The late comer to distance running destroyed her age group Canadian record, ran one of the greatest marathons by a 60-year-old ever, and when put through an age-grading calculator, demolishes Lanni Marchant’s 2:28:00 national record. What’s even more impressive is that Waywell seems to be getting faster with age
Running fans across the globe will once again be able to catch all the action at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon – an IAAF Gold Label Race – next Sunday, October 21.
The event is being live streamed on STWM.ca and on CBCSports.ca, athleticscanada.tv and on Twitter’s Periscope, beginning at 8:15 a.m. EDT. There will be no geo-blocking, meaning you can watch all the action from anywhere in the world.
Photo credit: Inge Johnson/Canada Running Series
by Paul Gains
Injury free for nearly two years now, Dayna Pidhoresky has been enjoying an unprecedented block of consistent training and is raring to go at the Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon & 5k on June 24th, a Canada Running Series event.
“I want to win for sure,” the 31 year-old Vancouver resident says of her goals. “Time-wise it depends on the day. If I am feeling good then maybe I can really push it a little bit more. I think the main thing is to get some Canada Running Series (CRS) points and try to win.
“Last year I ran really slow there because I was in my marathon recovery phase, so I am in need of a little bit of redemption. I am familiar with the course now and I know the second half can be harder coming off a pretty long downhill section. I think Natasha (Wodak) is doing it so it will be good if she ends up racing – I am ready to put up a fight.”
She laughs at her last comment knowing that Wodak registered a fine 5th place finish at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and remains the Canadian 10,000m record holder at 31:41.59.
At the same time Pidhoresky has enjoyed an impressive start to the 2018 season. In March she won the Around The Bay 30k Road Race in Hamilton, scored a personal best 10k when she finished 5th in the Vancouver Sun Run and then claimed the silver medal at the Canadian Half Marathon Championships in Calgary. Toronto’s Sasha Gollish was the victor that day.
“So far I have been very consistent,” Pidhoresky declares. “I haven’t had that special race that I have been wanting where everything kind of shines, but I have put in a lot of solid races. The main thing is I have been healthy – no injuries at all for going on two years.”
During the 2016 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon she suffered a painful sacral fracture that crushed her physically and emotionally. Yet she battled back seven months later to run a personal best marathon of 2:36:08 in Ottawa. That performance has led to selection for the Canadian team at the 2017 World Championships marathon in London, and suggestions that she is destined to follow Lanni Marchant and Krista DuChene into the ranks of top international class marathoning.
The men’s field features Lethbridge’s Kip Kangogo who last year won this race for the sixth time, and former Canadian international Rob Watson, of Vancouver. To view the complete elite field for the 2018 Scotiabank Half Marathon & 5k, please click here.
Kangogo was 4th in the half marathon at the Vancouver Marathon festival in early May, then three weeks later, finished 2nd at the Canadian Half Marathon Championships in Calgary. Despite his advanced years – he will be 39 next month – the Kenyan born Canadian citizen never fails to turn up ready to do battle, and perhaps feels he owns this race.
Watson ran 2:13:29 at the 2013 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon and once claimed to have retired. Yet his ‘fun running’ has left him in fairly good condition. Despite extensive coaching duties with the Mile2Marathon group, he has returned to serious training to win the Vancouver Marathon last month. He also finished 5th in the Vancouver Sun Run in a very good 30:01. On such evidence this certainly promises to be a competitive race.
The picturesque course starts on the grounds of the University of British Columbia and traces the Pacific Ocean shoreline through Point Grey and Kitsilano to Stanley Park. With turns, some hills and the challenging climb over Burrard Bridge at 18km the event records are quite extraordinary. Lioudmila Kortchaguina set the women’s record of 70:50 in 2003 while Kenya’s Patrick Nthwia ran 63:10 in 2007 to establish the men’s standard.
The top Canadian man and woman will each receive $1,500 as well as 45 CRS points which count toward the overall title and the accompanying $3,000 awarded to title winners.
For further information and last-minute entries, see www.scotiahalf.ca.
presented by:
By Paul Gains
Running fans from around the world will once again be able to watch the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in its entirety thanks to a unique partnership between race organizers, sponsors and Astrodog Media.
