The elite start list for the 2026 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon is now live! The professional field, which also contests the Canadian Marathon Championships, is set for Sunday, October 18. Read on to see who’s racing.
By Paul Gains
Once again the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon (October 18, 2026), a World Athletics Elite Label race, will serve as the official Athletics Canada Canadian Marathon Championships.
Not only are Canadian marathoners drawn to the $8,000 CDN winners’ prize but precious World Athletics points are up for grabs which can help when it comes to qualification for next year’s World Athletics Championships in Beijing.
Rachel Hannah is the defending Canadian women’s champion having finished 6th overall a year ago at Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2:33:47, her fastest time in a decade. She recorded her personal best 2:32:09 at the 2016 Houston Marathon and claimed the Pan Am Games bronze medal later that same year.
At the age of 40 the Port Elgin, Ontario resident provides inspiration to younger women as she continues to manage training volumes of up to 180km a week and remains competitive. Eight months ago she finished 4th at the Vancouver Half Marathon finishing a little over a minute behind Dayna Pidhoresky in a race won by Natasha Wodak, the Canadian marathon record holder.
Pidhoresky, of Vancouver, returns to Toronto Waterfront. It was here that she secured a place on Canada’s 2020 Tokyo Olympic team when she won in 2019 recording a personal best of 2:29:03 on the day. A month away from her 40th birthday she believes she is still capable of a personal best but winning another title is of paramount importance.
The winner of the 2022, 2023 and 2024 Vancouver Marathon earlier this year she also won the McKirdy MicroOTQ Marathon in Congers New York Marathon in 2:31:24. Her consistency makes her a favourite.
Making their debuts in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon are a pair of women deserving attention. Cleo Boyd, 33, a former standout at the University of Virginia finished 3rd in the 2026 Canadian 10k championships then finished 4th at the Pittsburgh Half Marathon just three weeks later. Her time in the latter race was 1:12:26, a personal best and a good indicator this Kingston, Ontario native will be in the hunt for the medals.
The youngest of these challengers is Florence Caron, 25, who hails from the town of La Malbaie, Quebec. A year ago she graduated from Penn State University after finishing a credible 14th in the 2025 NCAA cross country championships for the Nittany Lions. Now she has signed with HOKA and training with Northern Arizona Elite in Flagstaff, Arizona. The move has paid dividends already.
Caron won the 2026 Canadian 10k championships in Ottawa by 44 seconds and represented Canada at the World Road Running Championships where she ran a personal best half marathon of 1:11:03. She will be accompanied by her husband Olivier Desmeules, also a Penn State graduate, one of the official pacers.
The men’s championship race is expected to be an equally competitive battle. On paper Thomas Broatch (2:10:35) and Tristan Woodfine (2:10:39) ranked 10th and 11th respectively on the list of Canadian all-time performers are favourites. Both had planned to run in Toronto Waterfront a year ago but serious health issues forced them to withdraw.
Broatch, was crowned 2023 Canadian champion at Toronto Waterfront while finishing a credible 6th place overall. That race was his marathon debut. The native Vancouverite had a suspected case of appendicitis two weeks before the 2025 Toronto Waterfront which landed him in hospital for four days. Now, in good health, a podium finish is his goal as the 27-year-old has successfully fought to regain prime fitness.
In the summer of 2025, Woodfine suffered a tick bite and was diagnosed with Lyme disease. Fortunately, he was quickly diagnosed but it still meant taking a few weeks off which cost him a place at Toronto Waterfront. In August of this year he and his wife welcomed their daughter, Wren, into the world and it took him a couple of weeks to get back into a consistent training schedule. But he is confident of being competitive with the top Canadians.
Lee Wesseiius, a full-time large animal veterinarian in Eastern Ontario, recorded his best time of 2:13:52 while finishing 9th overall in the 2024 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon. He claimed the Canadian championship silver medal on that day. A year ago he finished second at the Vancouver Half Marathon in 64:28 just eleven seconds off his personal best showing he can successfully balance a full-time work schedule with marathon training. He is expected to be a medal contender.
Another medical scratch from a year ago was John Gay who had planned to make his marathon debut here in Toronto. A 2021 Olympic finalist in the 3,000m steeplechase he ran 2:14:16 in the Ottawa Marathon this past May. Now he says he wants to ‘swing for the fences’ and produce a great performance. A native of Kelowna, BC. He raised his mileage to roughly 200 kilometres a week in preparation for Toronto.
