Toronto Waterfront Marathon / Canadian Marathon Championships – News – Adane, Kwambia Take TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon

ADANE, KWAMBAI TAKE TCS TORONTO WATERFRONT MARATHON TITLES
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2022 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved – Used with permission.

TORONTO (16-Oct) — In exciting races which featured multiple late-race lead changes, Ethiopia’s Yihunilign Adane and Kenya’s Antonina Kwambai won today’s TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2:07:18 and 2:23:20, respectively, a World Athletics Elite Label road race.  Behind them, Trevor Hofbauer (2:11:00) and Malindi Elmore (2:25:14) won the Athletics Canada national titles and finished fifth and fourth overall, respectively.  The race returned to the streets of Toronto after nearly a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic; about 22,000 athletes took part in the marathon, half-marathon and 5-K, combined.

Race director Alan Brookes had his pacemakers target the course and Canadian all comers records of 2:05:00 and 2:22:16 (both those marks were set here in 2019).  The men’s race settled down a bit after an overzealous 2:51 for the first kilometer.  By the time the 5-K split was hit in 14:40, a pack of seven had formed behind two pacemakers: Kenyans Kiprono Kipkemoi, Enock Onchari, Felix Kandie, Barselius Kipyego, and Felix Kibitok, and Ethiopians, Adane and Kebede Tulu Wami.  The pace was still ambitious: they were on pace for a sub-2:04 finish time.

That pack of seven held together through halfway, although the pace slowed. Their halfway split was still a credible (1:02:27), and finishing with a sub-2:05 was still possible.

But in the second half, the pace slowed further and the athletes’ competitive instincts took over.  It was man-to-man racing now, and nobody was focused on the course record and the special CAD 15,000 bonus on offer.

At 30-K (1:29:40) only Wami had been dropped.  About seven minutes later, Kandie was the first to show his cards.  Wearing a white top, black shorts and a black watch cap to fight off the morning chill, the 35 year-old Kenyan put in a mighty surge.  The lead pack quickly broke up, and at 35-K Kandie had an 11-second lead.

“I wanted to run a sub-2:07 tempo,” Kandie told reporters after the race.  “I was felling well.”

But trouble was brewing for Kandie.

“He’s weary,” said British coach Geoff Wightman, commentating on the race broadcast. “He’s fatigued; he’s not safe.”

Adane wasn’t worried about Kandie, and he was sticking with his plan.

“I wasn’t too worried because there was wind and the roadway was not easy,” Adane said.  “I knew I would catch him.”

Indeed he did.  At…