Leonard Langat defends his Toronto title as Andrew Davies runs the fastest Canadian marathon debut

Leonard Langat of Kenya won the Toronto Waterfront Marathon for the second year running on 18 October, finishing in 2 hours 6 minutes 51 seconds.

Leah Jeruto, also of Kenya, won the women’s race in 2:21:19, her first marathon victory. Behind them, Vancouver’s Andrew Davies ran 2:08:48 in his first marathon to finish ninth and win the Canadian championship, the fastest debut by a Canadian, according to Canadian Running Magazine.

The race is a World Athletics Elite Label road race and doubles as the Canadian Marathon Championships. Conditions were sunny and cool, with 4°C at the start.

Langat the only man under 2:07

Langat is the first man to win Toronto in consecutive years since his compatriot Philemon Rono in 2017, Canadian Running Magazine reported. He was the only man to finish under 2:07, which earned him a $5,000 time bonus, but he was well outside Rono’s course record of 2:05:00 from 2019.

Kenyan men filled the first five places. Fanny Kiprotich was second in 2:07:21 and Noah Kipkemboi third in 2:07:25.

Jeruto broke clear late in the women’s race, surging after the leaders passed 30 km. She had never run faster than 2:24 before, according to Canadian Running Magazine, and her win ended a run of three consecutive Ethiopian victories in the women’s race. Nigsti Haftu of Ethiopia, who did not finish in 2025 after missing a turn, was second in 2:21:34. Waganesh Mekasha’s course record of 2:20:44 survived.

The official timing results from Sportstats list Langat and Jeruto as the overall leaders, with net times one second quicker than the gun times reported by Canadian Running Magazine.

A debut that went better than planned

Davies’s time beat the previous fastest Canadian debut, 2:09:25 by Cam Levins in 2018, which was also a Canadian record at the time, Canadian Running Magazine reported. He and John Gay led the Canadian men through halfway in about 64:46. He had trouble with his drinks bottles around halfway and fumbled another later, Canadian Running Magazine reported, and carried two gels in his pockets as back-up.

“I went out faster than planned, but it felt really easy at the beginning,” Davies said after the race. “But the last 8K were so, so hard.”

John Gay was the second Canadian, 10th overall, in a personal best of 2:13:01, and Perry Mackinnon third in 2:13:35, also on his debut. The Canadian champion received $8,000.

Pidhoresky’s second title, seven years after the first

Dayna Pidhoresky, who ran the marathon for Canada at the Tokyo Olympics, won the women’s national title in a personal best of 2:26:02, eighth woman overall. Her first national title came at the same race in 2019, and she has also finished on the Canadian podium in Toronto in 2016, 2022 and 2023.

“I feel very honoured to be in the midst of those women,” she told Canadian Running Magazine.

Florence Caron was the second Canadian woman in 2:29:37 on her marathon debut, and Lindsay Lamrock third in 2:30:49, a personal best by nine minutes. The defending Canadian champion, Rachel Hannah, finished in 2:41:12.

The next marathon major on the calendar is the New York City Marathon on 1 November.