By Paul Gains
TORONTO, ON (September 14, 2023) - Derara Hurisa is the latest in a long list of Ethiopian
greats to commit to the 2023 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon scheduled for October 15th.
Once again, the event is a World Athletics Elite Label race.
The 26-year-old has had an extraordinary marathon career to date ever since winning in his
debut at the 2020 Mumbai Marathon. There he ran 2:08:09 which remains his personal best
despite a few other memorable outings.
Two years ago Hurisa won the Guadalajara Marathon at 1,600m altitude in Mexico eight months
after achieving notoriety for all the wrong reasons in Vienna.
Hurisa, then still relatively young at 23 years of age, crossed the finish line first at the Vienna
Marathon with a time of 2:09:22 three seconds ahead of Kenya’s Leonard Langat. No sooner
had Hurisa crossed the finish then officials approached him and within minutes he was
disqualified.
World Athletics has instigated strict rules to limit the thickness of racing shoes and it was found
that Hurisa had worn a different pair of shoes to those he submitted in the pre-race inspection.
They were one centimetre too thick. It is believed this was the first time a marathoner had been
disqualified under these rules.
“My preparation for Vienna marathon was very good,” he says looking back on the incident. “I
had to switch my shoes because it was my very first time putting on those shoes. It wasn't the
shoes I wear when I was in training. So I decided to switch and use them without knowing it was
different. The colour was similar.”
Not only did he run himself to exhaustion over the 42.2 kilometres but the €10,000 first place
prize money went to Langat and not himself. He admits he was very angry to learn of his
mistake.
“I was shocked by that news when (Eritrean runner) Tadesse Abraham told me that I was
disqualified,” he remembers, “because it wasn't something I was expecting. Yes, I was angry,
definitely.”
As an indication of Hurisa’s potential Langat returned to Vienna a year later and finished second
in 2:06:59. The Ethiopian believes he is capable of times quicker than this.
Since then he has put the disappointment behind him. Earlier this year he finished 2nd in the
Stockholm Marathon which features many of the sites of the Swedish capital but can also be
challenging due to its numerous turns and warm June weather. His time there was a modest
2:11:01 on a hot day. Toronto Waterfront Marathon has far less turns and with a course record
of 2:05:00 (Philemon Rono of Kenya) is far more inviting. He is optimistic of a great run in
Toronto after some good early training sessions.
“It’s going great and yes, I'm pleased with my fitness level more than ever,” he reports. “I have
been training for six or seven days in a week. Compared to previous marathon buildups it has
been much better.”
Asked to reveal his goal for Toronto he is concise and to the point: “I would like to achieve a
victory with a good time.”
Hurisa grew up in Ambo in western Ethiopia and was inspired by the exploits of Kenenisa
Bekele the three-time Olympic champion and former world 5,000m and 10,000m record holder.
After a good result at a championship cross-country race in Oromia he was recruited by the
Bahrain athletics federation while in his teens.
For three years he lived in the oil rich country earning a salary to run. At the 2015 World Cross
Country Championships in Guiyang, China he placed 22nd in the Under-20 race helping
Bahrain to a 4th place finish. A year later though he went back to Ethiopia and now travels on
an Ethiopian passport.
These days he is focused on the marathon under the watchful eye of coach Gemedu Dedefo
and enjoys spending time with his wife and two children.
"I like to spend my time with my family - I'm married and I have one boy and one girl - and I like
going to church,” he explains. “I do return to my birth village whenever there is holiday.”
Conditions are likely to be much cooler in Toronto compared to what he experienced in Mumbai
in his victorious debut. Clearly, he will be prepared to run with the leaders. And he is certainly
due some good luck.
About the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon
The TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon is Canada’s premier running event and the grand finale
of the Canada Running Series (CRS). Since 2017, the race has served as the Athletics Canada
national marathon championship race and has doubled as the Olympic trials. Using innovation
and organization as guiding principles, Canada Running Series stages great experiences for
runners of all levels, from Canadian Olympians to recreational and charity runners. With a
mission of “building community through the sport of running,” CRS is committed to making sport
part of sustainable communities and the city-building process.
To learn more about the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon, visit
TorontoWaterFrontMarathon.com.
About Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that
has been partnering with many of the world’s largest businesses in their transformation journeys
for over 50 years. TCS offers a consulting-led, cognitive powered, integrated portfolio of
business, technology and engineering services and solutions. This is delivered through its
unique Location Independent Agile™ delivery model, recognized as a benchmark of excellence
in software development.
A part of the Tata group, India's largest multinational business group, TCS has over 614,000 of
the world’s best-trained consultants in 55 countries. The company generated consolidated
revenues of US $27.9 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, and is listed on the BSE
(formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) and the NSE (National Stock Exchange) in India. TCS'
proactive stance on climate change and award-winning work with communities across the world
have earned it a place in leading sustainability indices such as the MSCI Global Sustainability
Index and the FTSE4Good Emerging Index.
For more information, TCS.com.
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