Toronto Marathon: Langat breaks clear to retain title

Leonard Langat retained his title at the Toronto Marathon on Sunday 18 October, making the difference after a long race run in a pack. The Kenyan won in 2:06:51 ahead of his compatriots Fanny Kiprotich and Noah Kipkemboi. His surge around the 35th kilometre split the main contenders for victory.

Langat finished thirty seconds clear of Kiprotich, who was second in 2:07:21. Kipkemboi took third place in 2:07:25, four seconds behind the runner-up. The winner was the only one of the three men to get under 2:07.

Staying in the pack, then kicking on

The twelve men in the lead group went through halfway in 1:03:30. Langat was still among them. He did not, therefore, build his win on an early breakaway: the decisive selection came much later, with about seven kilometres still to run.

Around the 35th kilometre, the defending champion lifted the pace. The group broke up, and Langat kept stretching the gap all the way to the finish. Kiprotich finished ahead of Kipkemboi, whose third place extends a run of podium finishes in Toronto: third in 2024, he had been second in 2025.

Five Kenyans in the top five

Kenya's success did not stop at the podium. Asbel Rutto finished fourth in 2:07:32 and Elvis Cheboi fifth in 2:07:37. The top five were thus bunched within forty-six seconds. The winner's margin over the runner-up accounts for thirty of those forty-six seconds: behind Langat, only sixteen seconds separated second and fifth place.

The same day also saw Leah Jeruto win the women's race in 2:21:19. Our round-up of her victory in Toronto looks back at her win ahead of Nigsti Haftu and Ayinadis Teshome. In the men's race, Langat turned a contest that stayed open for a long time into a successful title defence.