Neighbourhood Challenge >> Spectator Viewing Guide
Spectator Viewing Guide (2007)
Live Results on Race Day
Get LIVE results on race day from Sportstats. Split times posted online as they happen — follow the progression of your favourite runner!
Live Coverage on the Day: Television & Internet
Starting 7:00am Sunday September 30th: "live" television coverage:
Television:
on CBC Country Canada (CBC's digital channel) for 4 hours.
For a list of cable channels for CBC Country Canada see:
www.cbccountrycanada.ca/CountryCanada.pdf
and www.cbccountrycanada.ca.
Internet:
Television feed on internet broadband for 5 hours at www.cbc.ca/sports/.
Also see CBC's guide to STWM at www.cbc.ca/sports/amateur/marathon/.
After race weekend:
"Highlights" program on CBC main national network, Saturday afternoon, October 6th, for 2 hours, 4pm to 6pm: click here for schedule.
Times to Watch for in 2007…
- 2:09:55 — fastest marathon ever run on Canadian soil [Montreal 1976]
- 2:10:15 — men's course record at Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront [2006]
- 2:15:00 — IAAF "A" standard needed for men's qualification for Beijing Olympics
- 2:20:00 — standard required to make USA Olympic Trials to be run in NYC, November 3rd
- 2:26:01 — fastest women's time ever on Canadian soil [Edmonton 2001]
- 2:30:00 — international-class mark of prestige for women
- 2:34:32 — current STWM course record for women [2006]
- 2:52:15 — Guinness World Record for "Joggling" a marathon, held by Zach Warren
- 3:10:00 — Boston qualifying time for Men 18-34 yrs
- 3:40:00 — Boston qualifying time for Women 18-34 yrs
- 7:00:00 — STWM course officially closes to all runners
Elites at a Glance
MEN Number Hometown PR [year]
Daniel Rono 1 Eldoret, Kenya 2:10:15 [2006]*
John Kelai 2 Kenya 2:09:09 [2006]
David Maiyo 3 Eldoret, Kenya 2:10:19 [2007]
Joseph Mutiso 5 Kenya 2:10:34 [2007]
Simon Wangai 4 Kenya 2:10:35 [2006]
Henry Kapkyai 6 Kaptagat, Kenya 2:10:43 [2006]
Simon Njoroge Late scratch: injured
Feyissa Tusse 8 Bekoji, Ethiopia 2:11:39 [2007]
Kasime Adilo 9 Ethiopia 2:12:02 [2005]
Danny Kassap 10 Toronto [DRC] 2:14:50 [2004]
Jorge Rivera 12 Team Mexico 2:19:20 [2006]
Hugo Romero 14 Team Mexico 2:21:40 [2006]
Ryan Day 15 Team Canada [Kitimat, BC] 2:19:55 [2005]
Jerry Ziak 16 Team Canada [Vancouver, BC] Debut
Adrian Marriott 17 Team GB [Yeovil] 2:20:30 [2006]
Neil Renault 18 Team GB [Nottingham] 2:23:42 [2007]
Scott Winton 19 New Zealand 2:17:01 [2005]
Gobin Condor 20 Peru 2:21:07 [2007]
Constantino Leon 21 Peru 2:24:29 [2007]
Paulino Canchanya 22 Peru 2:26:31 [2005]
Jhon William Quispe 23 Peru Debut
David Karanja 24 Kenya 2:17:01 [2007]
Ben Gailey 25 New Mexico, USA 2:24:32 [1997]
Jason Saitta 26 Colorado, USA 2:26:27 [2007]
Tom Rhodes 27 Pennsylvania, USA Debut
Mark Newman 28 Tennessee, USA 2:19:31 [1995]
Edilberto Méndez 29 Mexico 2:16:17 [2006]
Hernández
Jason Chrichton 30 Burlington, ON Debut
Stephen Koech 40 Kenya Pace
Tewdros Shiferaw 41 Ethiopia Pace
Simon Tonui 42 Kenya Pace
Hashim Roba 43 Ethiopia Pace
Reuben Chebii 44 Kenya Pace
*STWM Course Record
WOMEN Number Hometown PR [year]
