Kenya’s Beatrice Cheserek will return to the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 18, 2026, a year after choosing the race for her debut over the 42.2km distance—and she arrives with far greater ambition.
The now 27‑year‑old placed 5th last year in 2:30:25. Four months later, she stunned observers with a massive improvement, finishing second at the Seville Marathon in 2:21:56. The reason, she says, is straightforward.
“This year my training is stronger than last year because then (2025) I was coming from maternity,” she explains from her hotel room in Bogotá, Colombia, where she had just finished 4th at the Bogotá Half Marathon.
“So it’s more training than last year. I have done a lot of mileage—speed work and strength—so now I can run better.”
Cheserek’s husband, Cyrus Kiplagat, is her primary training partner, and she now runs up to 150 kilometres per week in preparation for Toronto, a World Athletics Elite Label race.
In 2024, the couple welcomed their son, Fabian. “He is doing good. He is almost three years old now,” she says proudly. While she is away training and racing, her sister‑in‑law cares for him.
“Toronto last year—it’s a good place, but it was my first time running a marathon,” she recalls. “I was doubting myself because it was my debut. I was doubting whether I could finish or if I would drop out. Then afterwards I raced Seville and I was happy there. I am thinking I will do something in Toronto.”
That “something” is a new personal best—and, if conditions cooperate, a challenge to the Toronto Waterfront Marathon course record, set in 2024 by Ethiopia’s Waganesh Mekasha (2:20:44). She won’t be alone in the attempt: Canada Running Series will again provide pacemakers, and this time Cyrus will join them as one of two designated pacers for the lead women’s group.
Cheserek owns a superb half‑marathon best of 1:06:48, prompting early speculation that her move to the marathon would be significant. Her talent has already been recognized at the highest level: she served as designated pacemaker for Rosemary Wanjiru at the 2023 Tokyo Marathon and paced the elite women’s field at the 2025 London Marathon. Having Cyrus beside her in Toronto, she says, will be invaluable.
“Even before I went to Seville, I was with him training, and he was the one pushing me,” she adds. “It is good for me that Cyrus will be in Toronto to try to lower the course record. All the marathon races before, I was pacing, so he never came with me. It was just me and the other people. And he was not in Seville.”
Beatrice and her family live in Iten, Kenya—“The Home of Champions”—at roughly 2,400m above sea level. Bogotá sits slightly higher, so her two‑week stay in Colombia has not disrupted her altitude‑based preparation.
“I am spending two weeks in Colombia; this is my first time to be here,” she says. “Colombia is a very good place for training. It is also a good place to race in hot conditions. I have my fellow colleagues from Kenya here.”
Cheserek finished 4th at the Bogotá Half Marathon on July 26 in 1:12:42, just 13 seconds behind the winner. As expected, athletes from high‑altitude nations dominated the race. On August 9, she placed 4th at the Cali 10K (32:57), the day before a 7.4‑magnitude earthquake struck. She and her compatriots were at the Cali airport checking in when panic erupted; they returned to their hotel after the airport was temporarily closed.
The TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon organizers at Canada Running Series will be hoping for ideal conditions to allow athletes like Beatrice Cheserek to challenge the course records. Her preparation, clearly, is aimed squarely at October 18.
With files from Paul Gains.
