By: Paul Gains

Philemon Rono rises early at the NN Running Team training camp in Kaptagat, Kenya and joins his training partners on their morning run. The 31-year-old Kenyan has one objective as he trudges along the dusty roads at dusk: to win the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 16, 2022. 

On three previous occasions, he has crossed the finish line of this World Athletics Elite Label race victorious, most recently in 2019 when he set a new Canadian All Comers’ record of 2:05:00. Three other men finished within thirteen seconds of him in what was arguably the most exciting race in North American history. 

“I ran a course record,” he says grinning broadly during a WhatsApp video call. “It was just amazing for me. My aim when I come to Toronto is to do another fantastic job and to be known as the ‘King of Toronto.’” 

Rono laughs at his joke. Training, on the other hand, is quite serious. Amongst the NN squad are some of Kenya’s greatest distance runners, most notably the double Olympic marathon champion and world record holder, Eliud Kipchoge. The group lives at the rustic camp through the week then returns to their families on weekends. During the worst of the Covid pandemic, he stayed at home 15km away, meeting up with his teammates for long runs. It seemed to work.  

He ran his second fastest time in Valencia 2:05:37 two years ago and then finished 6th in the 2022 Seoul Marathon (2:07:03) this past April. 

“There was no problem here we got medication and vaccine and boosters. There was no problem with vaccination,” he recalls.  

“In Kenya it was not too bad, not like Europe. We trained at home. We met at group training. We woke up early in the morning and we would say, ‘We can meet somewhere for training.’ There were a lot of challenges but we continued with training.” 

During the pandemic, he and his wife, Abigail Jelimo, welcomed another son to the family. They called him Clinton. Their eldest son, Clifford, will be five in September and is named after one of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon athlete coordinators whose sense of humour Rono admired. 

The money he earns from his international marathon races is invested in his family farm. He has sheep and goats and grows maize and potatoes. 

“I am a large-scale farmer and things are changing,” he says proudly. “Things are improving. I have eight acres now. My family is there looking after the farm and I employ people to look after the items there.” 

Life in the camp contributes to the success of the athletes who all regard Kipchoge as their inspiration. Rono says they watch what he does, eat what he eats, and have adopted his strict discipline. But there is time for fun and competition. English Premier League football is starting up again and they all have their favourite clubs.  

During a previous visit to Toronto Rono, admitted he has followed Chelsea FC since they had African superstar Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) on their roster for a great part of the early 2000’s. So, does he still support them? 

“Of course, of course! I will not leave Chelsea,” he declares laughing. “Eliud supports Tottenham. [Three-time World Half Marathon Champion, Geoffrey] Kamworor is supporting Manchester United. That is when everybody is supporting these teams and we say, ‘My team will win.’”  

Rono is looking forward to returning to Toronto. He has fond memories even after suffering an accident while warming up for his 2016 victory. On that occasion, a barrier he was using to stretch came crashing down on his head. After consulting his agent and a medic he went ahead and won the race in 2:08:26.  

Shopping at the Eaton Centre was another memorable event. On his last visit he took home an electric razor among other items which are hard to find in rural Kenya. This will be his fifth visit to Canada’s largest city. Besides his three victories, he finished 9th at this race in 2018. Now he reports his training is going very well and he has his eye on new records in Toronto. 

“The preparations are going very well,” Rono states. “We usually go training early in the morning at 6 a.m. when there is no traffic and then again at 4 p.m. in the evening. This week we our longest run is 30 km, next week the longest is 40 km. I run around 150 km to 200 km during the buildup.  

“So long as the weather is okay, there is no problem with the time. Time will adjust itself because when you train well, 2:04 is no problem. But when the weather is a problem, then 2:06, 2:07. But when the weather is okay? Maybe another course record.” 

In the next three months, we will learn if Philemon Rono himself feels he has earned the title ‘King of Toronto.’  There are many in the running community who have already anointed him. 

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About the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon  

One of only two World Athletics Elite Label races in Canada, the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon is Canada’s premier running event and the grand finale of the Canada Running Series (CRS). Since 2017, the race has served as the Athletics Canada Canadian Marathon Championship and has doubled as the Olympic trials. During the 2021 event, participants raised over $3.08 million for 151 community charities. Using innovation and organization as guiding  

principles, Canada Running Series stages great experiences for runners of all levels, from Canadian Olympians to recreational and charity runners. With a mission of “building community through the sport of running,” CRS is committed to making sport part of sustainable communities and the city-building process. 

To learn more about the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon, please visit www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com. 

Media Contact  

Kate Van Buskirk, Marketing and Communications Coordinator 

kate@canadarunningseries.com 

905-867-1117

By: Paul Gains

Enticed by the opportunity to lower her Canadian marathon record, Malindi Elmore will race the 2022 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon October 16, 2022. Elmore smashed the record with her 2:24:50 clocking at the 2020 Houston Marathon in what was only her second time competing at the distance.  