Malgorzata Sobanska F1 Poznan, Poland 2:26:08 [2001]
Alevtina Biktimirova F2 Cheboksary, Russia 2:25:12 [2005]
Asha Gigi F3 Arsi, Ethiopia 2:26:05 [2004]
Merima Denboba F4 Arsi, Ethiopia 2:32:54 [2007]
Svetlana Pretot F6 France 2:32:50 [2007]
Claudia Camargo F7 Argentina 2:35:04 [2006]
Lisa Harvey F10 Team Canada [Calgary, AB] 2:48:56 [2007]
Jenny Clague F12 Team GB 2:36:10 [2006]
Alice Braham F14 Team GB 2:40:36 [2006]
Alicia Rodriguez F15 Team Mexico 2:36:16 [2004]
Araceli Juarez F16 Team Mexico 2:51:52 [2006]
Melissa Gacek F17 Minnesota, USA 2:47:59 [2007]
Ariana Quino Salazar F18 Mexico 2:39:17 [2007]
Janelle Morisson F20 Team Canada [Fort St. John, BC] 2:54:24 [2007]
Liz Maguire F21 Osgoode, ON 2:53:43 [2007]
Michelle Schuler F22 Ottawa, ON 2:56:13 [2005]
Josiane Aboungono F23 Gabon
Ariana Quino Salazar F24 Mexico 2:39:16 [2006]
Cathy Mutwa F40 Kenya pace
Banuelia Katesigwa F41 Tanzania pace
THE MEN'S RACE — 2:09:55
Can Daniel Rono beat the magic time and run the fastest marathon ever on Canadian soil?
That will be the main question on race-day this year. For 31 years the time of 2:09:55 has stood as the Canadian All-comers record for men, since East German Waldemar Cierpinski won the 1976 Olympics in Montreal with that performance.
Daniel Rono. Eldoret, Kenya. Age: 28 yrs. Our returning champion and course record holder with the 2:10:15 PR he ran here last September—a fabulous, world-class time that was an agonizing 20 seconds shy of the mark! His 2:10:15 on the Waterfront got Daniel a position on the Start line in Paris this April—35,000 participants and a whole new level of competition, going up against the likes of Mubarak Shami, Gashaw Melese and Julio Rey. On a warm morning, the pacemakers took the lead pack through halfway in 1:02:50, 14 seconds faster than Paul Tergat's pace during his World record run of 2:04:55 four years ago! Daniel ran an impressive 2:10:38 for 3rd place. On September 30th, he'll be leading the charge of the "hungry young men" lining-up to break the 2:10 mark, and claim the $20,000 cash bonus from Scotiabank for a new Canadian All-comers record.
John Kelai. Kenya. Age: 30 yrs. The only guy on the start line to have experienced the rarified air of a sub 2:10 finish, when he placed 4th at Eindhoven in 2:09:09 last October; he may be the man to watch for. Previous wins in Singapore and Brussels, and at Mumbai in January '07 where his 2:12:27 in hot, humid conditions was good enough to beat Gashaw Malese—the same 2:07 man who was 2nd in Paris in April ahead of Rono.
David Maiyo. Eldoret, Kenya. Age: 30 yrs. Ran his PR of 2:10:19 at Treviso, Italy in March this year.
Joseph Mutiso. Tala, Kenya. Age: 34 yrs. Trains with star veteran, Jimmy Muindi, and ran his PR of 2:10:34 in Dubai in January.
Simon Wangai. Kenya. Age: 28 yrs. Ran 2:10:35 in placing 3rd at LA last year and was the winner of the Country Music Marathon this Spring. He followed that up with an impressive 7th place finish at the 50,000-participant Peachtree 10k on July 4th. Has competed with the best at New York City Marathon the past 2 autumns, and is looking to crack that 2:10 mark with a fast one in T.O.
