The promise of an excellent re-match between 31 year-old returning champion, John Kelai of Kenya, and 24 year old Tariku Jufar of Ethiopia, highlights the strongest-ever men’s field for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, announced today for the 9th edition, to be run on September 28th.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\nKelai is an athlete who knows how to win. \u00a0<\/p>\n He created major<\/p>\n a thrilling, come-from-behind, sprint to the line over fellow countryman Daniel \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Since last Fall, Kelai “I am training hard for Toronto \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Thanks to Scotiabank \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The increased purse \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/font><\/font><\/font>excitement across Canada last year when he triumphed in
\n<\/p>\n
\nRono. His time of 2:09:30 was the fastest marathon ever on Canadian soil. It
\neclipsed the previous All-comers mark of 2:09:55 that had stood for 31 years
\nsince the Montreal Olympics in 1976 — run 4 months before Kelai was born. Kelai
\nand Rono made Scotia Toronto Waterfront one of only four sub 2:10 marathons in
\nNorth America in 2007 and helped propel the
\nevent into the top ranks of world marathons with the awarding of an IAAF Silver
\nLabel for 2008. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nhas maintained his winning ways, running to victory in Mumbai for the second
\nyear in a row, in January. Again, he used his patented strong finish to defeat a
\nyoung Ethiopian, Tariku Jufar, by a scant 5 seconds, 2:12:23 to 2:12:28. This
\nwas only 20 seconds off the course record at Mumbai and reminiscent of his
\nthrilling, 6-second victory at Toronto Waterfront \u0089\u00e2\u00c2\u00e8\u00cf07. Jufar then went on to
\nrecord an impressive 2:08:11, for 3rd place in Hamburg in April. Daniel
\nRono was 2nd place again, in Rotterdam this Spring, but in a remarkable
\n2:06:58. Jufar now has the time, but no victories; Kelai clearly knows how to
\nwin.\u00a0 \n<\/p>\n
\nWaterfront and will be ready to defend my title, and run a new PR [2:09:09,
\nEindhoven 2005],\u0089\u00e2\u00c2VbCrLf<\/em> says Kelai. \u00a0It promises to be a fine
\nduel.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nsponsorship, the Toronto Waterfront prize purse has been increased again for
\n2008, to $20,000 for first place, with money going down to 8th in the
\nOpen division. In addition, Scotiabank is also offering the extra $20,000 cash
\nbonuses for new “fastest time on Canadian soil\u0089\u00e2\u00c2VbCrLf records that were so alluring
\nlast year– now sub 2:09:30 for men and sub 2:26:01 for women. The men’s bonus
\nwill be increased to $25,000 if the new mark is under 2:09:00. The total purse
\nis just over $180,000, plus time bonuses.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nand growing reputation of the flat, fast, Waterfront course as a place where
\nyoung up-and-comers can get a fast time, have attracted the event’s deepest
\nmen’s field to date. Besides Kelai, Kenya will be well represented by
\nPeter Kiprotich, Jonathan Yego, Phillip Sanga, Kenneth Mungara, David Tarus and
\nSamuel Ndereba. The 29-year old Kiprotich, from Iten, ran his PR of 2:08:49 last
\nOctober in Frankfurt, placing third. Yego, just
\n30 years old, won Rome on a windy morning this
\nMarch in his best time of 2:09:58 — winning a good battle with Sanga who was
\n2nd in 2:10:02.The 27 year-old Tarus was 6th at Rome in a best of 2:11:18.
\nMungara also knows how to win, crossing the line first in Prague in May, after a
\n2:10:37 for 2nd at Tiberius in January. Samuel Ndereba, younger
\nbrother of Olympic silver medalist Catherine “The Great\u0089\u00e2\u00c2VbCrLf, has run only one
\nprevious marathon, a 2:17:04 for 9th in the “monsoon\u0089\u00e2\u00c2VbCrLf that was Boston
\n’07, where Robert K. Cheruiyot ran 2:14 for victory. Ndereba’s 61:50 half PR,
\nand good, build-up performances at Falmouth and The Crim this summer suggest he is
\nready to run in the sub-2:10 pack.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n