TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon: will Malindi Elmore reclaim the Canadian record?

On Sunday morning, the Canadian marathon title will be contested for the first time in three years at the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon. Several of Canada’s top male and female marathoners will compete against a top field of international talent for a lucrative prize purse and the national title. Here is a preview of all the action and storylines in the women’s elite race.

Canadian championship preview:

Malindi Elmore of Kelowna, B.C., headlines the women’s field after holding the Canadian marathon record for two years until it was broken by Natasha Wodak at the Berlin Marathon last month. Elmore has had her eye on this race since her 11th-place finish at the Boston Marathon this spring, and it will be her first marathon on Canadian soil. Although she did not compete at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Ore., the 42-year-old has expressed an interest in representing Canada again in 2023 and 2024. “I would love to run in Budapest next year, and I see this Sunday as an opportunity to make that happen,” she said at Friday’s press conference in Toronto.

“As marathoners, we need to plan our goals and races years in advance,” says Elmore. “Toronto’s course presents the opportunity to run fast.” This will be the first time the former Canadian record holder will be contesting for the Canadian title, and she’ll be heading into the race as the favourite and looking to secure her spot on the 2023 world championship team.

Defending champion Dayna Pidhoresky returns to Toronto after three years of ups and downs. Pidhoresky won the 2019 edition in a personal best of 2:29:03, which earned her a spot on the 2020 Canadian Olympic marathon team in Tokyo. She had a tough road getting to the Olympic start line, battling injuries in her training build and coming into contact with COVID-19 upon arrival, which meant she had to quarantine in the days before her marathon.  

Although Pidhoresky, 36, won the Vancouver Marathon earlier this year, she still sees Sunday’s marathon as another opportunity for redemption: “After what I went through in Tokyo, I am motivated and hungry for more,” she says. “I want to be on another Canadian Olympic team.” 

Pidhoresky found success here in 2019 and is keen for another fast performance ahead of next year’s Canadian Olympic Trials, which will be run on the same course.  

Toronto’s Sasha Gollish has had a short but strong build for the marathon. The 40-year-old, who has been a bit of a swiss army knife in 2022, won the Canadian championship in trail running and reached the podium at both the Canadian 10K and 10,000m championships. In August, Gollish’s training was halted after she contracted the Norwalk virus on a trip back from Poland. Gollish took upwards of 10 days off, but says her training has come together in the weeks leading up to this race. 

Gollish has a personal best of 2:32:54 from the 2019 Houston Marathon, which earned her a spot on the 2019 Canadian world championship team in Doha, Qatar. Sunday will be her first marathon in three years. 

Elite race preview

The women’s international athletes will be a battle between two former champions: Magdalyne Masai of Kenya and Gelete Burka of Ethiopia. Burka held the Canadian soil record of 2:22:17 from the 2018 Ottawa Marathon until Masai broke her record by one second at the 2019 Toronto Waterfront Marathon (2:22:16).

Burka holds the faster personal best of 2:20:45, but it is unclear what sort of shape she is in, having not raced since 2021. Burka is a three-time Olympian, running the 1,500m in 2008 and 2012, plus finishing eighth in the 10,000m in Rio 2016. She was also a world championship silver medallist in the 10,000m in 2015. 

If the 20-30 km/h wind that is forecast for Sunday subsides, Burka will likely run under the Canadian soil record of 2:22.

A lot has changed for Masai since she won here last in 2019. She gave birth to her first child in late 2020, and Toronto will be her first marathon back. The 28-year-old marathoner alluded to her course knowledge and experience to help her this year, and seems eager to repeat as champion. “I want to run fast, and I believe Toronto is one of the best marathons in the world to do that,” says Masai. 

Canadian Running prediction: Gelete Burka (ETH) 2:21:33

The 2022 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon is back and taking place in Toronto on Oct. 16. All the action will be brought to you by Canadian Running and Asics Canada. Follow us on Twitter on Instagram for up-to-date exclusive news, live-tweeting and other content.