Philemon Rono is going for the hat-trick at the 2018 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon
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By Paul Gains
Kenya’s Philemon Rono won the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon for the second consecutive year today in a Canadian All Comer’s record of 2:06:52.
A tremendous surge at 34 kilometres saw him put daylight between him and favoured countryman, Dickson Chumba, a past winner of the Chicago and Tokyo Marathons, which he extended to the finish. Indeed, his winning margin in this IAAF Gold Label race was over two minutes as Chumba came home in 2:09:11. Ethiopia’s Solomon Deksisa took third in 2:11:27.
“The first thing I came here for was to defend,” a smiling Rono said afterwards. “I was expecting the time will come automatically. Today the time came because I was pushing with Chumba. When I went in front I said ‘I will not reduce the pace and let me maintain my constant pace.’”
Ethiopian pride was partially recovered with the 1-2 finish of Marta Megra (2:28:20) and Sutume Asefa (2:29:26) in the women’s race.
Asefa and Megra train together in Ethiopia and shared tactics as well as the occasional water bottle during the race. After an opening half in 71:01 the pace slowed considerably with all the combatants struggling as they crossed the line totally spent.
“The first part is very easy,” Megra said of the course, “but the second part is very challenging especially after 30 kilometres I had sickness problem after 30km. I felt pain, real pain.
“I am very happy to win Toronto the first time I came here. I am happy but my plan was to run under 2:23 and I did not succeed. So I am upset about the time.”
The event also served as the 2017 Canadian Marathon Championship. Trevor Hofbauer a member of Guelph’s Speed River Track Club emerged victorious in his debut marathon with a time of 2:18:06. Asked how he felt about winning a Canadian Championships the affable Calgarian offered a smile.
“I think I am the Trevor Hofbauer champion I just did my best,” said the winner. “The Canadian championships is cool and all but I just wanted to be the best version of me. I laid everything out out there and I just wanted to give the best version of me; and the time is decent. There is going to be more to come I know over the years I can improve Today was a good starting point. So I can’t complain.”
Toronto’s Sami Jabril was second in 2:22:04 with Aaron Cooper of Camlachie, ontario claiming bronze in 2:24:42.
Meanwhile the women’s race saw Leslie Sexton come close to her best time with a 2:35:47 performance to win the crown. The London native was delighted to finish 5th overall.
“I picked a pace that I thought I could handle,” she revealed. ‘I was actually hoping that the front group would get aggressive because then you just get carnage. People drop and you pass a few people. I think I moved up into 5th or 6th with a few kilometres etc go. The one I passed was just wobbling. I was hoping they would make mistakes so I could run them down.”
Behind her the Canadian silver medal went to Toronto elementary school teacher, Lyndsey Tessier in a time of 2:36:55 and the bronze to Melanie Myrand of Pierrefonds, Quebec 2:39:10.
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By Paul Gains
With their medal-winning performances at the1985 IAAF World Cup Marathon in Hiroshima a pair of Djiboutian runners left international sports journalists scratching their heads with one hand while turning the pages of a global atlas with the other.
“Where on earth is Djibouti?” they cried in unison.
Ahmed Salah and Djama Robleh finished first and third respectively, stunning the world class field and further adding to their legend by leading the country to the team gold medal.
Salah would defend his World Cup title two years later in Seoul before earning silver medals at both the 1987 and 1991 IAAF World Championships. Although Salah and Robleh became national heroes, since then the country has not had anywhere near the level of success in the long distance events. Mumin Gala is hoping to change that.
Gala celebrated his 31st birthday on September 6th and has announced he will race the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 22nd. This will be his first marathon since finishing 12th in the Rio Olympics in 2:13:04 – just two places behind Canada’s Eric Gillis.
Though he had qualified to represent Djibouti at the 2017 IAAF World Championships, in the days leading up to the race, he decided not to run after injuring his calf. Now all his heavy marathon training is expected to pay off on the streets of Canada’s largest city.
