THE PURE JOY OF VICTORY
Ethiopian Gelete Burka, a two-time Olympian, crosses the finish line Sunday in record time in the women’s portion of the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon.
The fastest marathon in Canada by a woman will in the end also benefit some needy children in Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia’s Gelete Burka cruised to victory in the women’s portion of the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon, completing the 42.195-kilometre course through the National Capital Region in two hours 22 minutes 17 seconds.
That was 26 seconds better than the shared standard of Kenya’s Sharon Cherop and Koren Jelela from the 2010 and 2011 editions of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon and two minutes-plus better than the previous course record of 2:24:31 by another Ethiopian, Tigist Tufa, in 2014.
For her sterling efforts, Burka received the $40,000 top prize and a $10,000 bonus for the Ottawa marathon record, at least some of which should end up in the accounts of a charitable foundation for children in her own national capital.
“After this, I am in good (spirits),” said the 32-year-old Burka, a two-time Olympian and world track and cross-country medallist at distances up to 10,000 metres. She crossed the finish line on the Queen Elizabeth Driveway near city hall more than four minutes ahead of compatriot Hiwot Gebrekidan (2:26:11).
“When you are a runner now and see all the great athletes … I look at myself in the top 10 for these athletes. I am improving time after time in the marathon. when I look at everybody, the famous athletes in the marathon, I look at myself for the future to get good marathon (results), to get maybe the next Olympic gold. I’m thinking of that.”
Sara Hall of the United States finished third, just nine seconds behind Gebrekidan.
“When I saw her, that really got the most out of me that last mile, having someone to chase,” said Hall, who had written pace times to match the on-course markings that were in kilometres on the backs of her hands. “I thought maybe I could catch her, but no. She deserved it. She was really brave.”
Ethiopians Betelhem Moges (2:33:43) and Aberu Mekuria (2:35:05), the 2015 Ottawa champion, were fourth and fifth. Kait Toohey of Princeton, Ont., was the leading Canadian woman in eighth place with her time of 2:45.07.
Speaking of catching someone, that was exactly what Ethiopia’s Yemane Tsegay did to duplicate his 2014 Ottawa marathon crown.
Tsegay dropped about 100 metres behind Kenya’s John Korir between the 37- and 39-kilometre marks, but reeled in the competitor making his marathon debut before they reached 40 and ended up with a 22-second margin of victory.
Sunday’s winning time of 2:08:52 was a creditworthy performance on a day when gusting winds played havoc with pace setting.
Korir was timed in 2:09:14. Third was Ethiopia’s Adugna Takele in 2:09:26, while Kenya’s Amos Mitei topped up his contractual payment for pace-setting by finishing fourth in 2:09:56.
Ethiopia’s Deriba Robi was fifth, followed by another Kenyan pacesetter, Julius Kogo, in 2:11:55.
Top Canadian was Tristan Woodfine of Cobden, 10th overall in 2:18:55.
Tsegay’s triumph capped a comeback from an injury last year that cost him several months of training.
“Then after two, three months, my injury finished and I prepared for the Ottawa Marathon because in 2014 I was here and I ran a good time and won a Hyundai, a good car,” he said, referring to the extra award he received for what was not only a course record, but also at that time the fastest marathon by a man on Canadian soil.
The latter record stood until last fall, when Kenya’s Philemon Rono ran 2:06:52 in Toronto.
Korir is the 21-year-old brother of former Los Angeles and Boston Marathon champion Wesley Korir. They had trained together in Kenya and in Kitchener-Waterloo — Wesley’s wife is Canadian distance runner Tarah Korir — and had hoped to race together in Ottawa.
However, Wesley, whose best result in two previous appearances here was fourth in 2015, was recently sidelined by shin problems.
“I feel good. I feel happy,” John Korir said. “I tried to maintain my pace. I couldn’t, but I got second place. I didn’t have any expectations.”
Wesley, 35, said he knew his sibling had missed a shot a winning, but wasn’t disappointed by the late turn of events.
“In the marathon, you never know. It’s a race that anything can happen. At that (37-39 kilometres) time, I was optimistic, but I was cautious and realistic knowing that he’s still inexperienced, a young kid. I was cautious, but I knew that he was in shape. You were wondering, ‘Does the distance get him or does he handle the distance?’
“The guy that won (Tsegay), he is an experienced guy. He has won here before, he knows the course, he knows the marathon. He has won so many marathons.”
Victory was worth $40,000 each to Burka and Tsegay and she received an additional $10,000 for establishing a new event record.