Beginning at 8:15 a.m. (EDT) October 22nd viewers need only log in to STWM.ca (the race is also being carried on cbcsports.ca and athleticscanada.tv) for four hours of live coverage. There will be no geo-blocking.
The 2017 edition of this IAAF Gold Label race features the best men’s field Canada has ever seen with Kenya’s Dickson Chumba, winner of Chicago and Tokyo marathons and his countryman the defending champion Philemon Rono, taking on a strong field of Ethiopian talent. Endeshaw Negasse (also a past Tokyo winner) and Tadese Tola, like Chumba, belong to the ‘sub 2:05 club’ and will promise an exciting battle for the $25,000 first place prize money.
The women’s race is also strong. Ethiopia is sending Fatuma Sado, second here two years ago in 2:24:16, Marta Megra (2:24:32 personal best) and Sutame Asefa (2:24:00 personal best Dubai 2014) It will be left up to Angela Tanui of Kenya to upset the favoured Ethiopians. She has a best of 2:26:31 from this year’s Vienna Marathon.
The race once again serves as the Athletics Canada Marathon Championships with a new generation Canadian marathoners toeing the line.
Last year more than 74,000 viewers tuned in to view the race from 129 countries around the world. Matt Hortobayi, Executive Producer, points out that the production will again include nine broadcast cameras, three promotional cameras as well as a drone.
The talented commentary team is comprised of 2016 Canadian Olympian Krista DuChene, Michael Doyle, the editor of Canadian Running magazine and Tim Hutchings.
Hutchings is a much accomplished and extremely busy commentator having worked for NBC, Eurosport, CBC, BBC and many other television networks covering top-flight athletics since his retirement from competitive distance running. He was a two time IAAF World Cross Country silver medalist and finished 4th in the 1984 Olympic 5000m final.
“The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon is deservedly regarded as a world-class event and it should be,” says Hutchings, “because Toronto is a big, powerful and beautiful city, one that oozes energy and class in so many ways and provides a wonderful backdrop for the elite races to unfold over a fast course that has produced great contests year after year.”
Hutchings relishes the opportunity to commentate on this year’s race.
“The return of the 2016 men’s champion Philemon Rono of Kenya, who will duel with one of the all-time greats in Dickson Chumba, is a match made in heaven,” he explains. “Rono won easily last year and clearly can go faster, while Chumba is consistent and has many times run faster than his compatriot. Throw in three or four others who, on paper at least, look like they can win on any given day, and we are pretty much guaranteed another quick, competitive and yet unpredictable battle.
“By contrast, the women’s elite field has less experience but equally exciting talent, while keeping us guessing as to who can deliver on the day; Ethiopia’s Sutume Asefa for example, is just 23, yet with 2:24.00 is the fastest in the race and has only run two marathons.
“Those are just two examples of head-to-heads that I’m keen to see deliver what we can expect in Toronto – memorable world-class racing, fast times and importantly, great quality pictures for myself, Krista Duchene and Michael Doyle to describe.”
New this year, select celebrity runners will be equipped with GPS trackers so they can be easily found on the course increasing the efficiency with which the motorcycle mounted cameras can find them. Of course, the elites will be followed the majority of the time. This is the seventh year that Astrodog Media has produced the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
The rest of the broadcast team reads like a who’s who of Canadian distance running with Canadian marathon record holder, Lanni Marchant, handling social media, Commonwealth 1,500m bronze medalist Kate Van Buskirk conducting finish line interviews, Pan Am Games marathon bronze medalist Rachel Hannah doing research and Reid Coolsaet, a two-time Canadian Olympian assisting with the elite athletes.
With a fast field assembled this year and a crackerjack broadcast team, fans around the world can certainly enjoy all the action of this year’s Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on their smart phones, tablets or computers.