He also represented his native country at the 2012 Olympics and finished 13th in the 5000m. He spent a few years in England racing as a member of the Newham and Essex Beagles whose most illustrious member is legendary distance runner Mo Farah. With a personal best 5000m time of 13:17.77 he realized his limitations on the track. These days he spends most of his time in Ethiopia’s high altitude, training with a marathon group.
“I was born in Djibouti City (the capital). I left Djibouti in 2003 and went to London,” Gala says. “In the past I trained with Mo Farah but not since he moved to the US. I live in Addis most of the time. I would say between nine and ten months of the year. My coach is Haji Adilo and he coaches a lot of elite athletes such as Tadese Tola and Lelisa Desisa.”
Adilo’s group can number around 100 men and women on any given day and Tola and Desisa are two exceptionally competent ‘training partners’. Tola claimed the marathon bronze medal at the 2013 IAAF World Championships while Desisa has twice won Boston.
Though he may appear to be a wandering soul, piling on the air miles as he goes back and forth between Djibouti and Ethiopia with occasional trips to England for good measure, Gala calls Djibouti “home sweet home.”
“I have a family in Djibouti and two beautiful girls ages one and four. I try to visit them as often as possible,” he declares. “I spend time with my kids at home. If I go to London I visit my brother and the rest of the time is training and going to the gym.”
Mumin is tremendously optimistic about his prospects at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon and has good reason to be. That rain soaked 12th place finish at the Rio Olympics, was his first serious attempt at the distance. He had run Hamburg in April 2016, just to get a qualifying mark. Earlier this year he improved his personal best half marathon time, finishing 3rd in the Rabat International Half Marathon in 1:02:41 and hasn’t come close to tapping his marathon potential.
“My goal is to run under 2:10,” he declares. “I am looking forward to a great race.”
And a great race is what he will surely find when the starter’s pistol fires. As the first runner from Djibouti to race Toronto he faces the formidable Kenyans Dickson Chumba (a past Tokyo and Chicago winner) and the defending Toronto champion, Philemon Rono. Ethiopia will counter with Endeshaw Negesse, the 2015 Tokyo Marathon champion (personal best of 2:04:52) and Solomon Deksisa, who ran 2:06:22 at the 2016 Rotterdam Marathon.
Clearly the stage is set for a memorable race in Toronto. Weather permitting, the course record (2:07:05) and Canadian All Comer’s records (2:06:54) are legitimate targets, but more than anything Gala wants to restore Djibouti’s name to the top of marathoning.
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For more information and to join Mumin at this year’s race: http://STWM.ca
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
October 16th, 2016 – By Paul Gains
Warm temperatures, high humidity and a light drizzle conspired to prevent course records at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon today.
World class fields had arrived for this IAAF Gold Label race targeting fast times but when it was over, Kenya’s Philomen Rono had won the men’s race in a time of 2:08:27, while Shure Demise of Ethiopia became the first woman to successfully defend her Toronto title.
Photo Credit: Todd Fraser/Canada Running Series
Demise crossed the line in 2:25:10 well off the course record of 2:22:43, held jointly by Sharon Cherop (Kenya) and Koren Yal (Ethiopia) and far slower than the world under 20 world record she set a year ago in Dubai. That time of 2:20:59 seemed a distant memory as she battled compatriot Tadelech Bekele (second in 2:26:31) and Kenya’s Rebecca Chesir (third in 2:28:54).
“I have a great deal of happiness for winning,” Demise said before praising her friend Bekele. “About 35km I knew that I would win the race. I would have been as happy if she won. She is my friend and we are very close; we come from the same place so I would have been just as happy.
“When we started I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with the rain. I was a bit conscious of that but it got better.”
For her part Bekele revealed she had suffered stomach cramps around 38km and slowed. She wasn’t the only athlete to have health issues.
While he was warming up Rono was injured when a barricade he was using to stretch his hamstrings tipped over. It crashed down on the side of his head opening up a bloody gash and stunning him temporarily.
His agent called one of his colleagues in Holland to discuss the predicament. They agreed Rono could start but if he felt awkward in the opening kilometres he should drop out. Evidently he felt fine.