Among several debutants Vancouver’s 25-year-old Andrew Davies is most deserving of attention. A year ago he beat Lee Wesselius by more than a minute to win the Vancouver Half Marathon in 63:05. He also won the 2024 Royal Victoria Half Marathon in 63:19 which was his debut at that distance. His move to the roads is fairly recent. In fact he competed in the 1,500m at the 2024 Canadian Athletics Championships.
The two Canadian Championship elite fields will prove compelling viewing within this World Athletics Elite Label race.
By Paul Gains
Once again the chance of winning a national championship has lured top Canadians to the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon which is both a World Athletics Elite Label race and the Athletics Canada National Marathon Championship.
The latest addition is Tristan Woodfine, 33, for whom a podium finish would highlight a stellar running career.
Two years ago Woodfine ran a personal best 2:10:39 to finish 6th in the Houston Marathon which puts him 11th on the list of all-time Canadian performers. But he feels he has a personal best in his near future. Whether that comes in Toronto on October 18 or not remains to be seen but after some setbacks the past couple of years he believes he is finally on track for a strong performance.
“[Training] has been going well. It was little hit and miss in early August,” he reveals. “We just welcomed our daughter, Wren, into the world August 3rd, so those first couple of weeks after she was born were a little crazy. But once we got used to a routine things picked up. The last couple of weeks I have had some strong workouts and I am feeling comfortable going into Toronto.
“I am confident I can go out and compete with the other Canadian guys who will be on the start line and kind of make that my goal. I am not too concerned with time. Mostly, I want to get out there and race some people!”
Woodfine and his wife Madeline also bought their first house a year ago in a rural area roughly twenty minutes outside Eganville, Ontario. But life has a way of keeping one honest. Along with a series of injuries, which prevented him from getting fully fit, in the summer of 2025 he suddenly developed fever and aches and pains.
“I had that a couple of days then my wife was like ‘you have this weird rash on the back of your knee.’ It had that circular bullseye shape to it,” he remembers of what turned out to be Lyme disease caused by a tick bite. “So I went to the doctor and got antibiotics. It took a while to get over it.”
That illness was followed by a diagnosis of an inguinal hernia which a doctor said would require surgery. He was told to limit exercise. Obviously concerned, he decided to book a consultation with the renowned Shouldice Hernia Hospital in Thornhill, Ontario just north of Toronto. Their diagnosis was that it was not a hernia after all. Woodfine laughs as he recounts his bad luck before adding “I have had a stretch now where nothing has gone wrong and I am really looking forward to Toronto!”
Although he completed his paramedic studies at the Ontario Health and Technology College he has put the brakes on a career in that field to focus on his running. Perhaps, he will choose to do that in the future but for now he wants to explore every part of his running potential.
“I haven’t thought about it too much yet but training with night shifts are pretty hard to make work if you want to run fast,” he concedes with a laugh. “So it’s on hold for now. I guess when I am done with my competitive running career that is something I will potentially look at.”
Besides sharing parenting duties with Madeline and training for the marathon he earns an income as a personal trainer.
“That has been growing steadily over the years that has been the main thing and then some odd jobs stuff here and there I have maybe 15 or so (clients) now,” says Woodfine.
“I don’t know if I would use the term lucrative. But I love it and enjoy it. Helping other people achieve their goals, it’s kind of nice to pass along some of the wisdom and help people to not make the mistakes I have made.”
Living in a rural area of Eastern Ontario means he does all his training on his own. He estimates he is covering roughly 170km a week. Despite his knowledge and experience, since the summer of 2025, he has been coached by John Davis an American coach with a PhD in Human Performance. Woodfine defines him as being ‘very Renato Canova inspired’ in reference to the famous Italian who coached many athletes to Olympic medal podiums.
Woodfine made his marathon ‘debut’ at the 2015 Rotterdam Marathon as three of his Speed River Track Club training partners were competing. Two-time Olympian, Reid Coolsaet, was one of them. It was not a serious attempt and he finished in 2:27:55. He waited three years to do another one.
