Posted: September 22, 2005

Athletics: Macharia, Denisova star in strong line-up for Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront HALF

TORONTO. September 22nd, 2005. The illustrious tradition of the Scotiabank Toronto HALF Marathon will continue this Sunday [25th], when over 5,000 runners will toe the start line at Metro Hall for the 16th edition, behind some top international stars.

Leading the charge, as pre-race favourites, will be defending race and Canada Running Series Champion, Giitah Macharia of St.Catharines, and Russia’s Lyubov Denisova.

The race began in 1990 as the Coors Light Toronto Half Marathon, and was one of the first major half-marathons on the North American scene, along with the Philadelphia Distance Classic. It’s reputation was established when it was won the first 2 years by legend Joan Benoit Samuelson, who was then still relatively fresh from her historic victory in the first-ever Olympic Marathon for women in the Los Angeles Games of 1984. For the past 9 years the event has been sponsored by Scotiabank. In 2000, a full marathon was added to the “Half”.

Macharia, who won last year’s edition in 65:39, and went on to take the overall Canada Running Series crown for the year, will be strongly pressed to repeat on Sunday, by a sizable group of African runners. The Kenyan contingent of six will be led by Joseph Kamau, 2nd place finisher at the Boston Marathon in 1997, David Njuguna, Jared Nyamboki and Abbel Ondeyo. A group of 4 Algerians now living in Montreal round out the strong pack: Bagdad Rachem, Oukid Fethi, Dahbi Amor and Recioui Tewfik .

With the good forecast for Sunday [clear and 11 celsius at start time], this group could challenge Virginian Steve Taylor’s race record of 62:29, set in the very first year of the competition. And pressed, Macharia is capable of doing it!

Russia’s Denisova starts as the strong women’s favourite, and could set a new women’s course record. The 34-year-old belongs to the first rank of international distance runners, finishing second in the New York City Marathon last Fall in 2:25:18, and 2nd at Boston in ’04. Her half marathon PR is 1:11:25. Chasing her will be Canadians Sheri Boyle [Toronto], Isabelle Ledroit [Montreal], and Rebecca Stallwood [Burlington, ON].

With over 5,000 starters, however, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront HALF is much more than just an elite event. This year, Runner’s World columnist John “The Penguin” Bingham, guru of slower runners everywhere, has issued a “challenge”: for everyone who beats him in the Half, he’ll donate a dime to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training charity programme. From his secret training camp in Chicago, the Penguin has vowed “no stopping for cappuccino’s this year—let alone breakfast on the way!”

Taking up the challenge will be thousands of fitness enthusiasts, and celebrities like Minister of Education, George Smitherman, who has already raised over $25,000 himself, for the George Hull Centre for Children & Families. Fellow MLA, Peter Fonseca [Liberal-Mississauga East]—the only Olympian currently at Queen’s park will be running with the minister. Fonseca represented Canada in the marathon at the ’96 Games in Atlanta, and no-one has come close to his 2:11 time run at the old Toronto Marathon in 1995. Fonseca is running for the Osteoporosis Society.

Combined, the runners are expected to raise over $500,000 for 42 different local charities in this year’s Charity Challenge.

For encouragement, there will be bands and crowds all along the 21k Lakeshore Boulevard course at Neighbourhood Cheering & Entertainment Centres, urging the charity heroes on with a true Toronto musical masala from Brasilian drumming to tabla, dhol and bhangra, steelbands and Scottish pipers.

It’s still not to late too sign up, at the Expo, Exhibit Hall C, Metro Convention Centre on Front Street, on Friday 23rd, from 11am to 8pm, and Saturday 24th from 10am to 6pm.