By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
OTTAWA (25-May) — After several days of rainy and unseasonably cold weather, the sun finally came out here in the Canadian capital and it shone brightest on Albert Korir and Mercy Chelangat. The two Kenyans won the 51st edition of the Tartan Ottawa International Marathon by comfortable margins. For Korir, who clocked 2:08:22, this was his second victory here (he also won in 2019). For Chelangat, who was timed in 2:23:33, today’s race was her first-ever marathon. Both winners earned CAD 20,000 in prize money (=USD 14,560).
KORIR GOES IT ALONE
The men’s race began with a tightly-bunched pack following two pacemakers through 5-K in 15:06 and 10-K in 30:08, on pace to run in the 2:06’s. Korir was right in front of the pack along with Canadian Rory Linkletter, American C.J. Albertson, and Ethiopians Demeke Tesfaye and Belay Tilahun. Everybody looked comfortable.
But Korir –who had originally planned to run the Boston Marathon last month, but had to withdraw due to an ankle injury– was itching to run faster.
“I was feeling good so I was seeing the pacer was, like, slow,” Korir told Race Results Weekly. “I had to push and I had it on my mind that I had to win this one.”
The pack held together on the climb up Alexandra Bridge where the runners move from Ontario to Quebec, but soon after Korir decided to make his move. He ran 2:56 for the 20th kilometer, dropped his pacer, and opened up a gap on the rest of the field. By the time he hit halfway (1:03:12) he had an 18-second lead on Linkletter and Albertson. The two Ethiopians had fallen even further behind.
From there, Korir ran alone. Wearing bright red adidas kit, he clicked off the kilometers and repeatedly looked at his watch and shot glances behind him to see if anyone was catching up.
“I was trying to keep the distance, and I was also trying to track them not to close the gap,” Korir explained.
Korir’s lead inched-up to 22 seconds by 30-K, and 28 seconds by 35-K. He seemed to have the win in his pocket, but Linkletter felt he had enough energy left to try to close the gap. The Canadian Olympian picked up his pace.
“Honestly, I didn’t feel that good the first 30-K,” Linkletter told reporters. “Like, it was fine, but I wasn’t full of confidence that I was going to make the distance.” He continued: “Like, at some point I’ve got to see if I can close this gap a little. With 5-K to go I was like, let’s run 1-K hard and see how much I can close it down. I was closing it, but not enough, not fast enough.”
Linkletter’s move brought him within nine seconds of Korir by the finish, and his time of 2:08:31 was the fastest ever recorded by a Canadian on Canadian soil. It also put him 24 seconds ahead of Albertson who clocked 2:08:55, the second fastest time of his career. The American was surprised that he survived in the second half after running 1:03:20 in the first. Both he and Linkletter had run the Boston Marathon five weeks ago.
“I ran pretty fast,” Albertson told Race Results Weekly. “I think Brooks is making some good shoes because I don’t know how I ran that fast with my training, but it was nice.”
CHELANGAT RUNS HER OWN RACE
Chelangat, and her HOKA Northern Arizona Elite coach Jack Mullaney, had a plan for today’s race. She was supposed to follow the male pacers in the first half and not think about much else. But that plan fell apart when the pacers were moving too quickly, about 10 seconds per mile too fast, and she decided to drop back. Watching the race broadcast it was easy to think that she had been dropped, but she had made a decision.
“I was just like, I’m going to run my own race,” Chelangat told Race Results Weekly. “We were kind of going so fast, like faster than the (planned) pace at the beginning. It was like 5:20’s, low, like every time, every mile. So, they were kind of going fast, so I was not sure how I’m going to feel at the end because that’s not how you want to start your first marathon.”
Chelangat ran 1:10:59 for her first half, and split 1:51:36 at 30-K. That put her 14 seconds behind Ethiopians Meseret Gebre and Fantu Shugi. Chelangat was feeling good, but she was dealing with another challenge. She was having trouble opening the drinking tips of her bottles. She ended up unscrewing the tops and drinking from the wide opening, instead.
“I had to open the water thing and like chug it,” she said, pointing to the dried sheen of energy drink that had spilled on her legs.
In the 34th kilometer she caught up to Gebre who had previously dropped Shugi (she would later drop out). The pair briefly ran together before Chelangat began to pull away escorted by male pacers Andrew Alexander and Sammy Kirongo. From there she expanded her lead with every kilometer, eventually finishing almost five minutes ahead of her nearest rival, Visiline Jepkesho of Kenya, who ran 2:28:09. Gebre had a very tough second half and finished third in 2:30:46 (she ran halves of 1:10:57 and 1:19:49).
After hugging his star athlete, Coach Mullaney spoke to Race Results Weekly. “I don’t know if I have the words right now,” said Mullaney, who was clearly emotional. “I’m just so happy for her because she made a conscious decision two months ago that she was going to embrace everything that it meant to be a marathoner, and just own the 24/7 process.” He added: “She was smart. She worked hard, she showed some true grit, and I’m just so proud of her.”
Chelangat’s time was the fastest-ever by a HOKA Northern Arizona Elite woman, eclipsing the 2:24:28 Kellyn Taylor ran at Grandma’s Marathon in 2018. Chelangat already had the club record for the half-marathon of 1:08:57.
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Paige Wood, Chelangat’s teammate, also ran in today’s marathon as a pacemaker. She ran with the lead group for about 26 kilometers before dropping out. She plans to run Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth in June.
PHOTO: Albert Korir of Kenya on his way to winning the 2025 Tartan Ottawa International Marathon (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
PHOTO: Albert Korir of Kenya celebrates after winning the 2025 Tartan Ottawa International Marathon (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
PHOTO: Mercy Chelangat of Kenyan winning the 2025 Tartan Ottawa International Marathon (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
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