Henry Kapkyai. Kaptagat, Kenya. Age: 24 yrs. Won the Caracovia Marathon in 2004 and the Graz, Austria Marathon in '05. Ran 2:10:43 at Turin last September for his PR.
Feyisa Tusse. Ethiopia. Age: 24 yrs. The 2006 winner of the Country Music Marathon, Feyisa won Houston in January '07 in his best time of 2:11:39.
Kasime Adilo. Ethiopia. Age: 28 yrs. Ran 2:12:26 at Frankfurt last Fall, and his PR of 2:12:02 in Reims, France in 2005.
This lead pack will have 5 good quality pacemakers, who will try to get as many as possible to 30k around 1:32, comfortable, and as relaxed as possible. After that, it's "every man for himself". And on any given day, any one of them could win, and finally eclipse that magic 2:09:55! A sub 2:10 would also give Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront membership in a very special club of top-flight international marathons.
See related stories:
- Sep 24/07: Can the Peruvians and Kiwi Scott Winton run sub 2:15 and book their tickets to Beijing and create an Olympic Dream?
- Sep 19/07: Can Danny Kassap revive his Cinderella story?
- Sep 17/07: Competitive Team Canada announced for International Team Challenge at Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon; and the prospect of even better things to come!
- Sep 12/07: Ethiopian athletes doing some of their final training for Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on the forest trails at Sululta outside Addis; what drives them?
- Sep 4/07: Simon Njoroge builds a new "Canadian" house in Nyahururu
- Sep 4/07: Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon announces rest of Men's Start List
- Aug 7/07: Mexican Runners to the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon
THE WOMEN'S RACE — 2:34:32 or 2:30 or 2:26:01?
That's the question being asked of returning champion Malgorzata Sobanska and the women's field.
Can we get a new course record of sub 2:34:32, to better the time set last September by our returning champion, Malgorzata Sobanska of Poland? Or can we get a sub 2:30 for women this year? If 2:10 is the magic time for men, then 2:30 certainly carries a similar mystique for women. Only 77 women in the world broke that mark in 2006; just 41 have done so, so far this year. In a regular Canadian marathon, it's happened just once—in Ottawa, with Lioudmila Kortchguina's winning time of 2:29:41 in May 2006. That's it. But may we dare to dream? The fastest women's time ever run on Canadian soil was Lidia Simon's 2:26:01, which the Romanian notched in winning the IAAF World Championship Marathon when it was held in Edmonton in 2001. Scotiabank are offering another $20,000 cash bonus for the athlete who can set a new "Canadian All comers" women's mark.
Malgorzata Sobanska. Poznan, Poland. A veteran at 38 yrs. She's had a prolific marathon career that has encompassed a win at London in 1995 [2:27:43], a 2nd place finish at Boston in 2001 [2:26:42], and a 4th at the 1995 World Championships. She recalls her 2001 Boston as one of the highlights of her fine career, where she led the pack for 14 miles before eventually finishing second to Catherine "The Great" Ndereba. She also finished 11th at the 2000 Olympics, and has placed in the top four of the Berlin Marathon three times, and the top eight at the Tokyo Women's Marathon four times. Second at Prague Marathon this Spring, in 2:35:02.
Alevtina Biktimirova. Cheboksary, Russia, 800km east of Moscow on the Volga River. An up and coming star at just 25 yrs. Second at Ottawa in 2004 in 2:32:15. She then burst onto the world scene with a 2:25:12 in Frankfurt in October 2005, and followed up with a 6th place finish at Boston '06 in 2:26:58.
Asha Gigi. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. At 34 yrs, Asha is an experienced, top-flight marathoner. She was 4th at Paris on a warm morning this Spring with an impressive 2:29:11 and has a PR of 2:26:05 that she also ran in Paris, in 2004. Asha is also running as a champion for the Ethiopian Association in Toronto and their youth tutoring program.
