FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Champions return to face strong competition at
Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon '09.
TORONTO. September 1st. Both defending champions, Ethiopia's Mulu Seboka
and Kenya's Kenneth Mungara, are confirmed to return to the 20th
Anniversary Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on September 27th.
Seboka had a particularly strong performance last Fall when she ran a new
PR and set a course record with her convincing 2:29:06 victory. Mungara
triumphed in a much closer sprint to the line over fellow countryman Peter
Kiprotich, 2:11:01 to 2:11:03. "We're very pleased to have both Mulu and
Kenneth back," said Race Director Alan Brookes. To have both champions
return is a reflection on our event, and will definitely add to the
excitement." Since Toronto Waterfront '08, Seboka has continued to show
consistent form, with a 2:30:10 in Dubai in January and a 2:30:39, good for
2nd in Prague in May. Mungara continued his winning ways with a victory in
the heat of Mumbai in January [2:11:51] and then took 3rd in Prague in
2:10:29.
Both champions can expect to face strong competition, however, in their
attempts to defend their crowns. "Both the Men's and Women's fields are the
best we've had," said Brookes. "Over the past 5 years, our event has
improved dramatically -- in both quantity and quality. And this year's
fields are our deepest and best yet." Seboka's strongest challenge is
likely to come from Kenyan Lydia Cheromei and fellow-Ethiopian Amane
Gobena. A winner of the World Junior Cross Country back in 1991, the 32
year old Cheromei made her marathon debut in Amsterdam last October, where
she won in 2:25:57. She followed that up with a sizzling 68:14 at the Ras
Al Khaimah Half in February, a 2nd place finish in the prestigious
Rotterdam Marathon in April [2:28:09], and another victory at the Bogota
Half [72:29] at altitude on August 2nd. Gobena is a great example of the
exciting, young, new talent that Toronto Waterfront has built a reputation
for attracting. The 23 year-old began 2009 with a learning experience in
Houston in January. After sticking with eventual winner Teyba Erkesso until
almost 30k she faded to finish 5th in 2:32:07, while Erkesso raced onto
victory in 2:24:18. Amane then came back with a cracking 68:16 half in Ras
Al Khaimah in February [2 seconds back of Cheromei], followed by a strong,
2nd place marathon finish in Los Angeles in late May in 2:26:53, where she
held onto winner Tatiana Petrova until the closing stages. Cognizant of the
fact that the fastest women's time ever run on Canadian soil is Lidia
Simon's 2:26:01 from the 2001 IAAF World Championships in Edmonton,
Scotiabank is again offering an additional C$25,000 bonus if this year's
winner can better that mark and set a new All-Comers record.
Mungara's challenge will also come from a combination of experience and
youth. Ethiopian Gashaw Melese Asfaw and Kenyans Philip Manyim and Daniel
Kiprugut Too, provide the experience. Melese, who turns 31 years old on
the Friday of Race Weekend, was 6th at Boston this year and 4th last year.
Inbetween, he placed 7th in the Beijing Olympic Marathon, won Shanghai in a
Course Record 2:09:28, and was 4th in Dubai in 2:10:59. His best is a
2:08:03 that he recorded in winning Paris in 2006. Similarly, Manyim knows
what it's like to run in and win big races. His PR of 2:07:41 comes from
his Berlin victory in 2005. More recently, the 31 year old Manyim was 2nd
in Eindhoven last Fall in 2"09:31 and 9th in Rome in 2:11 this Spring,
after sticking with the 2:07 winner, Benjamin Kiptoo, until 35km. After
several seasons of running in the 2:13/2:15 range, the 31-year-old Too took
his PR down to 2:10 last Fall in Koln, and then to an impressive 2:08:38 in
Paris in April.
Surrounding Mungara, Melese, Manyim and Too on this year's Scotiabank
Toronto Waterfront Start Line will be a pack of hungry new marathoners and
debutants, led by Joseph Maregu and Sammy Mwangi. After running 6 sub-61
minute half marathons, Maregu made his 42km debut in Vienna in April -- a
2:09:25, good for third. On debut in Toronto, the 26-year-old Mwangi showed
what he's capable of with an impressive 59:55 at the Berlin Half on April
5th. Together, veterans and debutants will be chasing John Kelai's Canadian
All-comers mark of 2:09:30 from Waterfront ‘07; a new mark and a sub
2:09:00 will earn the Men's winner an additional $25,000 bonus from
Scotiabank.
The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront will be celebrating it's 20th year as an
event on September 27th. It began as a Half marathon in 1990, with Joan
Benoit Samuelson as women's winner of the first edition. The full marathon
is 10 years old, beginning in the year 2000. Since then it has grown
rapidly. A total of 20,000 participants, who will raise more than $1.5
million for 99 local charities, are expected in the event as a whole this
year; a record entry of almost 4,000 are expected in the marathon, an IAAF
Silver Label event for the second year. "We're just hoping for a good day,"
said Brookes. "The prospect of new Course and All-comers records for both
men and women is very real. It would make the anniversary extra special,
and when you put together athletes of the caliber we have this year, a lot
of good things can happen!"
Complete Start Lists will be announced September 8th. Further information
and last-minute registration still available at
www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com
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