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TORONTO — Kenya's John Kelai sprinted hard the last 300 metres to burst away from defending champion Daniel Rono and set the fastest time ever run on Canadian soil as he won the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Sunday.
Kelai's time of 2 hours 9 minutes 30 seconds knocked 25 seconds off the Canadian open mark set at the 1976 Montreal Olympics by East Germany's Waldmar Cierpinski.
The win was worth $15,000 of the prize purse of more than $100,000 and the open record brought a big bonus of $20,000.
“I tried to make it a fast run after the pacemakers dropped out,” said Kelai, who was in the 2:09 range for the second time in a year. “That will get me consideration for the Olympic team. I wanted this win and the record to get a reputation in Canada and globally. When I packed my luggage in Kenya, it was in my mind that I could try for a personal best and the Canadian record.”
Kelai's win came against the backdrop of a world best time run earlier in the day as Haile Gebrselassie set a new standard of 2:04:26 at the Berlin Marathon.
“That was in my mind, too. I thought that if God is on my side today, I might make the Canadian record,” said Kelai, who had raced the Ottawa marathon last year but finished fourth, hampered by a calf problem. He enjoyed the experience and decided to run in Canada again this year, urged by his friend, Rono.
“I had a dream of the finishing kick last night,” Rono said. “In the dream, John ran a 2:06.
“It was a strong finish today. I used more calories than I expected in the last 10 kilometres and my energy came down. I had the potential to win, and I wound up under the old Canadian record, too”
The women's race was won by Ethiopian Asha Gigi, despite losing her pacemaker at 20 km. Her younger brother Hashem was pacing her for the first time and went out too fast to complete the 30 km he expected.
In Germany, 34-year-old Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie lowered the world mark of 2:04:55 set by friend and Kenyan Paul Tergat four years ago by 29 seconds on the German capital's flat fast course, where six world records have been set.
The Berlin Marathon is the fourth-largest marathon in the world, drawing 40,000 to the race and another 8,000 entries in special events.
