and dedication when I saw them on television.”

As her impressive curriculum vitae suggests, Tirfi places high expectations upon herself even for this comeback race. Although predicting marathon performances is a difficult proposition at the best of times, it is unlikely she, or coach Gemedu, would confirm her entry unless she was going to be ready. Still, there is that element of the unknown.

Her Italian manager, Gianni DeMadonna, has made her aware that the course record of 2:22:17 was set by her compatriot Gelete Burka last year but for the moment that is secondary to having a successful return.  Victory would bring her $30,000 CDN and the course record is worth an additional $10,000 CDN. That is also a significant factor.

“Ottawa is a big deal for me now because I need to get back to my winning form,” she stresses. “I have big expectations for Ottawa and I will try and do my level best.

“I figure it’s going to be a little hard for me to beat the record set by Gelete last year. But, I think if I try my best I believe that it is beatable. I’m not familiar with the course or the climate. And I have not yet talked with any other athletes about the Ottawa race. But, soon I hope.”

Should she cross the finish line first she would be the tenth consecutive Ethiopian woman to emerge triumphant in this IAAF Gold Label race. There are, without a doubt, plenty of resources then for her to approach when it comes time to seeking advice on how to run the Ottawa course.

Ethiopia’s Abera Kuma just might be the most talented runner in the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon this year

The 28-year-old has twice bettered 2:06 in his career, most recently when finishing second at the 2018 Rotterdam Marathon in a PB of 2:05:50. The other occasion was at the 2014 Berlin Marathon where Kuma finished third in 2:05:56 in the race in which Kenya’s Dennis Kimetto set a world record of 2:02:57, which has since been broken by Eliud Kipchoge.

In between those two races, Kuma has made his mark across the globe. Now he sets his sights on racing in the Canadian capital.

“I want to win and I want to run fast,” he said. “I hope the conditions will be kind to me. Yes, (the course record is a target) though it all depends on the conditions.”

Compatriot Yemane Tsegay set that record (2:06:54) in 2014.

Kuma’s performance in Rotterdam was all the more startling since he had run, and finished, Japan’s Lake Biwa Marathon (2:09:31) just 35 days earlier – hardly the ideal preparation for a world-class marathon.

“At Lake Biwa I did not feel well and had a bad day at the office,” he explains. “I felt like I ran at 95% without being able to give more than that. After finishing I still felt strong and very disappointed about the race. I needed to take revenge quickly and the gamble paid off.”

Kuma has a level of confidence matching his ability. Unlike many of today’s marathon runners, he took up road racing after a successful career on the track. Twice he represented Ethiopia at the IAAF World Championships, finishing fifth in the 5000m in 2011 and fifth in the 10,000m in 2013. With 5000m and 10,000m personal bests of 13:00.15 and 26:52.85, he has basic speed matched by very few road racers.

“I had a short track career but always wanted to go to the road fairly quickly,” he says. “Track has helped me to be a stronger road runner, though.

“I like the endurance that belongs to road running and marathons. Running is fun to do and I enjoy it, but it is also my job. In marathon running the financial aspect is important.”

The lucrative prize money in road racing, coupled with the fact there is a limited number of track races with decent prize money, has seen many young East African athletes go straight to the roads. First place in Ottawa is worth CDN$30,000 with another CDN$10,000 on offer for a course record.

As Kuma says, running is his job. And, he is happy to share his experience with younger up-and-coming Ethiopian runners, many of whom are part of the training group under coach Tessema Abshero, who himself was a 2:08 marathon runner.

“I would advise others to run track but I also know that it is not easy to do that as the track races are scarce these days,” Kuma says.

Training is going well currently he says, despite a mediocre performance at the Mumbai Marathon in January when he finished seventh in 2:13:10.

“I am preparing really well and my last test (a half marathon in Spain where he ran 1:00:41) was good,” he says. “Now I am finalising the endurance part to bounce back strongly after a disappointing race in Mumbai. The conditions in Mumbai were very difficult (heat, air quality) and the course was tough. I was with the lead group for a long part of the way but suffered a lot in the last seven kilometres.

Kuma has a marathon personal best of 2:04:24. There are others of similar quality among Kuma’s training partners. Most significantly, all of this training is done at altitudes of at least 2600m. It’s hard work but with a group sharing the load and the drudgery it is normal. Down time is used to relax and recover and wait for the next workout.

The Canadian record-holder Cam Levins has withdrawn from the London Marathon due to an injury

Canadian marathon record-holder Cam Levins announced on Tuesday evening that he is out for the 2019 London Marathon, due to an injury. 

Levins told Athletics Illustrated that he’s dealing with what he believes to be patellar tendinitis, which has prevented him from training properly since the New York Half-Marathon on March 17. 

Levins was heading into London hoping to break his own Canadian record of 2:09:25 set in October 2018 at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. There he became the first Canadian to ever go under 2:10 for the marathon.