Merima Denboba. Addis Ababas, Ethiopia. Merima has had an illustrious track and Cross Country career, including representing Ethiopia 11 times at the World XC Championships; at 33 years old she is trying to move up to the marathon…. She has run fast on the track [15:05.8 for 5000m and 31:32.63 for 10000m]; and also has a very quick Half Marathon of 69:36! She tried the marathon in the Spring of 2005 in Milan for the first time and didn't have a good time [2:43]. She then came back strong and ran 2:32 in both Lahore in January and Hamburg in April this year. She seems to be getting the hang of the 42km distance. Once she does, who knows how fast she can go?!
Svetlana Pretot. A former Russian now married and living in France. She is coming off a very strong performance, and a huge breakthrough at the hot 'n hilly Rock 'n Roll Marathon in San Diego in June, where she ran 2:32:50 to take 2nd and shock a bunch of more experienced Africans.
Claudia Camargo. Argentina. 36 yrs. A strong South American athlete who recently represented her country at the Pan American Games in Rio. With a PR of 2:35:04, Claudia will be looking to be in the thick of things and get closer to that magic 2:30 mark with Svetlana and Malgorzata. She also hopes to represent her country in Beijing, but maybe at the 5000m or 10000m.
Will it be sub 2:34:32, or sub 2:30 or sub 2:26:01 for the women this year? Records look sure to fall in what is truly an international field!
See related stories:
- Sep 25/07: Interview with Malgorzata Sobanska, course record holder (2:34:32) and returning women's champion to Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon 2007
- Sep 17/07: Competitive Team Canada announced for International Team Challenge at Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon; and the prospect of even better things to come!
- Sep 12/07: Ethiopian athletes doing some of their final training for Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on the forest trails at Sululta outside Addis; what drives them?
- Sep 10/07: Scotiabank announces $20,000 cash bonus for Women's Canadian All-comers record: Biktimirova and Gigi confirmed to join Sobanska
- Aug 7/07: Mexican Runners to the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon
What is a Marathon?
- A “marathon” is a footrace of an exact specific distance: 26 miles 385 yards, or 42.195 kilometres in metric. All recognized “marathons” have to be measured by IAAF certified measurers on bicycles with special “Jones counters”. The Boston Marathon, the London Marathon, the Paris Marathon, are ALL this precise distance. It took 16 hours to accurately measure the Waterfront course!
- 42.195 kms, eh? To put that in perspective, that's like running from Toronto's City Hall at Nathan Phillips Square to the Ford Plant in Oakville, or to Milton, or well past Aurora almost to Newmarket, or to Victoria Park in Whitby. And Daniel, Simon and the lead guys will be averaging 20 km/h the whole way! Alevtina, Asha, Malgorzata and the lead women will average 17 km/h, and Scott Winton and the Peruvians will have to do 18.75 km/h if they want a ticket to Beijing.
- How did the marathon get to be such a quirky distance? It began with the legend from Greek antiquity, where in 490BC the messenger Pheidippides reportedly ran from the battlefield at Marathon to Athens [approx. 35km] to give news of the Greek victory over the Persians. The modern marathon was begun in the 1890s as a footrace of any long distance—sort of like a “marathon session”. At the 1896 Olympics in Athens the marathon was 24.85 miles. The first Boston Marathon was run on April 19, 1897, over a distance of 24.5 miles. At the 1908 Olympics in London, the royal family wanted the marathon to start on the grounds at Windsor Castle where the royal children could watch, and to finish right under the royal box at the White City Stadium. That distance was 26 miles 385 yards, and by the 1920s marathons had become standardized and fixed at that distance. 42.195 kilometres—blame the extra two miles on the kids!
- The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront marathon was begun in 1990 as a Half marathon [21.1km] with an accompanying 5km run/walk. The Half was won the first two years by American legend Joan Benoit Samuelson, who had won the first-ever Olympic marathon for women in 1984. In 2000, a full marathon of 42.195 km was added on the flat, fast, Lakeshore Boulevard route.
