Broatch, Pomerleau win Canadian titles at Toronto Waterfront Marathon
Kenya's Cheboi wins men's race in 2:09:20, Ethiopia's Diriba takes women's in 2:23:11
Thomas Broatch and Caroline Pomerleau captured the top Canadian finishes in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Sunday in what was the marathon debut for both runners.
Broatch, of Vancouver, finished sixth overall in a time of two hours 16 minutes and 25 seconds.
"[I] felt really good the first 30K or so, and it got very tough the last 10K, much more than I was expecting but I was really happy I was able to hang on decently well in the last 5K," Broatch told Kate Van Buskirk.
"I'm super happy."
WATCH | Broatch takes Canadian men's title at Toronto Waterfront Marathon:
Benjamin Raymond (2:20:15) of Laval, Que., finished as the second Canadian and eighth overall, while Sergio Villanueva (2:20:48) of Mississauga, Ont., placed ninth overall as the third Canadian.
Kenya's Elvis Cheboi crossed the line first in the men's race in 2:09:20.
WATCH | Cheboi wins men's event in Toronto:
Quebec City's Pomerleau – the 10th woman to finish – crossed the line in 2:34:44, passing fellow Anne Marie Comeau (2:34:51), of Saint-Ferreol-les-Neiges, Que., on the homestretch to take the Canadian title.
WATCH | Pommerleau takes Canadian women's title:
"I cannot believe what happened," she said with the flag draped over her shoulders. "I never ran a marathon, only half-marathons, so I [thought] the distance was going to be a big challenge for me, so I'm just going to take it easy."
Ethiopia's Buze Diriba won the women's event in 2:23:11.
Dayna Pidhoresky (2:35:50) of Tecumseh, Ont., who competed in the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, finished 12th overall as the third Canadian.
The 36-year-old Pidhoresky, the Canadian champion in 2019 and winner of the Vancouver Marathon in May, said although it won't be easy to hit the qualifying standard of 2:26:50 for next year's Paris Olympics, she feels she came out tougher from Sunday's race.
WATCH | Ethiopia's Diriba wins women's title in Toronto:
The deadline for marathon Olympic qualification is April 30, two months earlier than the majority of athletics events.
About 23,800 runners participated in the 5K, half-marathon and marathon. The 42.195-kilometre marathon course first stretched west and then east along the lakeshore, with the start and finish line being in front of Toronto City Hall.
With files from The Canadian Press