Since then Woodfine has run London twice – he was 14th in 2020 with a time of 2:10:51 – though he prefers the comforts of racing nearer to home. For that reason Toronto Waterfront Marathon remains a favourite event.
Woodfine faces a strong Canadian field at the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon which includes both Thomas Broatch, who is ranked just ahead of him on the all-time Canadian list with a best of 2:10:35, and Olympic steeplechaser turned marathoner John Gay. The battle for the gold promises to be fierce and a potential highlight of this year’s event.
By Paul Gains
All marathoners face adversity in one form or another but Thomas Broatch has had more than his share. Yet, he returns to the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon October 18th aiming for a place on the Canadian Championship podium.
Once again, the race doubles as a World Athletics Elite Label race and the official Athletics Canada Canadian Championships.
“I will have to see who shows up but I definitely want to get on the podium,” says the 27-year-old Vancouver naive. “It’s a pretty small Canadian road racing community and I race against the same people a lot of times; a bit of extra motivation to beat them on race day. That’s why I like coming back to Toronto – you get a lot of familiar faces.
“I think if I could run around 2:12 that would be a pretty good result. I don’t know exactly who is in the field – I have a rough idea – if I can get in 2:12 or 2:13 shape I will be competitive; enough to go out with the top Canadians and be competitive. That’s the most important thing.”
In his marathon debut he claimed the 2023 Canadian Championship title finishing a solid 6th place overall at Toronto Waterfront. But it was his personal best recorded at the 2025 Houston Marathon which truly signaled his potential on the world stage.
Finishing 8th overall he ran 2:10:35 which makes him the tenth fastest Canadian of all time over the classic distance.
A year ago he was confirmed to race Toronto Waterfront again but just two weeks before the race he found himself in a Vancouver hospital with suspected appendicitis.
“I was in hospital for four days in total,” he explains. “Basically, there was something revealed in the CT scan near my appendix. They didn’t know what it was. They didn’t want to do surgery. The upshot was that I was just in hospital for four days with antibiotics. I still had to have a few more hospital visits, one colonoscopy and then a few follow-up visits.”
In December 2025, once he was feeling comfortable again, and had regained a semblance of fitness, he ran 2:13:43 at The Marathon Project in Chandler, Arizona. Things were looking up but then came a disappointing result in Ottawa earlier this year where he struggled home in 18th place 2:19:00 – his worst marathon performance.
“I went out at 2:12 pace,” he remembers, “And I knew going into it I was not in great shape but I thought I could still run in the 2:12 – 2:14 range which I would have been pretty happy with considering it was a challenging course.
“It was kind of the classic story, you don’t have the fitness then at 30k you crumble and limp your way home.”
These days he is back training as much as 190 kilometres in a week in preparation for TCS Toronto Waterfront. A graduate of the University of British Columbia he is still coached by Vancouver Thunderbirds’ coach, Chris Johnson, and, after training most of the summer alone, he is enjoying the company of club mates who have returned to Vancouver.
“I think in the last few weeks I have been on the right trajectory,” he says. “I still have (four) weeks to go. I am doing the Eastside 10k (September 27) which I have done the last four years. It’s kind of my ‘go to’ race before Toronto Waterfront to see where I am at.
“I think if I can run a solid result on that course then that would give me a lot of confidence with three weeks to continue fitness. The last two or three weeks I have got some good momentum going.”
Broatch has worked these past four years as a software developer for a Vancouver-based clean energy company called CLIR. He goes into the office a couple of times a week but mostly works from home.
On weekends he sometimes plays golf but much of his spare time is spent reading mystery novels or magazines at his local library. His ‘go-to’ magazine list includes a wide array of interests ranging from ‘National Geographic’ to ‘The Economist’. Earlier in the summer he moved apartments within the Kitsilano area and there is a library right next door.
A strong Canadian field is expected, as always, with $8,000 CDN awarded the national champions as well as World Athletics points which are useful in qualifying for World Championships and Olympics. Broatch is due for some good fortune.
By Paul Gains
Maritu Ketema knocked four minutes off her personal best time when she last raced a marathon. The Ethiopian star believes she is capable of another massive improvement which she hopes will take her to victory at the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 18th.
In Dubai this past February she recorded a time of 2:21:52 crossing the line in 5th place. The Toronto Waterfront course record is 2:20:44 and was set by her compatriot, Waganesh Mekasha, in 2024.
