FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gillis, Coolsaet, Loiselle Confirmed To Headline Strong Canadian
Challenge at Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, September 26th.
TORONTO. June 21st. Olympian Eric Gillis, from the Speed River Track Club
in Guelph, is confirmed to headline a strong Canadian challenge amongst the
professional athletes competing for more than $200,000 in prize monies and
bonuses at this Fall's Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on September
26th. Gillis will be joined by clubmate Reid Coolsaet and Matt Loiselle
from the BROOKS Canada Marathon Project, promising the best Canadian
showing at the marathon distance in at least a decade. Equally intriguing,
they will duel it out on Canadian soil.
After representing Canada in the 10,000m in the Beijing Games, the 30 year
old Gillis moved up to the marathon distance and ran a sparkling debut of
2:13:52 in Houston on January 17th. It was the second-fastest marathon
debut by a Canadian, and with the last 2 miles both run in 4 minutes and 50
seconds, it strongly suggested that there's more in the tank. According to
CBCs Mihira Lakshman, "While [the] result [didn't] crack the front pages of
Canadian sports' sections, it has created a buzz around the marathon that
hasn't been seen in years."
Since then, there has been great speculation as to where and when Gillis
will run his next marathon, and whether it will be on Canadian soil.
"After researching the options for my next marathon," said Gillis, "I
decided to run the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront because it has an
excellent international reputation as a flat, fast and well-organized
event. Plus with a mix of both elite and recreational athletes it offers a
competitive edge but still maintains great energy and atmosphere. And
Toronto has the added bonus of allowing me to compete on home turf. I find
racing in my own country, near where I live and train, is a great boost.
The support from a local crowd is incomparable to anything I could get
elsewhere."
For added excitement, Scotiabank has put up a new Canadian Record bonus:
$1,000 for every year that Jerome Drayton's national record of 2:10:09 has
stood, if the record is broken at Scotia Toronto Waterfront. That means
that if Gillis can eclipse Drayton's mark set in Fukuoka Japan in 1975,
he'll take home an extra $35,000. Eric will also be shooting to achieve a
Qualifying Standard for the London 2012 Olympic Games marathon.
Gillis will be joined on the start line by Speed River teammate, Reid
Coolsaet. A member of 15 national teams, the 31 year old Hamiltonian has
better PRs than Gillis at 1500m [3:40.38 to 3:44.89], 5000m [13:21.53 to
13:36.78] and 10,000m [27:56.92 to 28:07.19] – at every distance except for
the marathon. He moved up to the marathon last year, without any specific
marathon training, yet still managed a 2:17:10 to claim the Canadian
Championship in Ottawa in May. That earned him a place on the Canadian
Marathon squad for the World Championships in Berlin last August where he
was again first Canadian in 2:16:53. His plan was to make 2010 his last
year on the track, with the hopes of representing Canada in the 10,000m in
the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October; he would then move completely
to the marathon in 2011, to focus on winning a place at the London
Olympics. A niggling achilles-tendon injury this Spring, however, set him
back, making it difficult for him to recover full fitness in time for the
track season. In early May, "I eventually came to the conclusion that it's
no longer in my best interest. At this point in my running career I'm not
interested in doing anything half-ass and if I were to focus on track this
summer I would be rushing my preparation." Now training with focus and
determination for the 42k distance, with resident-Kenyans Josephat Ongeri
and David Karanja in Hamilton as well as Eric Gillis and Coach Dave
Scott-Thomas in Guelph, Reid expects to push his teammate to the limit on
the Toronto Waterfront's flat, fast course and set a big PR.
Joining the Speed River twosome, Matt Loiselle of the Brooks Canada
Marathon Project in Toronto has selected Toronto Waterfront for his first
complete marathon, making this the strongest Canadian men's marathon
line-up in more than a decade. Just 25 years old, Loiselle has been the
Canadian Half Marathon Champion for both 2009 and 2010, with a PR of 64:10
that he ran in Montreal to claim the title in April '09. He then went on to
represent Canada in the IAAF World Half Marathon in Birmingham where he
again ran under 65 minutes last Fall. "Scotia Toronto Waterfront should be
a great race this year. If the weather cooperates, I'm sure we can all run
fast," says Loiselle.
"We are really excited and honoured to have a Canadian marathoner of Eric's
caliber on the Start line for Scotia Toronto Waterfront," said Race
Director Alan Brookes. "And to have Reid and Matt with him too is even more
enthralling. It has been such a long time since we've had such Canadian
talent in the marathon, and to have them all racing together IN Canada will
be such an inspiration for all of us. It's part of our vision to build a
major, world-marathon for Toronto, but one that supports and provides an
international stage for Canadians. Gillis, Coolsaet and Loiselle are going
to give the international athletes a tough day, and it will be marvelous if
they can scare or take out Drayton's 35-year-old national record! I hope
Canadians will come out in big numbers to run with them and to cheer for
them on race day. We really want them to have a big home-course advantage."
For further information and to register, www.stwm.ca
About Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon
The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon is Canada's premier Fall
Marathon, and the country's #1 big-city marathon. It holds the record for
the fastest marathon on Canadian soil [2:08:32 run last year by Kenneth
Mungara of Kenya] For the third consecutive year, the event has been
awarded a prestigious Silver Label by the International Association of
Athletics Federation (IAAF) making it one of only five internationally
recognized, IAAF Label marathons in North America, and putting Toronto on
the map in the international athletics community. The event attracts
participants from over 40 countries and this year's goal is to raise $2.5
million for more than 115 charities. For more information, visit
www.stwm.ca
About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is committed to supporting the communities in which we live and
work, both in Canada and abroad. Recognized as a leader internationally
and among Canadian corporations for its charitable donations and
philanthropic activities, in 2009 the Bank provided about $39 million in
sponsorships and donations to a variety of projects and initiatives,
primarily in the areas of healthcare, education, social services and arts
and culture. Visit us at www.scotiabank.com.
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