Kenya’s Albert Korir and Ethiopia’s Tigist Girma won the 2019 Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon with strong times of 2:08:03 and 2:26:34, respectively.
OTTAWA, ON (Run Ottawa)– Kenya’s 25-year-old Albert Korir won today’s Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon with a strong time of 2:08:03. Two Ethiopians – Abera Kuma, 28 and Tsedat Ayana, 23, finished close behind with times of 2:08:14 and 2:08:53 respectively.
In the women’s category, Tigist Girma, 25, from Ethiopia pulled ahead of the pack just after the half-way mark to post a personal best time of 2:26:34 – a full 10 seconds faster than her 2018 personal best set at the Guangzhou, China Marathon last December. This marks the 10th year in a row that an Ethiopian woman takes top prize in the marathon distance in Ottawa. Joining Girma in second and third place were fellow Ethiopians Betelhem Moges, 28 with a time of 2:27:00, and Etaferahu Temesgen, 29, with 2:28:44.
Placing eighth overall and the first Canadian man was Reid Coolsaet, 39, from Hamilton. Crossing the finish line with 2:17:37, the two time Olympian was considered one to watch coming into this year’s race. Rounding out the top three Canadians were Alister Gardner, 38, with a time of 2:31:54 and Francois Landry, 43, at 2:36:51.
Top Canadian woman and placing sixth overall today was Dayna Pidhoresky, 32, from Vancouver, who came in at 2:37:19. Second and third place Canadian women were Krista Duchene, 42, with 2:38:46 and Rachel Hannah, 32, with 2:41:31.
“We assembled a very competitive field of men and women elite runners again this year and are pleased with the strong results they delivered,” says Manny Rodrigues, Elite Athlete Coordinator, Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend.
More than 32,000 runners participated in the six races that made up Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend on May 25-26.
No course records were broken this year, but elite racers gave spectators some exciting moments at the finish line of the 10K race with the top two women – Kenyans Dorcas Kimeli and Valery Jemeli finishing just three seconds apart.
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