(Photo courtesy: Athletics Canada)
More than 25,000 runners from more than 60 countries took over the streets of Toronto on Sunday for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (STWM), which along with the marathon included the half marathon and 5K events. Kenyan’s runner Philemon Rono was the winner of the men’s marathon and Shure Demise claimed the women’s title.
Today’s marathon also marked the Canadian Marathon Championships where Antigonish, Nova Scotia’s Eric Gillis (2:13:42) was the first Canadian male to cross the line (fifth overall) and in the women’s marathon it was Krista DuChene of Brantford, Ontario claimed the Canadian women’s title. In the men’s Kip Kangogo (2:22:13) and Jeff Costen (2:27:33) finished second and third among the Canadian runners, while Rachel Hannah (2:34:34) and Dayna Pidhoresky (2:40:38) were the top Canadian women’s finishers.
With the humidity on high in Toronto, runners including DuChene found the race to be a tough battle. But in her usual formula of patience and persistence she was able to gut out the win. For Gillis it wasn’t the humidity so much as having a short recovery period between marathons. And while it might not have worked out exactly as Gillis would have preferred, he’s comfortable with how he managed the race overall.