“My training has been going very well,” she reports. “I feel that my condition and fitness are much better now than when I was preparing for Dubai. The hard work makes me very proud.”
Maritu trains in a large group under the watchful eye of renowned coach Gemedu Dedefo. It is a talented team of men and women that she meets up with several times a week in training sites in an around Addis Ababa including Sendafa and Sululta.
Among the women’s group are notable athletes such as Tigst Assefa, who holds the world record in a women’s only marathon race, and three-time Toronto Waterfront winner Shure Demise. The latter won here last year and also in 2015 and 2016.
Success emanates from this group and Maritu is one of the newer beneficiaries. But her career wasn’t always headed toward elite marathon running.
As a junior athlete she competed in the 3,000m steeplechase and at the age of 17 years she ran in the Hengelo FBK Games (Netherlands) where she ran a solid time of 9:39.55. To put things in perspective that time would rank her in the top ten Canadians all-time.
Later that same year she took the silver medal at the 2017 African Under 20 Championships, again in the 3,000m steeplechase. It appeared she was going to become a world-class steeplechaser especially after invitations to compete in the Diamond League meetings in Rabat, Morocco (2017) and in Shanghai (2018). But, instead, she endured two years of injuries during which she did not compete.
“I had problems with my leg and back,” she explains. “So I decided to move to the marathon because I felt it would be better for me.”
Her debut came at the Malaga Marathon (Spain) where she finished 5th in 2:29:51. Then in 2023 she took 2nd place in a marathon held in Suzhou (China). It is her Dubai result though which has unnerved her rivals as she is now a contender in every race in which she competes.
Maritu grew up in Holeta a town thirty-five kilometres west of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. “My family are farmers,” she reveals. “I have been living and training in Addis Ababa for eight years.”
The TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon is again a World Athletics Elite Label race and offers CAD$25,000 to the winner. Both the men’s and women’s fields will be extremely competitive and Maritu expects her best performance.
“My goal is to run a good race and achieve a personal best,” she declares. “If the conditions are good, I believe I can run around 2:18:40.”
By Paul Gains
Gizealew Ayana returns to the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon October 18 aiming to win this World Athletics Elite Label Race.
It is the Ethiopian’s second visit to Canada’s largest city and he hopes for a successful competition – a redemption of sorts. Two years ago he finished 6th here – a performance that fell far below his expectations since he had won the Paris Marathon a year earlier.
“After half way, when the surges started I was struggling but I did my best to finish the race,” he remembers of that day in Toronto. Racing along Lake Ontario’s waterfront again is something he relishes and he says his goal is to take home the winner’s prize of $25,000 CDN.
His objective is certainly attainable. Earlier this year he lowered his personal best to 2:06:48 while finishing 5th in Dubai. He went on to finish second at the Ottawa Marathon in May just four seconds behind the winner, Elvis Cheboi of Kenya. Cheboi was the 2023 Toronto Waterfront winner.
Training under coach Nigatu Worku is progressing well, says Gizealew, as he is covering roughly 180 to 200 kilometres a week – at altitudes of between 2300m and 2500m. Among his training group is his elder brother Tsedat Abeje and two past Toronto Waterfront champions, Mulugeta Uma, the 2024 winner, and Yihunilign Adane who triumphed in 2022. This group certainly has an affinity to Toronto.
Remarkably, Gizealew is just 23 years old. He will be accompanied to Toronto by a strong contingent of his compatriots including the previously announced Ayinadis Teshome. She is attempting to win the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon women’s title. Ayinadis is also a member of Nigatu Worku’s training group managed by Moyo Sports.
Asked if he enjoyed Toronto on his first visit to Canada Gizealew replies “Yes of course. Toronto is beautiful,” he says, adding “I met (Ethiopian journalist) Bizuayehu Wagaw; he was there and did everything to make us (Ethiopians) comfortable.”
Bizuayehu now makes Toronto his home and reports on African athletes from here and in Europe. Over the years it has been helpful for the Ethiopian athletes to have Amharic speaking members of the Toronto community show them their customary hospitality.