Although the Kelowna, B.C. mother of two is widely respected—enough to receive an invitation to run the 2022 Boston Marathon—it is easy to overlook the fact she has run only four marathons. Toronto will be her first in Canada. 

“I definitely feel I haven’t had my best race yet,” she explains. “That’s why I am excited to do Toronto. I think it’s going to line up with the perfect conditions to put together a fantastic build and have a great opportunity to run really well. 

“It’s a home race—although it’s 5,000 kilometres away—and has a strong tradition of marathoners coming through. So that is pretty special. I know that it’s flat and has the potential to be very fast on the day. And I know Alan (Brookes) puts on a great race. So, all those factors are compelling reasons for me wanting to race it.” 

The TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon has earned the distinguished World Athletics Elite Label and always attracts a strong international field, which is another reason for Elmore’s commitment. The course record of 2:22:16, which is also the Canadian women’s all comers record, is held by Kenya’s Magdalyne Masai. It was set in 2019. 

Not quite a year ago, Elmore beat the heat and humidity of Sapporo, Japan to finish 9th in the 2021 Olympic Games. Only Sylvia Ruegger amongst Canadian women has ever finished higher. What was most remarkable was that Elmore’s first Olympic experience came at the 2004 Athens Games where she failed to advance from the first round of the 1,500m. 

“It was really special to go back and finish in the top ten in the Olympics,” she says of her marathon achievement. “And, in a way, kind of redeem myself, seventeen years later, for the performance I would have liked to have in 2004. I definitely did not harbour any expectations of being a marathoner when I was running 1,500ms. I wanted to run 800m and break two minutes. That was my goal. I thought the 5,000m was too many laps. I am pretty shocked that my mind and body have come around to being a distance runner in the end.” 

The invitation to race Boston came in following the Olympics and she enjoyed everything apart from the legendary hills along the course. Yet, she earned an 11th place finish in a time of 2:27:58. 

“I thought, ‘Oh, I am from B.C., and I am used to hills. It won’t be that big a deal,’” she recalls. “But I found it beat me up really quickly even after only 9 or 10km. I felt the toll of the ups and downs—the relentless rollers—it was hard to get into a rhythm. It was really different than Houston and Tokyo (Sapporo) which were flat courses. I knew what to expect, what my pace should be. This was really gruelling when you threw in the change in terrain. I wasn’t thrilled with my performance. I guess I did the best I could do on the day.” 

Coached exclusively by her husband, Graham Hood—the former Canadian international 1,500m runner who was 7th in the 1997 World Championships in Athens—she admits her build-ups for marathon racing are still evolving as she looks ahead to the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon. And at the age of 42, she must be more careful that she takes on workouts she can handle without injury risk. There are other factors younger marathoners might not have to encounter. 

“All week, I have had a kid home sick,” Elmore reveals before adding with a smile, “I tell you, the best investment anyone can ever make is a treadmill. The kids don’t mind they get to watch TV while I am on the treadmill. It’s a win-win.” 

Most of her 150 kilometres a week is done alone, although Canadian Olympic triathlete, Joanna Brown, occasionally jumps in for a long run. Another sometime training partner is 2019 Canadian Marathon Champion Trevor Hofbauer, who now lives two kilometres away and will run with her on his easy days. If all goes according to plan, she will be in the shape to achieve specific goals. 

“I do want to put together a really good buildup for Toronto. I would like to be able to get to the fitness level I had leading into Boston and Tokyo (Sapporo), and I hope that would put me below my Canadian record and PB, and that would be really cool,” she allows. 

“Another goal, absolutely, I want to get on the podium. I would love to win a race. It’s fun to be the first person across the line.”  

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About the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon 

One of only two World Athletics Elite Label races in Canada, the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon is Canada’s premier running event and the grand finale of the Canada Running Series (CRS). Since 2017, the race has served as the Athletics Canada Canadian Marathon Championship and has doubled as the Olympic trials. During the 2021 event, participants raised over $3.08 million for 151 community charities. Using innovation and organization as guiding principles, Canada Running Series stages great experiences for runners of all levels, from Canadian Olympians to recreational and charity runners. With a mission of “building community through the sport of running,” CRS is committed to making sport part of sustainable communities and the city-building process. 

To learn more about the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon, please visit www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com. 

Media Contact  

Kate Van Buskirk, Marketing and Communications Coordinator 

kate@canadarunningseries.com 

905-867-1117

By: Paul Gains

World class marathon running returns to Toronto after a three-year Covid-induced hiatus with the 2022 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon set for October 16, 2022.

Although the title sponsor, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), is new, some things remain unchanged. The event has earned a ‘World Athletics Elite Label’ which will ensure top class fields from across the globe offering Canada’s best a tough competitive opportunity.

