By Paul Gains
Will it be a case of third time lucky at the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon for Noah Kipkemboi?
In his first TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2024 the Kenyan star finished 3rd then last year moved up a place to claim 2nd. Now, with the benefit of knowing the course intimately, he returns intent on reaching the top step on the podium.
“It’s really my hope to run well on the course again and to be on the podium,” he says in reference to the October 18 race. “It is my pleasure if I come position one this time. Now I am in training and preparing for the race.”
KIpkembo’s personal best remains 2:07:31 from his initial Toronto visit and beating that time would be especially satisfying. Clearly, his past two visits have endeared him to the event and to the people he has met in Toronto. At the finish line and at the post race press conference he kindly served as interpreter for the 2025 race winner Leonard Langat who is more comfortable speaking Kiswahili than English.
“Please say hello to everyone in Toronto,” he begins a WhatsApp video interview. “It is a beautiful city and thank you for inviting me back.
“I really like when people from the Toronto communities, where we run through, they are always happy and cheering us. Here everyone is shouting ‘go’ giving us motivation. Being cheered you can get power and keep going better.”
As a Christian he has also been inspired by hearing the Canadian national anthem traditionally sung at the race start and the line referencing “God keep our land glorious and free.’ But it is the competition which initially attracts world class competitors.
The TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon serves as both the official Athletics Canada Canadian Marathon Championship and a World Athletics Elite Label race. The prize money on offer – $25,000 CDN to the winners – is more than useful to the runners. Kipkemboi has certainly put his to use raising three young children of his own while also contributing to the school fees for two other children in his village. There have also been medical expenses to consider.
“During the two times racing in Toronto I have been having difficulty before the race,” he reveals. “The first (Toronto) race my daughter Phoebe was not feeling comfortable and after the 2025 race she was having a (second) kidney operation.
“I was on the start line praying that I would win so my kids would be happy. Now she is ok. My happiness if I come position one it will be so beautiful so my kids will be happy.”
Kipkemboi has been represented by the Dutch based Global Sports Communication his entire career and from Monday to Saturday lives and trains at the camp they built in Kaptagat. His family remain at his Eldoret home twenty-four kilometres away. Living arrangements such as these are typical of Kenya’s world class runners.
Among his training partners is the legendary Eliud Kipchoge, the former world marathon record holder and two-time Olympic marathon champion. Kipkemboi served as a pacer for Kipchoge’s 2022 world record in Berlin. Another close friend and former training partner, Philemon Rono, won the Toronto Waterfront Marathon three times and is the course record holder at 2:05:00.
“He has gone to another management group but we are still friends,” Kipkemboi says of his compatriot. “His camp is not far from our camp. Mostly when we are in training in the forest we meet them and wave.
“He asked me ‘are you going back to Toronto? Can we go together this time?’ We were chatting about Toronto. He said ‘you go this time and win that race!’”
These days Kipkemboi is putting in as much as 200 kilometres a week in preparation for Toronto Waterfront. Between training sessions life in the camp is a combination of daily household chores, which are divided amongst the runners, receiving physiotherapy and massage, and meals. For relaxation the runners enjoy watching football together.
“Yes we normally watch football. Me, I like Arsenal,” he says with a smile. “Most of us in the camp, most of the athletes, are fans of Arsenal; like the Commonwealth Games steeplechase champion Edmund Serem he likes Arsenal. When he won the gold medal he did what (Arsenal striker) Viktor Gjokeres does (in celebration).”
With that he interlocks his fingers to form a mask below his eyes as the Swedish footballer does after scoring. It is a reference to the Batman villain Bane in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’.
Like many successful Kenyan runners Kipkemboi is planning for life after his running career comes to an end. With prize money from his first Toronto visit he opened up a general store in Eldoret which sells everything from candy to flour, soap and perfumes. And he farms a plot of land also.
Victory in the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon will not be easy. But Kipkemboi feels he is at home on the streets of Toronto and that could very well make it third time lucky.