Gizealew grew up hearing the numerous successes of Haile Gebrselassie, the former world record holder, and for a short time, also did some training with Kenenisa Bekele, a three-time Olympic gold medalist. But watching his older brother Tsedat have success in road racing was perhaps the greatest motivation for the young man.
There is seven years between Tsedat and himself but he is slowly narrowing the gap performance-wise. Tsedat ran 2:05:47 in Hamburg in April.
Six years ago Gizealew decided a move to Addis was necessary if he was serious about his running. He rents a room in the Ethiopian capital and relies on his brother to drive him to the training sessions which are normally outside the city. The pair also have a younger sister, Tigist Ayana, who runs 5k and 10k races.
A victory at Toronto Waterfront will not be easy. The field also includes defending champion, Leonard Langat of Kenya. But Gizealew has confidence that he can prevail. And he also looks to the future with ambition.
“Yes I am young and I want to represent Ethiopia in the World Championships and Olympics and want to run fast times,” he replies.
A victory at the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon would mean so much to his fortunes and would announce his quality to the Ethiopia Athletics Federation. The $25,000 CDN prize would also be useful.
By Paul Gains
Kristian Jamieson is on a mission to beat the time his great, great-grandfather ran at the Boston Marathon. This might bear little relevance were it not for the fact that he is chasing the standard set by the legendary runner Tom Longboat.
Longboat, a member of the Onondaga First Nation, won the 1907 Boston Marathon in 2:24:24 and was widely considered the world’s best long-distance runner of that era. Jamieson hopes to realize his dream of beating his time at the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 18th.
Attending elementary school on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario – where Longboat also lived and died – Jamieson first learned about the heroics of Longboat. As a child he was unimpressed but, as he matured, he realized the enormity of his ancestor’s achievements.
“Running a 2:24, in Boston, that is the pinnacle of racing for a long-distance runner,” Jamieson says. “Boston is one of the most famous courses in the world, a very difficult course – Heartbreak Hill the Newton Hills. I was fascinated.
“I think it came down to a kid wanting a role model to look up to. I was like ‘wow, someone in my family lineage who was a phenomenal athlete, loved by Canada and the world. Maybe some of those genetics are in me.’ Once I got a little piece of that, like, treasure I wanted to dig it out.”
Jamieson is a member of the Upper Cayuga First Nation one of the Six Nations which make up the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Several of its members will be running TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon alongside a contingent of the famous Raramuri from Chihuahua, Mexico in what Canada Running Series is calling ‘The Friendship Project’.
The Six Nations are also comprised of clans and he proudly acknowledges he is also member of the Wolf clan. Although he says he is not obsessed with the wolf he does admire the species.
“I kind of like the wolf,” he adds. “It’s a predator, they hunt, they move around, they are fast runners, they are tenacious. I have a husky and a lot of people said our husky looks part wolf. When I think of my Wolf clan I kind of think of my dog.”
During his childhood Jamieson’s family moved about southern Ontario finally settling in Niagara Falls. Like many Canadians his focus as a child was hockey. He played for his high school team and, after graduating from Brock University with a Bachelor of Biomedical Science degree, he continued playing intramural hockey at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry in London, Ontario. He is currently in his final year of studies.
The team takes on the University of Toronto Dentistry team for an annual charity event and he excitedly points out that, during his first year, they finally ended a lengthy losing streak to their rivals. Then came the impact of Covid.
Running for fitness and to relieve boredom was initially his motivation as ‘stay at home’ restrictions took place. Hockey was cast aside. “I was running more seriously,” he explains. “I was not going to risk getting injured playing these games. Third year, I stopped playing to focus totally on running!”
Although he made his marathon debut in 2023 with a modest 3 hours 13 minutes performance his pursuit of Longboat’s time became a full on commitment after he finished 3rd at the 2025 Niagara Falls International Marathon with a time of 2:39:23. That easily qualified him for this year’s Boston Marathon. There he improved his time to 2:34:02. Five weeks later he lowered his personal best to 2:31:25 in Ottawa.
“When I was in Ottawa people were asking me ‘are you going to try and run 2:24 here?” he recalls smiling. “I said ‘oh no.’ I had to tell them, ‘How do you think I am going to go from 2:34 to 2:24, I am barely recovered from Boston?’
