Canadian marathon report holder Natasha Wodak of Vancouver has gained the Canadian Marathons Championships at Sunday’s TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon. Wodak broke the tape in 2:27:54, successful her first nationwide title at this distance, ending fifth general and marking a triumphant return to the occasion the place she made her marathon debut in 2013. This was Wodak’s quickest marathon since she set the Canadian report on the 2022 Berlin Marathon.
Leslie Sexton of Vancouver was the second athlete to mount the Canadian ladies’s podium, ending seventh in 2:33:15, and Rachel Hannah of Port Elgin, Ont., was third, in 2:34:33. Sexton gained this occasion in 2017 and was second in each 2015 and 2018; Hannah was second in 2016 and fourth in 2018.
Circumstances have been gentle and sunny on the Toronto course on Sunday, about 8 C in the beginning and warming as much as 15 C a number of hours into the occasion, however the gusty winds proved difficult for runners.
Wodak, who’s 42, has had a profitable season at residence this 12 months, successful the Vancouver Half and the Below Armour Eastside 10K; at Friday’s press convention she declared this championship victory as her aim. “Everybody desires to be a nationwide champion,” she stated. (Wodak has gained the 5K nationwide championships twice, the 10K 3 times and the half-marathon as soon as.)
Natasha Wodak 🇨🇦 wins gold within the Canadian Marathon championships in 2:27:54 (unofficially).
What a comeback efficiency for @tasha_wodak #ChooseTORun
— Canadian Working (@CanadianRunning) October 20, 2024
Wodak went into the race with a extra relaxed mindset than she’d been in a position to muster over her final a number of marathons, when she was making an attempt to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics; regardless of having set the Canadian report (2:23:12) on the 2022 Berlin Marathon, Wodak was unable to place down a qualifying time for the Olympics (2:26:50) within the three marathons she raced in the course of the qualifying interval (the 2023 Budapest World Championships, 2024 Houston Marathon and 2024 Hamburg Marathon; she scratched from the 2023 London Marathon after coming down with a abdomen bug).
Justin Kent wins Canadian males’s championship
Justin Kent of Vancouver gained the Canadian males’s nationwide championship in 2:12:17 (a private finest), and was seventh general. Lee Wesselius of Mountain, Ont., was second, in 2:13:47 (additionally a private finest), and Andrew Alexander was third, in 2:14:13–a profitable debut for the Toronto runner.
Kent and his spouse, former 800m nationwide champion Lindsey Butterworth (who ran the 5K on Saturday), grew to become dad and mom to a child lady, Willa, just some months in the past.
“It felt nice till we hit some windy stretches,” Kent stated after the race. “It’s all the time laborious from 33 km onward, I knew they have been on my tail, and I attempted to take it one kilometre at a time and keep as calm as I might. I’m ecstatic. There are veyr few instances you may win a Canadian championship, and it was wonderful to have good climate, good pacing, my family and friends and my daughter out right here.” For extra on Kent’s win, click on right here.
Girls’s course report, Canadian soil report go down
Ethiopians swept the ladies’s race, with Waganesh Mekasha, who narrowly misplaced final 12 months’s race, crossing the road in a brand new course report and Canadian soil report of two:20:44. Her compatriot, Roza Dereje, completed second, in 2:21:26, and Afera Godfay was third, in 2:21:50–a private finest. (Godfay was third right here final 12 months additionally.) All three podium finishers went underneath the earlier course report and Canadian soil report of two:22:16, set in 2019.) For extra on that story, click on right here.
Mulugeta Uma of Ethiopia took the general victory within the males’s race, breaking the tape in 2:07:16. Uma additionally gained this 12 months’s Paris Marathon. Dominic Ngeno of Kenya was second, in 2:07:23, and Noah Kipkemboi, additionally of Kenya, was third in 2:07:31.
Cassidy wins wheelchair marathon
Josh Cassidy of Barrie, Ont., gained Sunday’s wheelchair race, crossing the road in 1:38:09, a bit shy of his personal course report, set final 12 months at 1:36:37. Garic Hermin of Utica, N.Y. was second, in 1:48:53.
This was Cassidy’s third consecutive win right here, having gained the occasion’s very first wheelchair race in 2022; he gained once more final 12 months with a course report. The athlete has had a really busy racing schedule this fall, lining up 5 marathons in seven weeks. He raced the Chicago Marathon final weekend and can race New York Metropolis in two weeks. “It’s been numerous enjoyable and nice climate at the moment,” Cassidy stated after Sunday’s race, including that he has raced higher with every race.
Non-binary outcomes
Joshua Shin of Hamilton gained the non-binary class, with a marathon results of 3:32:09. Kyle Dech of Winnipeg was second, in 3:34:08, and Jordie Winn of Kawartha Lakes, Ont., was third, in 3:41:06.
For full outcomes of the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon and related races, click on right here.
