CHEBOY, AREGAVI WIN WET AND COLD OTTAWA MARATHON
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission.
OTTAWA (May 24) — On a cold and rainy morning here, Elvis Cheboy of Kenya and Abeba Aregawi of Sweden won the 50th edition of the Tamarack Homes Ottawa International Marathon in 2:09:22 and 2:23:12, respectively. Those finishing times were very good considering the wet track (with some standing water), 10C/50F temperatures, intermittent rain throughout the race and strong winds. It is noteworthy that the conditions were better than initially predicted. Environment Canada had predicted heavy rain as early as Friday.
“It’s not perfect, but it could be worse,” said former Toronto Water Marathon race director Alan Brooks, who watched the race from the sidelines.
Race organizers had hoped this year’s field could challenge the race records of 2:06:04 for the men and 2:22:17 for the women, but backed away from those goals as the weather developed. Pacemakers wisely came out for both men and women, keeping the lead boxes longer than usual in a big marathon.
That was especially true in the men’s race, where eight contenders, plus three pacers, were together at the halfway mark in 1:04:24. Behind Kenyan leader Peter Njeru, Chebo was joined by compatriots Luke Kibet Cheruiyot, Kipsambu Kimakal, Canada’s Rory Linklater and Ethiopians Giselev Ayana, Afework Mesfin, Gebretzadik Abraha and Mulugeta Debasu Mereh. Njeru kept the pace very steady.
Linklater, who lives and trains in Ariz. in Flagstaff, MA and ran a 2:06:04 at the Boston Marathon last month, actually liked the conditions.
“Honestly, I felt like it was a beautiful day to run a marathon,” Linklater said. “The streets were alive with a bit of rain and a bit of wind. I felt the competition brought out the best from across the field.”
Njeru stayed at the front throughout the 35-K, keeping the leader’s box intact. After Njeru signaled to the field that he was leaving, it was Linklater who cycled to the front first, followed by Cheboy. Abraha and Mere fell back and Cheboy saw his opening. The winner of the Marathon de La Rochelle in France last November decided to pick up the pace.
“At 35 kilometers the body was feeling good, so I decided to push a bit,” Cheboy told Race Results Weekly.
Chebo’s mini wave wasn’t good enough to throw the race away, but his next one was. She ran 2:59 for the 41st kilometer and only Ayana could hang with her. That set up a long sprint home where Cheboy was able to pull away from Ayana to win by four seconds.
“At the finish line, I didn’t expect (to win),” said Cheboy, who won CAD 24,000 in prize money. “I thought the second guy was winning.”
Ayana clocked 2:09:26 and Linkletter finished third in 2:09:43. The Canadian half-marathon (59:49) record holder was pleased with her run, especially considering the one-month turnaround since Boston. He did the same double in 2025 and took second place here.
“Back to back years at the podium again,” Linklater said. “I’d love to win it for Canada one of these years. I’m just going to keep swinging until it comes my way.”
Mesfin (2:09:57) and Abraha (2:10:05) rounded out the top five. Ethiopia’s Shura Kitata, the 2020 London Marathon winner, who dropped off the pace early and appeared to be struggling, finished seventh in 2:11:12. American Patrick Cullen qualified for the 2028 US Olympic Trials with a ninth-place personal best of 2:13:18.
Aregavi surprisingly won the women’s race. The 35-year-old athlete, who won a silver medal in the 1500m race at the 2012 London Olympics and a gold medal at the 2013 World Indoor Athletics Championships, made her debut in the marathon today. Her race was going well in the first half (she was in the lead of four women, clocking 1:10:54), but it took a turn for the worse. When the pack split after 30-K, he was dropped by Ethiopia’s Tahir Kuftu and his male paceman. He was left alone to run and looked to be second.
“I didn’t feel good, but I tried to follow them,” a trembling Aregavi told Race Results Weekly.
Indeed, he did. Aregavi overtook the slowing Kuftu and put more than two minutes on him by the end, 2:23:12 to 2:25:33. He looked shocked to win.
“I get them,” he said of Kuftu and his speedster. “My feeling is good and I won.”
Kenya’s Betty Chepkorir, who came a minute before the halfway mark, finished third in 2:25:51. He was followed by a pair of Ethiopians, Meseret Belete and Meskerem Assefa, who finished fourth and fifth in 2:26:39 and 2:27:04 respectively.
Elisa Lego from Quebec was the top Canadian in ninth place with a time of 2:29:13. The 31-year-old trailed Canadian marathon record holder Natasha Wodak by about 20 seconds at the halfway point, but overtook Wodak early in the second half as the 44-year-old began to struggle. His time was just eight seconds off his personal best of 2:29:05, set in much better conditions in Valencia last December.
“It means a lot, especially since Natasha was on the starting line,” Lego said of being the first Canadian. “I am very proud of my race.”
Vodak resented his race. He finished 11th in 2:33:15 and had said before the race that he was aiming for 2:28.
“When you have to stop and walk, it’s not really your day,” Wodak told Race Results Weekly. “I have these cramps all the time. Not sure why because I don’t get them during training. Halfway through I just couldn’t get fuel and had to turn 28-k.
– – – – – – – – –
The Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend saw over 40,000 participants across all events, their highest post-pandemic total. While Sunday’s marathon and half marathon totals were still in the charts, last night’s 5-K and 10-K had 8,058 and 6,984 finishers, respectively.