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IMPORTANT. MEDIA CREDENTIALS: For media interested in access on race weekend, including press conferences, start/finish lines and Media Centre, credentials are an absolute requirement. Please apply here: http://www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com/media/#media
About the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon:
An IAAF Gold Label race, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon is Canada’s premier, big-city running event, the Athletics Canada National Marathon Championships, and the Grand Finale of the 7-race Canada Running Series. In 2016 it attracted 26,000 participants from 70 countries, raised $3.24 million for 182 charities through the Scotiabank Charity Challenge, and contributed an estimated $35 million to the local economy. The livestream broadcast was watched by more than 72,000 viewers from 129 countries. http://STWM.ca
TORONTO September 23rd. Canadian Olympian and national marathon record holder, Lanni Marchant won this morning’s 15th annual Oasis ZooRun 10k in 35:21, dressed as Wonder Woman. Toronto Olympic Club’s Wendimu Adamu took the men’s title in 31:01 over the hilly, winding course through the Toronto Zoo. The 6th event in the seven-race Canada Running Series attracted a sold-out crowd of 5,500 participants from every Canadian province except Newfoundland, and 7 countries; 2,500 were in each of the 10k and 5k, with another 538 in the children’s Cub Run. Conditions were fair for the 8am start of 10k, at 17c with some cloud-cover and no wind. By the time the recreational 5K and Cub Run took off at 10am and 11:30am, however, the skies were bright and clear and the temperature had risen another 10 degrees on an unseasonably warm autumn day.
Gradually returning from an illness that has taken out her whole 2017 racing year, Marchant decided to enter at the last minute, and do so in the ZooRun spirit by running in costume. “I’d say I’m about 80% right now,” she said after the race. “I’ve been doing a fair amount of easy running, about 130 to 145 kilometres a week, but this is the first week I’ve tried any quality, with a fartlek session. Last week in Vancouver (at Canada Running Series’ Under Armour Eastside 10k) was so much fun, and I’ve missed that. I want to have fun getting back to the high level of the sport, and that’s what a race like today was about.” But Wonder Woman also got in a little business, going to the front from the outset, pulling along a pack that included Masters athlete Lioudmila Kortchaguina, Newmarket Huskies’ Laura Desjardins, Speed River TFC’s Katrina Alison, and Grand River Endurance’s Tanis Bolton. Marchant and Kortchaguina gradually moved away between 3k and 4k; then Marchant dropped Kortchaguina between 5k and 6k. “The wasn’t at all my plan,” said Lanni. “But then I had to commit to it and just keep pressing up the hills as best I could. I’m not going to lie, there were a few times I looked over my shoulder to make sure Lioudmila wasn’t coming back on me!” The 46-year-old Kortchaguina had the performance of the day, finishing a strong 2nd place, just 26 seconds back (35:47). Desjardins was 3rd, Alison 4th and Bolton 5th.
The men’s race featured an absorbing contest between Etobicoke’s Kyle Grieve and three of Toronto Olympic’s Ethiopian-Canadians: Wendimu Adamu who had won the Toronto Waterfront 10k in June, Hajin Tola and Berhanu Degefa. “We settled in the first 2km,” said Grieve. “A good group of guys. They did the work the first 3k, then I decided to take over and see if I could push it a little bit.” By 6k it was down to a duel between Grieve and Adamu. “We traded off the lead. He took the lead back around eight and a half K, but he didn’t gap me until about 500m to go. I tried to go for the win. It wasn’t in the cards today, but I’m happy with the effort,” said the 23-year-old Grieve.
Like Wonder Woman, many of the participants came for the fun and a family day at the Zoo, with free entry to all the runners. Costumes abounded. In the 10k, a pair of koalas took first prize. A zebra claimed the Cub Run costume award over a beautiful butterfly, and a shark/turtle/lobster team were applauded top honours in the 5K over a snow leopard, a bear, two wolves and a peacock. A unicorn and a large raptor were impressive “also-rans” in the 5K. The big winners on the day were the Toronto Zoo who took home a cheque for $46,000 to support their important animal conservation programs.
The final event of Canada Running Series takes place on October 22nd, with the IAAF Gold Label Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Half-marathon & 5K. www.STWM.ca
The Under Armour Eastside 10K was an amazing success! It was great to see so many runners come out and support the Eastside community and we couldn’t have asked for better conditions for the run.
In case you missed it, Lanni Marchant appeared on Breakfast Television Vancouver on Friday to talk about the Eastside 10K and how to go from the couch to a 10k in no time. Click Here to watch the segment. Lanni also made an appearance at race packet pick-up on Friday to chat with runners and sign autographs for runners in attendance.
