TORONTO, Canada (Oct. 15) — USA’s Emily Durgin made an impressive marathon competitive debut on Sunday, finishing fifth at the 2023 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon and clocked an impressive time of 2:26:46, which is also inside the Paris 2024 Olympic Games marathon quality standard.

Highlights

• Buze Diriba wins the women’s race with a personal best of 2:23:11.
• The top four women — all from Ethiopian — finish within seven seconds of each other, marking the closest finish for the podium in race history.
• Emily Durgin makes her marathon debut, securing a 2024 Olympic qualifying time. Top North American finisher on the course today.
• Caroline Pomerleau wins the Canadian Marathon Championships in her marathon debut.

The race was dominated by Ethiopian runners who secured the top four spots, led by race winner Buze Diriba Kejela.

Read more: Top Results: TCS Amsterdam Marathon 2023 results

Durgin, who entered the race with a half marathon personal best of 1:07:54, set in Houston, Texas, last year, went past that marker on Sunday in Toronto at around 72 minutes before slowing down a bit in the second half of the race.

Nevertheless, the American emerged as the fastest North American finisher on the course, with teammates Molly Grabill (2:29:45) and Molly Bookmyer (2:30:37) finishing sixth and eighth, respective.

Meanwhile, Buze Diriba Kejela emerged victorious in the women’s race and Kenya’s Elvis Cheboi won the men’s category. Both winners collected the CAD $20,000 first place prize money.   

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The women’s event witnessed the closest ever finish for the podium place, with the top four women—all from Ethiopia—crossing the finish line within a mere seven seconds of each other.

Buze Diriba, who had a previous personal best of 2:28:06, shattered that mark by almost five minutes, finishing in 2:23:11 to take the victory.

She was closely followed by 2023 Ottawa Marathon champion Waganesh Mekasha in second place, who clocked 2:23:12, and Afera Godfay in third with a time of 2:23:15.

Caroline Pomerleau of Quebec won the Canadian Marathon Championships, finishing 10th overall in her marathon debut with a time of 2:34:44. Anne-Marie Comeau was 11th in 2:34:51 and Dayna Pidhoresky at 2:35:50, finished 12th overall.

Meanwhile, Elvis Cheboi won the men’s 2023 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon race, clocking Elvis 2:09:20 to defeat Ethiopia’s Adugna Takele Bikila (2:10:26) and Kenya’s Alfred Kipchirchir (2:10:56).

Top 20 from the 2023 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon:

Top 20 Women’s Results

1. Buze Diriba Kejela (Ethiopia) – 2:23:11
2. Waganesh Mekasha (Ethiopia) – 2:23:12
3. Afera Godfay (Ethiopia) – 2:23:15
4. Fozya Jemal Amid (Ethiopia) – 2:23:18
5. Emily Durgin (USA) – 2:26:46
6. Molly Grabill (USA) – 2:29:45
7. Meseret Gebre (Ethiopia) – 2:29:54
8. Molly Bookmyer (USA) – 2:30:37
9. Gada Bontu Bekele (Ethiopia) – 2:31:33
10. Caroline Pomerleau (Canada) – 2:34:44
11. Anne-Marie Comeau (Canada) – 2:34:51
12. Dayna Pidhoresky (Canada) – 2:35:50
13. Samantha Jory (Canada) – 2:36:10
14. Katrina Allison (Canada)- 2:40:03
15. Kim Krezonoski (Canada) – 2:40:23
16. Amanda Natale (Canada) – 2:40:35
17. Asia Dwyer (Canada) – 2:42:45
18. Sasha Gollish (Canada) – 2:43:05
19. Lajeunesse Julie (Canada) – 2:44:55
20. Monica Cherot (Kenya) – 2:44:57

Top 20 Men’s Results

1. Elvis Kipchoge Cheboi – 2:09:20
2. Adugna Takele Bikila – 2:10:26
3. Alfred Kipchirchir Mukche – 2:10:56
4. Yohans Mekasha – 2:13:47
5. Jesus Eduardo Aggi Bencomo – 2:13:55
6. Thomas Broatch – 2:16:25
7. Orlando Casillas Velazquez – 2:18:11
8. Benjamin Raymond – 2:20:15
9. Sergio Raez Villanueva – 2:20:48
10. Alejandro Sanchez Viveros – 2:21:13
11. Brendan Wong – 2:22:10
12. Juan Alberto Mena Lopez – 2:22:31
13. Eric Bang – 2:25:39
14. Matt Neumann – 2:26:28
15. Hussein Hashi – 2:28:54
16. Stanley Chaisson – 2:30:17
17. Alexi Rousseau – 2:30:57
18. Jose Salazar Ezquerra – 2:31:39
19. Jean-Marc Doiron – 2:32:44
20. Brent Poulsen – 2:33:19