“I ran a 2:31:25 and Ottawa was a hard race. The highs and lows of marathon running I had never experienced before. When I was in Boston it was all a high. There were maybe one or two moments that were scary but other than that it was smooth sailing.”
Jamieson was encouraged to learn that Kenya’s Beatrice Cheserek knocked almost nine minutes off her personal best after debuting in Toronto Waterfront Marathon a year ago. Cheserek with a personal best of 2:21:56, will also run this year’s Toronto Waterfront. He would welcome a similar improvement.
Meeting elite runners in Ottawa including Canadian Olympians Rory Linkletter and John Gay, (the latter confirmed to run in Toronto Waterfront), as well as several Kenyan stars he says was inspirational. And, their willingness to offer advice further increased his commitment to his dream. But he also gives credit to renowned marathon coach Rick Mannen, who has written training programs for him since the spring. Mannen guided Krista DuChene to a 3rd place finish at the 2018 Boston Marathon and also to a berth at the Rio Olympics.
“It is nice to see a young person like him so connected to his great, great-grandfather’s legacy and using it as a catalyst to chase his dreams while honouring Tom Longboat,” Mannen says. “I feel very honoured to be coaching him.”
The summer break from school allowed Jamieson to raise his training volume sometimes up to 200 kilometres a week and to get to a gym regularly for strength training. Between sessions he watched YouTube videos of distance runners to learn about their lifestyle. Most importantly he had the time to sleep. It is not that way now that his final year of studies has begun.
“It’s difficult. That is what I am going to miss the most,” he laments. “In the summer I could sleep in and recover. Some of my workouts are two hours long. With school I don’t have as much time.
“(During school) I was waking up at 4:00 a.m. or 4:25 a.m. then starting my run anywhere from 4:30 am. to 5:00 am. I would wake up and then start running.”
With his dream to beat Tom Longboat’s Boston time now well recorded in the media – and amongst the patients he sees at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry – the attention he has received could be stifling.
“Do I feel any pressure? Honestly, I don’t feel any pressure,” he responds. “Running is something I love to do. It’s a passion it makes me feel alive knowing that I have a goal and every day matters. I am trying to get one step closer to achieving this time. It’s given me so much purpose.
“2:24 is just the beginning. Once I hit 2:24 I am looking to go sub 2:20 and seeing how far I can push myself. I am in it for the long term.”
By Paul Gains
Leonard Langat arrived in Toronto for last year’s TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon largely unheralded. But after winning this World Athletics Elite Label race he left with both the respect of his competitors and the $25,000 CDN first place prize money to his credit.
The 30-year-old Kenyan will defend his title on October 18.
A year ago his winning time of 2:08:04 had been hampered by uncharacteristically strong winds coming off Lake Ontario but the fact he beat athletes with much faster personal best times was an indication of his potential. Indeed, at the 2026 Cape Town Marathon this May he finished 4th in a new personal best of 2:05:26.
“About last year, I was happy because I ran well. I am happy to come back to Toronto,” he says while sitting alongside his coach, Josphat Bett, following a training session. “I loved the city of Toronto. I loved the beauty and the people I met there.
“I want to improve my time and try to win the race again. I will try to defend my title because the training (this year), we have improved, and increased the mileage.”
The Toronto Waterfront Marathon course record of 2:05:00 was set in 2019 by his countryman Philemon Rono. It seems natural to draw a line between his personal best and that record. Could he beat Rono’s time on the streets of Canada’s biggest city?
“If the weather is good that day I will try to improve my personal best,” is all he will allow – apparently not wanting get ahead of himself.
Langat is represented by Volare Sports Management, a Dutch based firm specializing in distance running. He trains with a group of about twenty athletes under coach Josphat Bett’s program in the town of Keringet. Another large Volare group which includes athletes such as Fanny Kiprotich (who will also run this year’s Toronto Waterfront), the 2026 Vienna Marathon winner, is based in Iten the ‘Home of Champions’ three and a half hours away.
Bett was himself a world class runner with a personal best of 26:48.99 for the 10,000m and also took home the 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medal in that event. He remembers being approached by Langat when the latter keenly observed Bett and his training partners running past his village.
“I am a runner and he was interested in running,” Bett remembers with a smile. “He loved the way we were training and he asked ‘How can I start to run?’. So I gave him a training program to start. Now it has been about ten years.”