The London men’s and women’s fields are historically deep. The men’s race will feature world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge, half-marathon world record-holder Abraham Kiptum, Olympic gold medallist (in the 5,000m and 10,000m) Sir Mo Farah, and 2018 London Marathon second-place finisher Shura Kitata. 

Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon will serve as a Canada auto-qualifier for the Olympics

Athletics Canada announced that the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon will serve as an automatic qualifier for the 2020 Olympic Canadian marathon team. 

The first Canadian man and woman across the line, provided that they have met Athletics Canada’s standard in the event, will be named to the Olympic team. While Olympic standard hasn’t been released yet, the 2019 world championship standard is 2:37 for women and 2:16 for men. 

This will be a huge draw for elite Canadian runners, and make the race within the race very interesting. The only potential issue is that the world championship marathon is only days apart from STWM, and therefore impossible for a runner to compete in both events.

Canadian marathoner Reid Coolsaet discussed the drawbacks and exciting aspects of this decision. Also, someone like Cam Levins, who should easily qualify for Tokyo may want to race Worlds in Doha (both STWM and Doha are in October). What would prepare Cam better for the Tokyo Olympics?

Another paced marathon in cool temps (he’s running London this April) or, running a championship race in hot conditions? (Tokyo is forecasted to be very hot) Otherwise Tokyo will be his first championship marathon and probably his first hot marathon.

Coolsaet jokes that he’s simply trying to convince Levins to run Doha. The past three Olympic marathon teams have been named based on time alone, taking the fastest of the runners who achieved Athletics Canada’s named standard. Creating one auto-qualifier position means that a runner who hasn’t necessarily run the fastest time, or maybe even in the top five best times, could win and make an Olympic team because they raced well on that given day. But maybe this is okay? 

Sara Hall will join women´s Elite 2019 Boston Marathon Field

Sara Hall and reported yesterday Jordan Hasay will join defending champions Desiree Linden and Tatyana McFadden on the starting line of the 123rd Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15, part of the event's elite women American field.

John Hancock, the financial services company which manages and bankrolls the race's top athletes on behalf of the Boston Athletic Association, reported earlier today that Hasay and Hall would be part of a 29-athlete elite American field.

"American distance running has never been stronger, and we're honored to support this talented U.S. elite team to showcase their dedication and passion for being the best of class," said John Hancock chief marketing officer Barbara Goose.

"With defending champions Des Linden and Tatyana McFadden leading the way, all runners are sure to persevere in the world's most historic race. We'll be cheering for everyone on Patriots' Day."

Hasay, 27, whose 2:23:00 marathon debut in Boston in 2017 remains the fastest-ever by an American woman, also signed up for the 2018 edition of the race but was unable to start due to a stress reaction in her heel.

She had backed up her Boston performance with a 2:20:57 in Chicago in October, 2017, but has not run a marathon since. Hasay was the 2017 USA 15-K and 20-K road running champion.

Hall, 35, was the 2017 USA marathon champion and is the only American athlete in history with national road racing titles from the mile to the marathon. She ran a personal best 2:26:20 at the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon last May, but dropped out of the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon last October after running 25 kilometers with a "tweaked" peroneal, according to her official Twitter account.

Rick Rayman marks 40 years of running every day, and he’s planning his next marathon, the Miami Marathon

Yesterday in Toronto, Rick Rayman, 72, marked 40 years of running every day. He celebrated with his friend Steve DeBoer, 64, of Rochester, Minn., who travelled to Toronto to mark the occasion with him, with–what else?–a short run. Both men occupy high positions on the Streak Runners International site–Rayman is #2 on the international list, and DeBoer, 64, who has a 47.5-year streak going, is #3 on the US list. 

(Rayman is considerably ahead of the next person on the international list, Tyler Brett Forkes, who is also Canadian, and whose streak is at 27.9 years.)

Rayman’s streak began in 1978, but not with any real intention behind it. Then his friend Brian Williams, at the time a sportscaster with CBC television, commented on the air one evening that his friend Rick Rayman had run every day for 278 days. 

”That’s what made me think, why don’t I keep going?” says Rayman, who is Director of Student Life at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Dentistry, and still teaches three days a week. So what constitutes a streak? How far do you actually have to run every day for it to count?

According to the streak site, the answer is one mile. Rayman’s personal standard slightly higher: 30 minutes minimum. But he often runs for an hour or more, and longer on weekends.

More impressive than that is the fact that he has run every edition of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, which celebrated 29 years this year–and that was Rayman’s 365th marathon. (And his 13th in 2018 alone.)

“I remember when there were only 600 runners, and it finished at the Flatiron building,” says Rayman. He’s planning his next marathon, the Miami Marathon. Rayman tells us that many streakers plan when to end their streaks, so they aren’t forced to stop due to injury. Not him.

“I plan to run until I can’t any more.”

