Toronto Waterfront Marathon champion Elvis Cheboi is confident of retaining his crown when he toes the start line in the Canadian capital on October 20.
Cheboi clocked 2:09:20 to secure the title last year, leaving Ethiopia’s Adugna Takele (2:10:26) and Alfred Kipchirchir (2:10:56) in his wake.
Cheboi is confident he has what it takes to defend his title.
“I am grateful to the organisers for inviting me. I’m really looking forward to returning to Toronto. While I’ll give it my best shot to win again, I can’t make any promises,” Cheboi told Athletics Illustrated.
Cheboi is banking on favourable conditions to secure his second title.
“Good weather on race day will be crucial if I’m to run my best time,” he said.
About last year, he said: “The win was really memorable because it was my first marathon victory and first win abroad.”
Cheboi’s resume includes a third-place finish at the 2022 Barcelona Half Marathon where he clocked 59:15.
He trailed Ethiopian’s Hafta Teklu (59:06) and Chala Regasa (59:10).
He is a runner-up from the 2022 Lisbon Half Marathon in a time of 1:01:03 behind Ethiopia’s Mohamed Esa (1:01:00).
In 2018, he clocked 28:14 for second place at the Agadir 10km Road race in Morocco.
He is a world junior silver medallist in the 10,000m from Eugene 2014, where he clocked 28:35.20 behind Olympic champion Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda (28:32.86) and ahead of Nicholas Kosimbei (28:38.68).
Cheboi won silver during the 2013 African Junior Championships in Mauritius, clocking 28:36.28 behind Uganda’s Martin Kurong (28:31.80) and ahead of Josphat Kiprop (28:37.09).
Standing in Cheboi’s path to victory this year is Paris Marathon champion Mulugeta Asefa of Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian clinched the Paris title in 2:05:33, beating Kenyans Titus Kipruto (2:05:48) and Elisha Rotich (2:06:54) to the title.
His other credentials include a runner-up finish at last year’s Frankfurt Marathon (2:06:47) behind Brimin Kipkorir (2:04:53).
He is a silver medallist in the 1500m (3:41.10) from the 2015 World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia.