With money earned from running Langat has begun preparing for life after his running career comes to an end. He and his wife, Sharon Chesang, have two children, 4-year-old Emmanuel Kipkoech and
a 2-year-old daughter Dorcas Chebet. Although Volare has a camp where many of the athletes live during the week he prefers to go home after training sessions.
“I want to be a farmer for cattle, a dairy farmer,” he explains. “I bought five acres of land and I have five cows.”
A successful title defence would mean increased financial stability for his family’s future. There is also a bonus of $10,000 CDN for breaking the course record. Although he seems hesitant to talk about the record he’d be a good bet to dip below 2:05:00 under the right conditions.
“In Cape Town after 40km, after taking water, I lost the steps of the leading group,” he admits.
Clearly the race video supports his contention as he slowed to grab a bottle while the other three contenders opened up a gap. Ethiopia’s Mohamed Esa won that race in 2:04:55 with the 2022 TCS Toronto Waterfront champion, Yihunilign Adane, second in 2:04:59. What might have been is not something he dwells upon.
Defending a title is never easy. Langat can no longer slip under the radar as his performances have been watched around the world. His TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon victory, alone, had 140,000+ views last year in 75 countries. And he will face a strong field including his compatriot Noah Kipkemboi who finished in second place just 24 seconds behind him last year.
But Langat’s confidence will be high making for compelling battle along the streets of Toronto.
By Paul Gains
Ethiopian women have made their mark on the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon winning seven of the past ten editions. Now, Ayinadis Teshome will line up October 18 intent on extending her country’s record at this World Athletics Elite Label race.
“I have heard so much about the Toronto Waterfront Marathon because my training partners have won and been on the podium in the past,” says the 23-year-old from her home in the capital, Addis Ababa. “Now it is my turn to get on the podium too. I can’t wait to come to Canada.”
Ayinadis trains with a group of athletes managed by Moyo Sports and the 2022 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon champion, Yihunelighn Adane, is among them in this Asics sponsored group.
“Yihunelign Adane told me about the Toronto marathon and I watched the race as well at home on YouTube,” she reveals.
A former training partner, Waganesh Mekasha, set the course record of 2:20:44 in 2024 and this is very much on Ayinadis’s mind.
“My training is going as planned; I am doing really well,” Ayinadis reveals. “Yes, of course I can run much faster on flat, fast courses.”
Earlier this year she finished 6th in the Seoul Marathon in a new personal best of 2:20:51. Clearly, that performance has given her confidence of being on the podium and also challenging the Toronto Waterfront course record.
Ayinadis comes from Dega Damon, Gojjam in Ethiopia’s Amhara region. Much of the rugged terrain sits at 3,000m (9,800 feet) above sea level. However, there are many plateaus which are suitable for growing crops. Indeed, her family are farmers. The altitude is also a natural advantage especially when she trains and races at lower altitudes. Addis, for example, is a slightly lower elevation (2,355m/7726ft).
As a young girl she listened on the radio to the exploits of another young woman who called Gojjam home, Emebet Anteneh, who earned the 3,000m silver medal at the 2010 World Junior Championships for Ethiopia. That was a source of inspiration. Emebet competed in many Canadian road races.
“Amhara region is where I came from and I have lived in Addis Ababa more than five years,” Ayinadis says adding that she lives in Gulile, a sub city of Addis.
Three times a week she will take a taxi to the Entoto mountains from her home in Addis to do her easy runs. These ‘blue taxis’ are inexpensive and not to be confused with those used by tourists.
When it is time for group training the athletes needing a ride will board a bus owned by Moyo and set out for some of the preferred out-of-town locations. Speed work sessions, for instance, are held in Sululta at a track built by Kenenisa Bekele the three-time Olympic champion.
Between training sessions she enjoys watching Ahmaric programs on television. Like many Ethiopians she is also a regular attendee at Mehdanalem church in her neighbourhood. It’s an Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
As always, the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon organizers will assign pacemakers to help the leading international and Canadian athletes chase designated times. If the conditions are good, and her training has gone according to plan, we may well see Ayinadis threaten her compatriot’s course record – and extend Ethiopia’s command of the race.
By Paul Gains
Fanny Kiprotich has won every marathon he has ever raced. The fact that he has only run two of them, and has a taste for winning, is an indication of the great potential this young Kenyan possesses.
