Toronto Waterfront Marathon / Canadian Marathon Championships – News – TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon Back On The Roads After Nearly Three Years

TCS TORONTO WATERFRONT MARATHON BACK ON THE ROADS AFTER NEARLY THREE YEARS
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2022 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved – Used with permission.

TORONTO (14-Oct) — It’s been nearly three years since runners have been able to take to the streets of this vibrant, international city and run the TCS Waterfront Marathon, a World Athletics Elite Label road race.  The 2019 edition was one of the race’s best.  Over 20,000 athletes finished one of the three distances offered by race organizers (3852 in the marathon), and spectators got to witness the fastest-ever marathons run in Canada: 2:05:00 by Philemon Rono and 2:22:16 by Magdalyne Masai, both of Kenya.  Trevor Hofbauer (2:09:51) and Dayna Pidhoresky (2:29:03) won the Athletics Canada titles and both qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.  It was an incredible day.

“Everything just came together,” said Masai, who took home CAD 80,000 in prize money and time bonuses.

But after the pandemic struck in March, 2020, the marathon had to be suspended for both 2020 and 2021.  Long-time race director Alan Brookes was only able to get city approval for a 10-K last year, and that event had to be capped at 5000 runners.  The marathon would have to wait for better times, and that day will finally arrive on Sunday.  Brookes, 72, could barely contain his glee.

“We’re absolutely thrilled, absolutely delighted, so excited, and pumped for the weekend,” Brookes told Race Results Weekly in an interview here today.  “It’s a new era, post-pandemic, back in full stride with an exciting new partner in TCS.”  He continued: “You just feel that everyone is back, bringing a new energy.  When new partners start something their presence is everywhere, particularly with TCS.”

TCS –which is also the title sponsor of the Amsterdam, London and New York City Marathons– came on board here after previous title sponsor Scotiabank bowed out.  TCS, which has over 600,000 employees in 40 countries, committed last January to sponsoring the race through 2026, and that provided Brookes and his full-time staff of 18 a solid platform to build on for the future, including the special race app which TCS built.  The app includes a unique sustainability scorecard for both participants and spectators, part of the race’s commitment to fighting climate change.

“Running a marathon makes you believe that you can accomplish anything,” said Soumen Roy of TCS, the Canadian country head and executive director.  “We can’t wait to…