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

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.

By Paul Gains

Some athletes are never satisfied even when they have tabled an enviable competitive record that includes multiple national championship titles. Florence Caron is such a person.

On October 18 the 25 year-old from La Malbaie, Québec will make her debut in the marathon when she lines up for the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon. The race, besides being a World Athletics Elite Label race, serves as the Athletics Canada National Marathon Championships.

Already this year she has won the Canadian 10k road championship and successfully defended her Canadian 10,000m title on the track. Then at the Canadian Half Marathon Championship in Edmonton on August 16 she claimed the silver medal.

Caron also represented Canada on the Commonwealth Games team in Glasgow though she admits she was not prepared for a slow tactical 10,000m race. Having already begun her marathon training she had hoped for a fast even pace. She finished 13th. The focus, however, remains TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

“On paper when you look at it, it looks like a really successful year,” she said during a video call from her training base in Flagstaff, Arizona. “You see medals at Canadian championships and I did small PRs (32:32 for the 10km and 1:11:49 in the half marathon). But it’s nothing quite successful, to me, compared to what I had done in the NCAA.”

After competing for Laval University in Québec she transferred to Penn State University to be with her husband Olivier Desmeules, an 800m runner from Québec City.

As a member of the ‘Nittany Lions’ team she won the 2024 Big Ten Conference in both the 5,000m and 10,000m before finishing 14th in the NCAA championships 10,000m. A year later she was 11th in the NCAA 10,000m with a new personal best of 32:23.71.

Success at Penn State, where in 2025 she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics, helped earn a contract with Hoka Northern Arizona Elite a small group of athletes sponsored by Hoka and coached by Jack Mullaney. That contract was signed in January of this year.

“The NCAA finals are pretty hard to do well in,” she says of her collegiate career. “I feel like 2026 been a year of adjustment obviously starting later (in running) I have PR’d every year and I have had massive improvement and have adjusted to getting better every year. So I was not disappointed but I wish it had gone better in my first year as a pro.”

Flagstaff has become one of the most preferred high altitude training centres in the US. It sits at 2,134m (7,000 feet) above sea level and like most runners there was a period of adjustment to living and training there.

“The altitude was a switch,” Caron admits laughing. “It feels like you can really push hard at sea level and you will be fine. Here, when you pass the red line in the workout, there’s no coming back. You have to stop.

“So I went out too hard at first and learned from my mistakes. You can’t take the easy run hard you really have to go easy. It’s a learning experience everybody has. You definitely have to respect the altitude.”

Choosing Toronto Waterfront for her marathon debut was an easy choice. Several in her training group are scheduled to run fall marathons – Chicago and New York – also so their training programs are similar. There are other contributing factors.

“First it’s in Canada,” she declares. “It’s my first one and it is not far from Québec. My husband is going to come and pace me. My parents are coming. My step-parents are coming so it’s really special.

“It’s also the Canadian Championship so other good Canadians should be there so I get to see where I rank amongst them.”

Caron is a late comer to the sport. Through high school and Québec’s CEGEP, a three year program to bridge the transition from high school to university, she competed in cheerleading. Running was not in the cards.

“Yes, I did cheerleading for six years and I stopped during covid because, obviously, cheerleading is pretty hard when you have to do social interaction,” she recalls with a smile. “That’s when I started to run.

“I was living by myself in a studio (apartment), I was 19 at that time and you cannot see friends or family so I just started to walk, then run, just to get out of my apartment. Then I started track in March 2021.”

At the moment Oli is in his first year working as a financial analyst in Québec City. Although he ran 1:46.52 for the 800 metres and won the 2023 Big 10 indoor championships for Penn State, he decided to focus on earning a living.

“As an 800m runner it’s pretty hard to keep going without a professional contract,” Caron explains before adding, “He just ran 51km this morning! He wants to do an ultra marathon at some points which is crazy since it so different from the 800m.”

Naturally she misses Oli – he has visited her in Flagstaff twice this year and they see each other between races. And she also misses her five-year-old pet rabbit, a Netherland Dwarf, named Gustave or ‘Gus’ for short. He has lived with her in Québec and when she was at Penn State but is at home in Quebec City with her husband.

To fill in time between training sessions she reads, takes pilates classes and explores the hills around Flagstaff. She has also made plans to get her master’s degree in audiology. To that end she is set to begin two courses remotely in September one in statistics and another in communications. Both are prerequisites for the audiology program at Laval University.

“I am starting a Masters’ degree in 2028 at Laval University. My current professional contract ends at the end of 2028 after the Olympic cycle,” she reveals. “You never know with running if you are going to get another contract so that is my backup option, I guess.”

Caron’s final race prior to the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon will be the half marathon at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen, September 20. And then it’s on to the year’s major focus.

By Paul Gains

Two more Canadian distance running stalwarts will make their marathon debuts at the 2026 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon October 18 and both make their home in the London area of southwestern Ontario.