There were approximately 2,800 participants in the race with family and friends cheering along the route!
The top male finisher was Geoff Martinson with a time of 30:00. Justin Kent and Kevin Coffey finished with times of 30:17 and 30:38 respectively to round out the top three.
The top female finisher was Sarah Inglis with a time of 33:45. Leslie Sexton and Natasha Wodak finished with times of 34:00 and 34:32 respectively to round out the top three.
Under Armour athlete and Canadian marathon and half-marathon record holder Lanni Marchant placed an encouraging fourth in 34:37 as she continues her comeback from illness.
Close to $17,000 has been raised to date from the fundraising efforts of our competitors for the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, and PHS Community Services Society.
Thank you for making the Under Armour Eastside 10K such an incredible experience. See you again next year! Please share your race day pics on Instagram using #UAEastside10K.
Sarah Inglis and Geoff Martinson win the Under Armour Eastside 10K
VANCOUVER, September 16,, 2017 – Geoff Martinson cruised to a comfortable victory in 30:00 at this morning’s Under Armour Eastside 10k in Vancouver. Falkirk, Scotland’s Sarah Inglis claimed a surprise win in 33:45 in a thrilling women’s race.
A sold-out record crowd of 2,800 runners toured historic Gastown and the streets of Eastside Vancouver under sunny skies and perfect 13 degrees Celsius weather. The fifth year of the race featured a new course that started and ended at the iconic Woodward’s building.
Martinson took a lead pack of five through a leisurely first kilometre in 3 minutes and 2 seconds. He injected a little pace in the third kilometre and the group was whittled down to three: Martinson, Justin Kent and Kevin Coffey. Coffey didn’t survive the impressive hills between the 5 and 6 kilometres and the race came down to a dual between Martinson and Kent. Martinson made his final surge at 8km to claim the victory. This is the second time Martinson, a former Canadian 1,500m international, has won the race. Kent held on for second in 30:17, with Kevin Coffey third in 30:38.
On the women’s side, last year’s champion Leslie Sexton of London, Ontario led through the first kilometre before Canadian Olympian Natasha Wodak and Sarah Inglis moved to the front and dropped her. The Ontarian, who has been running over 200km a week in preparation for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon next month, pulled them back on the big hills after 5km, but couldn’t contain Inglis’ speed on the downhill final 2km. At the line, Sexton was happy to be just 15 seconds back while Wodak held on for third in 34:32. Under Armour athlete and Canadian marathon and half-marathon record holder Lanni Marchant came home an encouraging fourth in 34:37 as she continues her comeback from illness.
“I am really happy to win the race with a personal best today,” said Sarah Inglis. “It was a great field of women this year with Natasha, Rachel and Leslie and I felt strong on the hills and great during the race. I’ve been training really well and I am looking forward to the Victoria half marathon in a couple of weeks.”
The race was also an important fundraising event for three Eastside community charities: The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, PHS Community Services Society, and the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. Combined, the 2,800 participants have already raised $17,000 and participants can continue to fundraise online until October 1st online at www.eastside10k.ca.
“Thanks to everyone who was part of such a spectacular morning. The sun shone brightly over the Eastside, the athletes up front put on a show for us, and a record crowd showed they cared about our community raising money with every step,” said Race Director Clifton Cunningham. “We couldn’t have had a better day.”
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1. Geoff Martinson – Vancouver, BC
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30:00
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2. Justin Kent – Burnaby, BC
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30:17
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3. Kevin Coffey – Vancouver, BC
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30:38
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1. Sarah Inglis – Langley, BC
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33:45
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2. Leslie Sexton – London, ON
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34:00
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3. Natasha Wodak – North Vancouver, BC
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34:32
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Whether it’s your first race or your 100th, you always need to set a goal.
Best Health web editor Lisa Hannam had the chance to interview Canadian Olympian and Under Armour athlete Lanni Marchant about realistic goal setting and the runner’s greatest accomplishments.
In the interview, Lanni explains her strategy for goal setting, in which she utilizes a work-backwards approach and vocally shares her goals with others.
