© Copyright – 2017 – Athletics Illustrated

Trevor Hofbauer is the 2017 Canadian Marathon Champion after winning the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in the time of 2:18:06. It was his debut.

The Calgary native, now living in Guelph, took the time to celebrate with the crowd before crossing the finish line, which cost him his sub-2:18:00-time bonus. The bonus is valued at $1250 dollars. A subsequent crowdfunding campaign was launched and he has since made the money back, plus extra. At last count $2616 was raised.

Hofbauer has had a strong year in 2017, leading up to his marathon. He competed well in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships that took place in Kampala, Uganda. He finished 71st overall and first of five Canadians competing.

He also competed in the NACAC Cross Country Championships finishing in ninth position. Hofbauer ran the Grimsby 10k in a new best time of 29:36.

Asked about his goal time and how he feels about the performance, he told Athletics Illustrated, “I’m very happy with how the race went and the overall experience. We did not target a specific time.”

Hofbauer finished ninth overall. The race was won by Kenyan Philemon Rutto, who ran the fastest marathon time on Canadian soil with his 2:06:52. Kenyan Dixon Chumba finished well back at 2:09:11, while the third-place finisher Solomon Deksisa crossed the line in the time of 2:11:27. The Ethiopian has run as fast as 2:06:22 on the Rotterdam course.

Rutto earned $75,000 for winning the race and setting the course and Canadian record with his new personal best time.

Leslie Sexton won the women’s race, finishing in the time of 2:35:47 and is the 2017 Canadian Marathon champion. She won $2,500 for her efforts.

Sexton’s personal best of 2:33:23 came on the same course in 2015.

Marta Megra, Sutume Asefa and Sarah Jebet were the top three female runners overall. They finished in 2:28:20, 2:29:26 and 2:30:02 respectively.

Sexton finished in 30th position overall and fifth female.

As long as Sexton and Hofbauer’s end up as within 98% of the top-five performances in the Commonwealth and are top-three in Canada, they preliminary qualify for the 2018 Commonwealth Games taking place in Gold Coast, Australia.

Hofbauer’s splits:
00:16:10  00:31:49  00:47:58  01:04:12  01:07:48  01:20:40  01:37:09  01:53:40  02:10:41  02:18:06

Sexton’s splits:
00:18:19  00:36:38  00:55:13  01:13:46  01:17:52  01:32:07  01:50:26  02:08:46  02:27:30  02:35:47