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TORONTO — Caroline Pomerleau put her hand over her mouth and was wide-eyed being told what she accomplished in her marathon debut.

The Quebec City native claimed the women's Canadian marathon title, while Thomas Broatch, also making his marathon debut, captured the national men's crown at the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Sunday.

After crossing the finish line, Pomerleau didn't realize she had won the title until she was informed by an official while being handed a Canadian flag to pose for photos with. 

"I cannot believe what happened," she said with the flag draped over her shoulders. "I never ran a marathon, only half-marathons, so I (thought) the distance was going to be a big challenge for me, so I'm just going to take it easy."

Pomerleau crossed the finish line in two hours 34 minutes 44 seconds to finish 10th overall on a windy fall morning. Ethiopia's Buze Diriba was the overall winner at 2:23:11.

Pomerleau's goal was to run between 2:35 and 2:40 and was more focused on her time than where she finished.

"The plan was to check how I feel about the first five (kilometres). If it was too difficult, slow down," she said. "If it was easy, keep the pace … it was easy, I stuck to that and I did it until the end."

Anne-Marie Comeau (2:34:51) of Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que., was the second Canadian, placing 11th overall. Comeau ran her first marathon in 2019 and hadn't run one since, setting a personal best on Sunday.

"It's better for me, not skiing, because I can full-time train as a runner," said Comeau, who competed for Canada in cross-country skiing at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. "I knew if I was doing under 2:35, I would be happy."

Dayna Pidhoresky (2:35:50) of Tecumseh, Ont., who competed in the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, finished 12th overall as the third Canadian.

The 36-year-old Pidhoresky said she dealt with muscle spasms in her legs during the race but didn't want to drop out. 

Having also dealt with a shin issue a month out from Sunday's event and having to adjust her training to being on the bike for the most part, she knew she had to reassess her goal of hitting the Olympic qualifying standard of 2:26:50.

"Just tried to stay engaged and tried to get to the finish line, it's the Canadian championship, I can't just drop out," she said.

"It's been a huge mental battle just to get to the start line," she added. "I gained so much confidence from doing a lot of running and workouts and I felt like I didn't have that but I was still trying to give myself the opportunity to just see."

But Pidhoresky — the Canadian champion in 2019 and winner of the Vancouver Marathon in May — acknowledged that although it won't be easy to hit the qualifying standard for next year's Paris Olympics, she feels she came out tougher from Sunday's race.

The deadline for marathon Olympic qualification is April 30, two months earlier than the majority of athletics events.

Vancouver's Broatch claimed the men's national title at 2:16:25, finishing sixth overall. Kenya's Elvis Cheboi was the overall winner at 2:09:20.

"I'm really stoked to be a national champion, that was my goal going into this race," Broatch said. "Super happy to achieve that, and also I've run a pretty good time."

Broatch said his legs felt "fried" with about seven or eight kilometres left in the race but pushed through thanks to a number of factors.

"The crowd was incredible, I was told there'd be a lot of good energy and I think that definitely helped me push," he said. "Also just thinking about all that training and all the work I've put in going into this.

"My parents were watching too from Victoria, wanted them to see a good race."

Benjamin Raymond (2:20:15) of Laval, Que., finished as the second Canadian and eighth overall, while Sergio Villanueva (2:20:48) of Mississauga, Ont., placed ninth overall as the third Canadian.

About 23,800 runners participated in the 5K, half-marathon and marathon. The 42.195-kilometre marathon course first stretched west and then east along the lakeshore, with the start and finish line being in front of Toronto City Hall. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2023.

Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press