Toronto's waterfront belonged to Kenya on Sunday — and to one remarkable Canadian debut. Leonard Langat defended his TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon title in 2:06:51, becoming the first man to repeat as champion since Philemon Rono in 2017, and Leah Jeruto surged clear in the final 10 kilometres to win the women's race in 2:21:19, her first career marathon victory.
Langat took control after 35 kilometres, dragging compatriot Noah Kipkemboi with him before pulling away on the final straight. He was the only man under 2:07, earning a $5,000 time bonus, with Fanny Kiprotich second in 2:07:21 and Kipkemboi third in 2:07:25. Rono's 2:05:00 course record from 2019 still stands. Jeruto, meanwhile, cut roughly three minutes off her personal best, finishing ahead of Ethiopians Nigsti Haftu (2:21:34) and Ayinadis Teshome (2:22:51).
The Canadian story of the day came from Andrew Davies of Vancouver. The 25-year-old finished ninth overall in 2:08:48 on his marathon debut — the fastest debut in Canadian history and the fourth-fastest marathon ever by a Canadian — to win the Canadian Marathon Championships, which the World Athletics Elite Label race doubled as this year. Kelowna's John Gay was 10th in a personal-best 2:13:01.
On the women's side, Windsor's Dayna Pidhoresky ran a personal-best 2:26:02 to take the Canadian title, her second national crown and first since 2019, while Canadians also swept the half marathons: Mississauga's Dylan Alick won the men's race in 1:03:49 and Kingston's Teagan Robertson the women's in 1:13:58.