Just 24 years-old, the native of Mount Elgon in the Great Rift Valley aims to make it three-for-three when he competes at the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon, a World Athletics Elite Label race, on October 18.
“My target for now is under 2:06 if the weather will be good and if the course is good,” says Kiprotich during a WhatsApp video call from coach Julian Alonso’s house in Iten. “My target is to run under 2:06!”
Kiprotich made his debut at the 2025 Tallinn (Estonia) Marathon winning in a modest time of 2:11:21. That was in September. Then in April of this year he dominated the Vienna Marathon lowering his personal best time to a remarkable 2:06:53. His margin of victory – seventy-seven seconds over Eritrea’s Oqbe Ruesom – was such that he was blowing kisses to the crowd as he made his way to the finish. It should be noted that Ruesom has run under 2:06 twice.
“I started pushing from 27km,” Kiprotich remembers of Vienna, “but I saw it was too far (to the finish) so I came back again, but I went again at 30km. I tried to push alone until 32km then I left him and was alone.
“It was my tactic because during my training we prepared for it. Before I went to Vienna I tried to run 40k in Iten. That was my preparation in training.”
Alonso, an Argentinian physiotherapist who moved to Iten with his wife, is employed by Volare Management a Dutch based sports management agency with a large group of world-class marathoners. Indeed, Leonard Langat, the 2025 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon winner is represented by the outfit although he lives in Kerengit and not Iten. Volare’s head coach is Sammy Bii and Alonso plays a supportive role.
“My target was not to rush to the marathon,” Kiprotich says. “But I was at my home in Mount Elgon and when I came to Iten I found a good training group – that is the Volare Management group. So I got a good group.
“As I got strong I started training with the ladies and then after a while I ran with the men. When I felt confident in long runs, I finished the long runs. It was a good decision to run the marathon.”
Growing up in the Mount Elgon region he was exposed to many runners as a child. Both his parents competed in the 5,000m and 10,000m at Kenyan national championships. And amongst his neighbours were several international runners he would see training on the roads nearby.
“In my area there are (Kenyan born) athletes who run for Qatar,” he reveals. “I think you might know the name Felix Kibore. He is my neighbour.
“I started running when I was young, when I was still in school. I remember when I was young we liked watching (Eliud) Kipchoge. I wanted to be like him.”
Kibore finished 6th in the 2008 World Cross Country Championships and was an Olympic 5,000m finalist for Qatar the same year.
Running in Kenyan culture is not purely for enjoyment. It can be a means to a better future. Hence the temptation for switching citizenship. Kiprotich has used the earnings from his first two marathons to build a home for his parents near Mount Elgon, an extinct volcano located on the border between Kenya and Uganda. They have a plot of land on which they farm. It’s four hours from Iten.
“The first races I ran Tallinn and Vienna, my first thing afterwards, I bought land and now I am building a house for my parents. I am almost finished. So that is my first target,” he says. “Now I need to start to invest in myself because I have already started the first part of the house for my parents. So after Toronto my future is to maybe buy land and then to construct houses.”
“My place in Iten is good. Everything is good, I have a girlfriend – sometimes I call her my wife – she is also an athlete. Cynthia is her name.”
Between training sessions like many Kenyan runners he enjoys listening to Gospel and Kalenjin music with Cynthia and also watching English Premier League football. He supports Manchester United.
It is early in the buildup for Toronto Waterfront Marathon and if he is going to perform well he must adhere to the training program laid out for him by Sammy Bii. And it would help if he were to study the Toronto Waterfront course. Alonso reports that the student is keen.
“He arrived early for this interview,” Alonso reveals, “And we were looking on the internet at the profile of the race so he can start planning. Before this meeting he didn’t have too much information and now we are going to focus. He will do specific preparation for Toronto.“
Kiprotich appears full of confidence in his ability and why not? He has astonished many with his sudden rise. And he seems keen to race Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
“It is my first time coming to North America,” he says “My target is to run some World Marathon Major races then the Olympics or World Championships.”
The TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon is a World Athletics Elite Label race and as the field is finalized it will surely bring the best out of him. Whether that sees him maintain an unbeaten streak over his new distance remains to be seen.