Gene Dykes is currently the world's top 70 Plus runner - My Best Runs Exclusive Profile Part One

Gene Dykes is the world's best runner in the world currently seventy plus. "One of my 'secret' training methods for marathons is to run a lot of ultras," Gene told My Best Runs in this exclusive profile.

"I’ll begin training for Boston in January, and to kick it off I’ll run a 50-miler in January and both a 100-miler and a 200-miler in February. During March I’ll convert that training base into marathon speed." 

Sounds wild and unconventional but it has been working for 70-year-old Gene Dykes from Philadelphia..."It was thought by many of us that Canada's Ed Whitlock's records were way beyond reach," says lifelong runner and Runner's World and My Best Runs founder Bob Anderson. 

"At age 73 Ed became the first 70 plus runner in the world to run the marathon under three hours."  In 2004 73-year-old Ed Whitlock clocked an amazing 2:54:48 at the Scotiabank Tornonto Waterfront Marathon. 

No one ever had run a marathon that fast 70 plus. The late Ed Whitlock was in a league of his own until now.  At the same marathon this year on October 21, 70-year-old Gene Dykes clocked 2:55:18. 

My Best Runs wanted to find out more about this new super star, a runner who has set PR's at all distances (other than the 5k) over the last year from 1500m to 200 miles. How did Gene discover running? 

"It’s probably more accurate to say that I discovered running twice," said Gene. "The first time, when I was about fourteen, it just kind of popped into my head to run three miles to the house of a girl I was interested in.  After about a mile and a half, I had to walk for a bit.  I was really disgusted with myself, and I swore I would never again resort to walking on a run. 

"I actually kept this promise, until I started doing trail races, of course, where there are lots of good reasons to walk now and then." 

After this he ran track in high school for a couple of years. "In my senior year I thought I was pretty good when I dominated the 2-mile run in my county.  That notion was quickly dispelled when I ran track in college and I was totally blown away by the competition.  For the next four decades, I would stay in jogging shape much of the time, but it never occurred to me to race because it had been firmly impressed upon me that I wasn’t a very good runner," Gene remembers. 

He rediscovered running in 2004 at the age of 56 after a six year layoff because of a torn hamstring... "A golfing acquaintance told me he had a running group and that I should join him sometime.  A classic case of falling in with a bad crowd.  They encouraged me to run some races with them, and discovering that I wasn’t half bad, my running career was born," Gene told us. 

So how important is running to Gene?  "It started out as an activity I looked forward to on weekends, and it slowly took over as my main hobby.  Probably starting around 2011 when I ran my first adventure race and started training for Comrades (56-mile race in South Africa) it became way more than just a hobby.  While it will never quite reach the point of being 'all-consuming.' I suppose you would be forgiven for thinking that, considering that I’ll have done 38 races in 34 weekends this year." 

The obvious next question was, tell us about your training.  "For about nine years I just stumbled my way through training.  I did lots of long, slow runs with occasional track workouts.  I gradually improved, and I was having a lot of fun, but I was worried that my best days were behind me when I fell miserably short of a new marathon PR at the 2013 Toronto Marathon. 

"Swallowing my pride and opening my wallet, I hired a coach.  What a life changing decision that was!  In just five months I went from a half decent runner with modest goals to a runner capable of competing at the highest levels. Training now consists of fewer miles, but harder workouts and fewer rest days," says Gene. 

He has set PR's in the last 12 months from 200 miles down to the 1500m.  He clocked 98 hours, 10 minutes 22 seconds for 200 miles, 23:41:22 for 100 miles, 1:26:34 for the half marathon and 5:17 for 1500m. 

In 2018 he won ten USATF national championships. His 2:57:43 clocked at this year's Rotterdam Marathon was a world single age record until he bettered it in Toronto.  

Gene says, "I’m particularly fond of having won championships at both track 1500 meters and trail 100 mile this year.”  In part two Gene talks about his diet, going after more records, dealing with injuries and a lot more.  Coming tomorrow October 29 on My Best Runs.          

70-year-old Gene Dykes has been named USATF Athlete of the Week

Gene Dykes from Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania set an American masters 70-74 record in the marathon to earn USATF Athlete of the Week.

Dykes, 70, won the 70-74 age group in the WMA Marathon Championships at the Scotiabank Toronto Marathon, running 2:55:18 to take more than two minutes off his own American record. He was also only 30 seconds off the world 70-74 best, set by Canadian legend Ed Whitlock. Dykes and Whitlock are the only two men over 70 to have broken three hours in the marathon. 

Gene wrote this on FB before the race, "On Sunday I will be running the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, and the big goal is to beat one of the most revered marathon records on the books - Ed Whitlock's M70-74 age group record of 2:54:48, which he ran in 2004 at the ripe old age of 73. 

If all goes well, it will probably be a nail-biter. I've been training hard for about eight weeks and training has gone well."