Chebet, Keter shine in Toronto Marathon
Athletics
By
ERICK OCHIENG'
| May 04, 2016
Every year, Kenyan athletes troop to Toronto, Canada for the annual Good Life Fitness Toronto Marathon.
This year’s race was not an exception as Winny Chebet Tanui won the women’s 10km title in 38:17.3. Chebet was followed by Andrea Smith of Canada, who clocked 38:21.9. Lisa Flemming was third in 38:36.7.
“It was very chilly, which made it made the air heavy and breathing difficult. It was real tough race,”Chebet said after the win.
David Kipkoech Keter from Kapsabet also blamed poor weather for his second-place finish in men’s marathon. Keter clocked 2:37:46 to earn silver behind home guard Bryan Rusche who won gold in 2:35:54. “Apart from battling the cold and rainy weather, I was also affected by jet-lag as I arrived just hours to the marathon. I will organize myself early in next year’s race,” Keter said.
Thomas Kipkosgei finished fourth in the 21km race after clocking 1:10:50.The race was won by Nick Best of Canada in 1:09:17.
Kenyans dominated the races last year with Johana Kariankei bagging gold in the men’s half marathon, while Sammy Kibet Chumba claimed honours in the full marathon. Mama Sarah Obama was last year named the marathon ambassador, where she attended and awarded winers with prizes.
CanKen Sports Club President, Eliud Lagat said his good partnership with the race organizers has seen many Kenyan athletes take part in subsequent races every year. He hailed the organizers for working closely with the club to improve the standards of road races both in Canada and Kenya.
“CanKen Sports Club would like to congratulate Winny Chebet and David Keter for their great performance here in Canada. We hope to see more Kenyan athletes taking part in this race every other year,”Lagat told FeverPitch.
Lagat said CanKen Sports Club is planning several events in collaboration with its partners, including Kenya Tourism Board (Canada) and Kenya High Commission in Ottawa to promote Tourism which is Kenya’s brand image.
“We plan to continue marketing Kenya as a brand in as many countries as possible. Thst is our plan,” said Lagat.