Three years ago, Trevor Hofbauer captured the Canadian Marathon Championship title at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon, securing a place on the Canadian Olympic team bound for Japan. In doing so, he became only the second Canadian to beat 2 hours and 10 minutes. Organizers are delighted to announce that the 30-year-old has accepted an invitation to return.

Hofbauer was 7th overall in 2019 with his 2:09:51 personal best, while Kenya’s Philemon Rono set a Canadian all comer’s standard of 2:05:00. Hofbauer relishes the challenge.

“This will be my third time doing Toronto [Waterfront Marathon],” he admits. “My memory is quite strong when it comes to courses and race experiences so I can visualise the entire Toronto Waterfront Marathon course right now as we are sitting here talking.

“I know what to expect. I know what I have to do in my training to prepare for the race. I think there is an advantage to having that experience.”

While his Olympic experience didn’t go according to plan—he finished 48th in Sapporo with a below par 2:19:57 clocking—he has set his sights on the Paris Olympic Games two years hence. Hofbauer is not one to dwell on the past so his reaction to being asked for his thoughts on Sapporo is predictable.

“Do we have to go through it?” he says laughing. “There were a bunch of things going on in my life at that time that kind of just made my Olympic experience difficult. I am really keen and eager to make the next Olympic team and work that out and have that moment to my satisfaction.

“I had a huge amount of support from my community in Calgary and even across Canada. So, for me to represent Canada at the Olympics was mostly for the community that put resources, belief, time, and effort and saw the potential in me. I thank them for that. Even though I didn’t live up to my personal standards a lot of people were proud of me even just completing the race.”

He remembers sitting on the bus from Sapporo to Tokyo’s Narita airport following the Olympic marathon. Posting his thoughts on Instagram while he began his long journey home, he began to think of ways to redeem himself.

“I took a look at the races coming up in the spring and there’s no bigger marathon in the world than Boston,” he declares. “In my head, I kind of circled the date on the calendar and said, ‘I am going to make Boston happen and that’s going to be my redemption for the Olympics.’”

On April 18, 2022, he finished 15th in Boston, running a time of 2:10:52. The experience was another positive in his successful marathon career. In Beantown, he shared time with fellow Canadian Olympians Malindi Elmore and Natasha Wodak, and was delighted to see coaches Trent Stellingwerf and Graham Hood on the course cheering the Canadians on.

The ‘redemption’ must be credited to some life changes Hofbauer made after the Olympics. In October 2021 he began working with BC Endurance coach, Richard Lee. A few weeks later he moved from his home in Calgary to British Columbia where he has friends and family he wanted to spend more time with. And he has enrolled in the University of British Columbia, Okanagan four-year psychology course. With some collegiate eligibility remaining, he will run cross country for UBC Okanagan under coach Malindi Elmore, the Canadian women’s marathon record holder.

“I was talking with Malindi in Sapporo about wanting to go to school there and she did a good job selling the area,” he jokes. “Okanagan had a program I was looking for. I wanted to be close to Vancouver but I didn’t want to be in Vancouver. And it’s not too far away from Calgary.”

Although he is a member of BC Endurance Project, he still does most of his training alone. It has been that way since he took up marathoning.

“It’s a big stress relief for me,” he acknowledges. “It’s my quiet time of the day—my escape from the world.

“None of that changes from Calgary but I will be training with the UBC Okanagan cross country team when I do go to school. We have had some training on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which I have been attending, so I have had interaction with the group.”

Coach Richard Lee will call the shots. It was his program which Hofbauer followed in the lead up to Boston. Clearly, he has respect for the coach.

“We get along really well. We are both laid back and the way we communicate with each other works,” Hofbauer says. “I have full trust in him. He tells me what to do and I go out there and do it.”

The 14-week training program he followed for Boston will likely be altered somewhat. Boston’s famed course meant a lot of time was spent training on hills. At the moment, they are taking it a week at a time, but since Toronto is far less hilly Hofbauer expects to be doing more speed work. And what if Lee surprises him with double his usual mileage?

“Whatever the boss says goes!” he says with a smile.

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About the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon

One of only two World Athletics Elite Label races in Canada, the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon is Canada’s premier running event and the grand finale of the Canada Running Series (CRS). Since 2017, the race has served as the Athletics Canada Canadian Marathon Championship and has doubled as the Olympic trials. During the 2021 event, participants raised over $3.08 million for 151 community charities. Using innovation and organization as guiding principles, Canada Running Series stages great experiences for runners of all levels, from Canadian Olympians to recreational and charity runners. With a mission of “building community through the sport of running,” CRS is committed to making sport part of sustainable communities and the city-building process.

To learn more about the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon, please visit www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com.

Media Contact

Kate Van Buskirk, Marketing and Communications Coordinator 

kate@canadarunningseries.com 

905-867-1117