Disaster struck at Sunday’s Toronto Waterfront Marathon as several elite women marathoners mistakenly followed the half-marathoners to the finish line, instead of continuing on the marathon course.
Around the 20 km mark, the course splits; the half-marathoners follow Bay Street to the finish line just east of Nathan Phillips Square, while the marathoners turn right on Wellington Street and run east for several kilometres before heading back downtown. Luckily, the leader, Shure Demise (who won the marathon in 2015 and 2016) stayed on course, but for two other Ethiopian women (Gojjam Enyew and Dibabe Beyene), their race ended in heartbreak. Race officials held up the half-marathon finish tape for Enyew, whose face registered confusion and dismay when she realized the mistake.
Nigsti Haftu tried to retrace her steps and resume racing, but was well behind.
Three Ethiopian runners took a wrong turn at the @TOwaterfront42k and ended up at the finish. 22km early…#RunTO pic.twitter.com/FsP5Tk9TaB
— Canadian Running (@CanadianRunning) October 19, 2025
Athletes were given clear instructions at Saturday’s technical meeting not to follow the half-marathon course; however, in the confusion of racing, when staying on course requires making a turn, this may be too much to ask–especially of athletes who are new to the race.
Demise went through the halfway mark in 70:04 and was projected to win in around 2:25. The course record is 2:22:16.
At the time of publication, Ben Flanagan and Rachel Hannah were leading the Canadian elites in contention for the Canadian Marathon Championships titles. Salome Nyirarukundo of Rwanda and Dayna Pidhoresky had dropped out.
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