“I was not expecting to win today,” he said at the finish. “It was a surprise. When I fell and hurt my head I thought I would not run.”
The winner trains in the same camp as Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge and drew inspiration from his friend’s success in Rio.
“Eliud (Kipchoge) is my training partner,” Rono offered. “I thought after he won the Olympic games I should win this race. We are training partners so it was a good marathon for me. He told me I would win this race so I was very confident.”
Seboka Dibaba of Ethiopia was the last of Rono’s competitors to give way. That occurred just five kilometres from the finish when he said an old injury had flared up. He finished second in 2:09:47 while twenty two year old Albert Korir earned a podium place with his 2:10:23 performance.
The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon was, once again, the Canadian Marathon Championship and two of the country’s Olympians emerged victorious.
Photo Credit: Todd Fraser/Canada Running Series
Eric Gillis finished 5th overall in a time of 2:13:44, just eight weeks after his historic 10th place finish in the Rio Olympic marathon while Krista DuChene was crowned Canadian women’s champion in a time of 2:34:02.
Rachel Hannah was second Canadian woman (7th overall) in a time of 2:34:37 proving she will be a force to reckon with over the next few years. The bronze medal went to Dayna Pidhoresky who ran 2:40:41 after running very quickly over the first 25 kilometres at one point a few hundred metres ahead of DuChene. She was legless at the end and was taken to the medical tent in a wheelchair.
The winner recognized the strength of the women’s field and paid tribute to her younger rivals.
Photo Credit: Todd Fraser/Canada Running Series
“This is an emotional Krista day not a happy Krista day,” DuChene, 39, said. “I am happy. I really wanted this win. This was my year with Rio and then deciding to do this. I wanted a national championships again. I knew with the conditions that fast times weren’t going to happen so it was all about being patient and using my marathon experience. It was my thirteenth one. So I knew I just had to wait.
“Dayna was someone I was looking to the whole time but then I knew Rachel was right behind me. So it’s exactly what you want to happen because it might end up in a footrace in the end and no marathoner wants that.”
DuChene became teary eyed when she thought of the tremendous support she has received from her coach and her family this year.
“I am lost for words. This is how I wanted it to be. I am just so blessed with my husband being so supportive,” she explained.
“My kids did the housework this summer. It was about me this time. I really want to savour this moment I am just so grateful for this moment, It’s all about my faith and how God can use me in any way He wants.”
Gillis admitted he was not at his best after running the Olympics just eight weeks ago and was disappointed with his time.
“I am fitter than that,” he revealed. “But I am glad I went out at 65 minutes I don’t think I would have been happy if went out in 66 minutes and ran 2:13 I wouldn’t be happy but I probably would have felt better. It’s a decent race after Rio.
“It was tough out there. I really completely felt the opposite to what I felt in Rio. My hips tightened up and my right knee was sore. I think its a fine line keeping that balance on wet pavement.”
Although the professionals could not approach the course records there were, however, world records set on the day. Ed Whitlock who finished the marathon in 3 hours 56 minutes 38 seconds for an age 85 best.
Photo Credit: Todd Fraser/Canada Running Series
Earlier this year he set a world half marathon record for his age group in Waterloo, Ontario and decided there was no point in trying to beat his record over that distance. Hence his quick decision to run 42.2km
The Guinness Book of World Records will soon include the name Calum Neff, 32, who knocked some twelve minutes of the fastest marathon completed while pushing a pram (stroller). His daughter Ally was the beneficiary of a course tour in 2:31:26. Neff was surprised to learn he had finished 5th overall in the Canadian championships. 5 other Guinness World Records were also set today.
Photo Credit: Todd. Fraser/Canada Running Series
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August 4th, 2016 – By Paul Gains
As the fall marathon season approaches many of Kenya’s top runners are huddled together in rustic training camps deep in the Great Rift Valley training hard while their managers negotiate their entries into the lucrative races.
Two of them, Philemon Rono and Nicholas Rotich, have agreed to run the 2016 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 16th a decision greeted warmly by the organizers who are eager to see Derissa Chimsa’s 2013 course record (2:07:05) beaten. Toronto Waterfront is an IAAF Gold Label race.