- On September 30th, there will be a Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon [42.195k], plus Half [21.1] and 5K events, with 12,000+ participants from every Canadian province and territory, 40+ American states and 30+ countries worldwide. International numbers are up over 20% from last year, including over 800 Americans, 200+ Brits and 125+ Mexican runners plus their families.
- A marathon is not just a run for over 400,000 people a year in North America and many more worldwide: the marathon is a life experience! According to London Marathon CEO, Nick Bitel, “the marathon has become THE life experience of the everyday person in our era”.
- The marathon is a chance for travel and a festival, a signature event that showcases a city to the world. The world's largest marathon, the New York City Marathon with over 37,000 finishers has an annual economic impact on the big apple of US$188 million [2005 event]; in Chicago and Honolulu it's around US$80 to $100 million. Even as a relatively new marathon on the international scene, Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon will have an estimated economic impact on more than C$15 million this year. And covering 42km of real estate, viewers will see all of Toronto's Waterfront—the good, the bad and the ugly!
- A marathon gives many folks a chance to give back to the communities they live in and run through. On September 30th, around 2,000 of the runners will be going the distance for 51 charities in the Scotiabank Charity Challenge. Combined, they'll raise C$750,000 for local charities like the Fort York Food Bank, the Mon Sheong Foundation for Seniors or the Assaulted Women's Helpline. Many of these are small, local charities for whom this is a huge weekend. The London Marathon, “the world's greatest race” annually raises more than $90 million in one weekend! These monies mean that a marathon is not just about a bunch of nutters running around the city in their underwear one Sunday morning—it's something that has a year-round impact, funding and building awareness for important grass-roots programs.
Local chapter of Polish Runners Club excited to help host Malgorzata Sobanska and run STWM'07 with her (or just a little bit behind!)
Polish immigrants to Toronto, Aneta Osmola and Jolanta Sedzik have formed a local chapter of the Polish Runners Club, that has its headquarters in New York. Seen here at the Beaches Jazz Tune Up Run, Aneta and Jola have invited all their fellow club members from New York and Philly and all their Polish neighbours in Roncesvalles village to come out on September 30th. Come join them at the Parkdale/Roncesvalles Neighbourhood Cheering & Entertainment centre—it's just over the footbridge at the intersection of Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street.
- Sep 25/07: Interview with Malgorzata Sobanska, course record holder (2:34:32) and returning women's champion to Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon 2007 by Aneta Osmola and Jolanta Sedzik
Ethiopians everywhere at STWM!
Wherever you go at major world marathons—at Boston, New York or London—you see them everywhere. Boisterous, happy, joyful crowds of Ethiopians abroad, decked out in national colours and waving their green, yellow and red flags, roaring encouragement to their "champions" from home. And now the show has come to STWM, a sure sign the event has graduated onto the world-scene and become a true festival of running. "Who are all those kids in green shirts? They're everywhere!" asked Jim Tobin, Scotiabank's Director of Marketing, on race-day last year.
This year, the 75 children from the Ethiopian Associaton of Canada in Toronto will be out again in force in the Scotiabank Schools Challenge, and they'll be joined by Association President Dr. Busha, hundreds of parents and fans, cheering them on, and yelling encouragement to Ethiopian elites Asha Gigi and Merima Denboba [among the favourites in the women's marathon], and Feyissa Tusse and Kasime Adilo [among frontrunners in the men's race]. Asha and Merima, both now living in Addis, have also agreed to run as champions for CapAIDS, a small Canadian charity raising funds at this year's event to support their relief work in Ethiopia, and for a fund to support youth programmes at the Ethiopian Association in Toronto. This year is also a special year for Ethiopians: they celebrated their country's third millennium on September 12th. Join the party as it continues on Toronto's Waterfront on September 30th!