Krista DuChene, Lioudmila Kortchaguina join Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon field

Krista DuChene and masters phenom Lioudmila Kortchaguina will join an all-star field at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 20.

DuChene, 36, of Brantford, Ont., was forced to drop out at the 12K mark of the world championships marathon in Moscow earlier this month due to the heat, leaving her legs fresh for a run at Toronto’s IAAF Silver Label event put on by Canada Running Series.

Kortchaguina, 42, of Thornhill, Ont., is still riding high after winning the Canadian marathon championships at the Ottawa Marathon in May in a Canadian masters record time of 2:33:11.

The October weather in Toronto will almost certainly be better than the oppressive heat in Moscow that forced 23 women to drop out, including Ethiopia’s Olympic champion Tiki Gelana.

DuChene ran a personal best of 2:32:06 at the 2012 Rotterdam Marathon and had hoped to shoot for a 2:26 at the worlds, but that plan came to a crashing halt when she collapsed.

“It was a pretty low moment when I was in that ambulance with Dave [Scott-Thomas, the Canadian coach],” DuChene told Canada Running Series writer Paul Gains. “When he got the call that people were dropping out I thought ‘OK it’s not just me.'”

DuChene said a sub-2:28 was “the conservative goal” in Moscow, which would be under the Canadian record of 2:28:36. “I ran 70:52 in the Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon in June and my training got even better after that,” she said. “It’s too early to tell what my goal time will be for Toronto Waterfront. We will just have to see how training goes. That was our goal. Hopefully it will be pretty close to that for Toronto.”

Scotiabank has put up a bonus of $28,000 for a new women’s record – $1,000 for every year the record has stood. Only three Canadian women have ever run under 2:30 and Kortchaguina is one of them.

DuChene and Kortchaguina join previously announced Natasha Wodak who makes her marathon debut in Toronto at the age of 31. They will duel with an international field which includes up-and-coming Ethiopian marathoner Dinknesh Mekash, who finished 4th at the 2013 Paris Marathon in 2:25:09 and is looking for a course record in Toronto.

The winners in the marathon receive $20,000 and there is an additional $35,000 on offer for a course record. The first Canadian male and female to cross the line will earn and additional $5,000.