The pair train in a 30 person group in Kaptaget near Eldoret under the direction of renowned Kenyan international Patrick Sang, the 1992 Olympic 3000m steeplechase silver medalist.
From left to right: Rodgers Chumo (junior), Geoffrey Kamworor, Nicholas Rotich, Eliud Kipchoge, Philemon Rono.
Amongst Sang’s athletes is the reigning Olympic marathon champion Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda, Geoffrey Kamworor, the reigning IAAF world half marathon champion, and the man favoured to win the Olympic marathon August 21st, Eliud Kipchoge.
Clearly both Rono and Rotich have benefited as well as been influenced by their association with the group and with Kipchoge in particular.
“Eliud is a lot of inspiration for me and the same applies for the group we train in,” says Rono, who sports a personal best time of 2:07:07 recorded at the 2014 Hamburg Marathon. “I want to be like him and that’s my dream which I hope to achieve one day.”
“We are reporting each Monday to the camp and leave again on Saturday afternoon. We have a break on Sunday and spend the time with our families. Our first training starts at 6 am. Eliud is the one who wakes us every day at 5.45 am. It depends on the training. It can be a long run from 30-40k or track training. Otherwise it’s a 1 hour 20 minute long run.”
Rono, 25, shares a room with steeplechaser Brimin Kipruto, the 2008 Olympic champion, when he is at the camp.
“We always take our breakfast after training. We like to have chai with bread,” Rono adds. “We have a chef who cooks for us every day. Our menu is very balanced. We do have electricity at the camp. After dinner I like to watch a video and then we go to bed early to get enough sleep for the next day’s training.”
Without question the atmosphere in the camp is focused completely on generating world-class performances and thereby providing a good lifestyle for the athletes and their families.
Earlier this year, Rono was selected to represent Kenya at the African Cross Country Championships – he had raced the previous year for Kenya at these championships – but turned down the invitation in favour of a half marathon race on the roads the same weekend. The African Cross Country Championships would not be an earner, and as Rono has put his career as a qualified policeman on hold to chase athletic excellence, he needs all the financial support he can secure to support his family.
Another member of this magnificent training group is Laban Korir the 2014 Toronto winner. He too has been helpful in advising the athletes on his trip to Canada.
“I am training with Laban,” Rono adds. “He told me about Toronto and he said it’s a very good race. So I am looking forward to go there myself. I heard it has a flat course and has great fans. My goal is to win the race.”
STWM 2015. Photo Credit: Photo Run
While Rono has had to rely on Korir for his ‘intel’, Rotich, just 19 years old, has at least been to Toronto and run 30 kilometres of the course. A year ago he was a pacemaker for the men’s A group, comfortably taking them through half-way in 63:45 and 30k in 1:31:23. This year’s race will mark his debut at the full marathon distance.
“Yes, it will be my marathon debut. My training partners advised me to be patient and persevere,” he reveals. “I am nervous as it will be my first race. Although I paced several marathons, finishing is something new to me. But I hope to be among top three in Toronto.”
Rotich joined the group in 2013 and has great aspirations in marathoning, also pointing to Eliud Kipchoge as his mentor. And, if he had not been encouraged to take up running during primary school, like so many other Kenyans, he knows he would struggle to earn a living as a farmer.
Marathon racing can be lucrative and is one of the prime motivators for these runners. The prize money in Toronto for instance is $25,000 Cdn to the winner of both the men’s and women’s races, $15,000 for second, $8,000 for third down to $2,000 to the eighth place finisher.
Although the Olympic marathon is being run on a Sunday and the athletes return to their families on Saturday afternoon, the group are hatching plans to watch Kipchoge go for Olympic gold either in Eldoret or in the town of Kaptagat on the 21st.
Should Kipchoge win the Olympic gold, as most experts predict, Rono and Rotich will certainly be further inspired as they prepare for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. And we may well see that course record shattered by one of these two.
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For more information and to run with the Kenyans: www.STWM.ca
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