“In 2012, I wanted to go to the Rio Olympics, so [my coach and I] worked backwards, in terms of how to qualify. But we also had goals for each season leading up to my qualifiers, [like the] Canadian records, Championship races, and medal contention etc.
“For life goals, I’ll always keep that target in mind but I know that there might be some different paths and bends in the road to get there.
“Regardless of the goal, I have learned that I have to be vocal and share my goals with those around me. Keeping it a secret means I am carrying the risk of failure solely on my shoulders. When I share my goals with my family, close friends and coach, it means they are there to help me when I hit a bump or come to a crossroad and need help.”
To read the complete interview click here.
With less than two months until the Under Armour Eastside 10k, it’s time to set your goals!
The 2017 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K finisher medals were unveiled last Thursday night as more than 120 local runners led by the RunTOBeer crew and Canadian Olympians Reid Coolsaet and Lanni Marchant covered a mystery “reveal run” from Rorschach Brewery to the Leuty Lifeguard Station.
Built in 1920, the lifeguard station is an icon in The Beach neighbourhood and for Toronto’s waterfront. The medals – gold for the marathon; silver for the half; bronze for the 5K – were designed by Canada Running Series’ Inge Johnson. The design was based on a photograph by Beach artist and runner, Erwin Buck, taken one sunrise last September. “We’re thrilled to feature the Leuty Lifeguard Station on this year’s medal, and with the way the design has worked out,” said Race Director Alan Brookes. “Just like The Beach neighbourhood, its residents and businesses, the ‘Leuty’ is very special to us.”
Toronto is globally acclaimed as a waterfront city, a “city of neighbourhoods”, and The Beach is one of its finest. The Beach also comes at a critical point in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, between 30k and 35k, when runners can hit that legendary “wall”, only to have the great crowds in neighbourhood lift them and carry them to the finish.
This year’s medals are the 10th anniversary of the “Landmark Collectors’ Series”, all designed by Johnson, that has featured other famed Toronto icons such as Honest Ed’s, The Princes’ Gates at the Canadian Exhibition, and the Gooderham Flatiron Building.
The unveiling was done by Marchant and Coolsaet, who have been important parts of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon event. In 2013, Lanni ran 2:28:00 at the IAAF Gold Label race, to take out a 28-year old Women’s National Marathon Record. In 2011, Reid almost re-wrote Jerome Drayton’s 1975 Men’s Record, as he surged to take on the East Africans in The Beach section, before fading a little in the last 5k to come home 3rd (2:10:55) in a world-class field and book his ticket to the London Olympics.
The Olympians were joined in the ceremony by the artists/designer; Dr. Johanna Carlo and Jessica Wright, Director of the Beach Village Business Improvement Association and Paula Murphy of Pegasus, the neighbourhood charity for the race, who invited the world to run The Beach on October 22nd. On that day, some 26,000 runners of all abilities, from 70 countries are expected to earn one of these fabulous souvenir medals of the city and its marathon, and take them home around the globe.
For more information and entry: STWM.ca
“Come for the Run, and Stay for the Fun!” That’s the tag line of the Run Barbados Festival, a marvelous running experience that offers something for everyone over the December 2nd to 4th weekend. There’s a 1 mile, a 5k, 10k, half marathon and full marathon, as well as miles of magnificent sandy beaches, warm breezes, and even a rum punch or two on offer after the races are done!
Canada Running Series has organized a trip-of-a-lifetime tour group with Marville Travel, led by our Race Director Alan Brookes, plus Olympians Lanni Marchant and Natasha Wodak. It’s a fabulous opportunity to do a few easy runs with our CRS running stars, and hang out with them on the beach at the magnificent Bougainvillea Resort.
Call Marge at Marville Travel TODAY to find out more, and join us December 1st to 8th. Tel. 905-891-0111 or 1-800-461-0473
Prices start at only $1,600 per person (based on double occupancy: single supplements available on request). This includes:
For more info on the events themselves, plus online entry, check out Run Barbados website.
And for a great throwback to see Alan at Run Barbados 20 years ago, check out this post on our blog.
Join Alan, plus Betty & Veronica on the beach for the ultimate year-end reward!
© 2024 Canada Running Series.
