ATHLETICS

Leah Jeruto of Kenya ran with the leaders through a cold, windy morning on the Toronto waterfront, then pulled away over the final five kilometers to win the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Sunday in 2:21:19. Ethiopia's Nigsti Haftu finished second in 2:21:34, 15 seconds back, and her compatriot Ayinadis Teshome was third in 2:22:51.

The time was a breakthrough for Jeruto. She came to Toronto with a personal best of 2:24:31, set while finishing fourth at the Cape Town Marathon in May, and took more than three minutes off it. Only two women have run faster on the Toronto course. The leaders were chasing the course record of 2:20:44 that Ethiopia's Waganesh Mekasha set in 2024, and Jeruto finished 35 seconds outside it.

The early pace was controlled. Ten women ran behind two designated pacers with a cold westerly wind blowing off Lake Ontario, and the leaders reached halfway in 1:10:58. One pacer dropped out along the way, and the pack thinned until three women were left to contest the win. Jeruto was the only one able to stay with the remaining pacer, who ran to 40 kilometers and then carried her one more. From there she ran alone along the lake, and Haftu could not close the gap before the finish.

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Buze Diriba of Ethiopia won the TCS Amsterdam Marathon in a course record of 2:16:10, running down a field that spent most of the morning well off record pace in cold, wet conditions. Her time broke the 2:16:52 that Yalemzerf Yehualaw set in 2024 and took more than three minutes off Diriba's personal best.

Defending champion Aynalem Desta finished second in 2:17:06. Meseret Belete, the 2023 Amsterdam winner, was third in 2:18:05, and Ethiopian runners filled the first six places. Tiringo Mulu was fourth, Mestawut Fikir fifth and Girmawit Gebrzihair sixth. Mikky Keetels was the top Dutch finisher, 14th in just over 2:30, with Bregje Smits the next Dutch woman home about 20 seconds later.

For much of the race a record looked out of reach. The leaders passed 25 kilometers 48 seconds behind record schedule, and they were still behind it deep into the second half. The race was decided in the closing stretch, where Diriba found a finishing sprint that Desta could not match and carried enough speed into the Olympic Stadium to get under the old mark.

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