The event doubles as a World Athletics Elite Label Race and also the official Athletics Canada Canadian Marathon Championships.

Connor Black and Jeremy Coughler are former training partners as well as Canadian Championship medalists over 10,000m and cross country but have taken divergent paths the last couple of years since the ‘retirement of their coach, Dave Mills. They do occasionally meet up for long runs in preparation for the marathon.

While Coughler still follows a program designed by the coach – a special exception made by Mills – Black has chosen to work with two-time Canadian Olympic marathoner, Reid Coolsaet, the past two years. Coolsaet has an established coaching business. Their approach to the Toronto event could not be more different.

Black, who lives right in London or ‘The Forest City’ as it is known, sees this as an important stepping stone towards a possible challenge for Canada’s 2028 Olympic team.

“I am thirty years old and I am not making money in the sport but I still have goals,” Black declares, “My final goal would be to try and make an Olympic team and I actually don’t think it’s feasible as an unsponsored track runner targeting the 5k or 10k.

“The marathon is a more even playing field. Like, I can get into any marathon I want within reason. There’s 80 spots (in the Olympics). So I think if I am going to give it one last goal it has to be in the marathon.”

At the 2025 Project 13.1 Half Marathon in Congers, New York he ran a personal best in the half marathon (1:03:34) which was his first race at that distance. Until then he had been primarily a 5,000m/10,000m performer. In 2022, for instance, he won the Canadian Cross Country Championships.

Black is a secondary school teacher but remains ‘Long Term Occasional’ meaning he ‘floats’ from school to school wherever there’s an opening.

“Last year I was at Strathroy District Collegiate Institute which, funnily enough, was where Dave (Mills) taught for ten or fifteen years,” Black says. “I taught ‘phys ed’ and math. I can teach English as a Second Language and biology. I am kind of a Swiss Army knife.”

As he increases his workload in preparation for Toronto Waterfront, most of it by himself, he admits he has reservations about going back to work.

“I am quite nervous to resume teaching,” he reveals. “Recently my mileage has gone up. When you are just starting your build you are tired. It has been nice having the summer off and being able to focus on training.

“I used to believe you can train like a professional and have a full-time job. I think it’s possible but if you look at the marathon, if you want to run 200k a week, I definitely think it’s easier and a little bit better for your performance if you didn’t have to.”

Meanwhile, Coughler and his wife Emma, both chiropractors, are partners in Re-Charge Health and Wellness in London’s east end. They are also the parents of young boy they named Otto which means they must manage their time carefully.

“My wife and I split the work schedule,” Coughler, 30, explains during a day off. “I am at work Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturdays so I typically try to do workouts on my off days when I am at home – Mondays and Wednesdays. And, then if I am doing some stuff, first thing at 7:00 a.m. or 8:00 a.m, I do a run and then do a shakeout during the day between patients or after work. It’s not too bad.”

Running while important is one of several important priorities in Coughler’s life now. He reckons he is still running up to 110 kilometres a week – a similar amount to what he used to tally when finishing 3rd in both the 2023 and 2024 Canadian 10k championships in Ottawa. He also won the Canada Running Series’ Beneva Spring Run Off 8k four consecutive years between 2022 and 2025.

While that workload might not come near to what other marathoners are hitting it should be noted that earlier this year he set a new half-marathon personal best of 1:04:33 in the Project 13.1 Half Marathon held in New York State. That earned him 8th place in a strong field. He admits his attitude to running has changed.

“It’s a shift mentally because I have so much other stuff going on that I am trying to just view running as something I am doing because I love to do it rather than I am doing because it’s my whole life,” he explains.

“Previously, when I was at (Indiana) university, running was everything. When you run well it’s great but when you are not running so well it starts eating you alive.”

With the support and encouragement of coach Mills they have plotted a path which they hope will see Coughler finish in the 2:14 to 2:16 range for his first one. The plan is to run more marathons in the future.

“It’s nice that I know there will be a bunch of other Canadian guys who can run around the same time and that will make it deeper,” he concedes. “I know the far end of it there are always some good Kenyans and Ethiopians running fast. Even if there are a bunch of guys running 2:12 to 2:20 it would be great.”

The proximity to his home in Thamesford, which is a fifteen minute drive from his practice and two hour drive from Toronto, means Emma and Otto as well as his parents will accompany him on race weekend. It is one of the reasons he chose TCS Toronto Waterfront for his debut. And he is familiar with the front half of the Toronto Waterfront course having finished third in the half marathon there a year ago. Runners in both races follow the same course until the 20 kilometre mark.

Between now and race day there are many miles to be covered and subject to schedules and pesky traffic conditions these London area runners will reunite for some workouts. And, if all goes well they will line up ready to join the long list of Canadians who have successfully made the step up to the ‘classic distance.