Tara Quinn-Smith won the Canadian women's marathon title, while Giitah Macharia is the national men's champion after their finishes at the Ottawa Marathon on Sunday.

Quinn-Smith, from Waterdown, Ont., was the top Canadian in her marathon debut, finishing fourth overall in a time of two hours 33 minutes 58 seconds.

"I'm really excited about my first marathon performance," said Quinn-Smith, a two-time Canadian track champion in the 10,000 metres.

"I tried to stay relaxed and I got a lot of help from a couple of my clubmates during the race. I didn't meet the Olympic standard but that really wasn't my goal at this point. I'm looking more towards 2012."

Asmae Leghazoui of Morocco won the women's event in a course record time of 2:28.44. Elza Kireeva of Russia was second in 2:33.46, while Kebebush Haile of Ethiopia finished third in 2:33.48.

Other notable Canadians included Toronto's Nicole Stevenson, who finished seventh in the women's even in a time of 2:41.04. Suzanne Evans of New Westminster, B.C. was 13th in 2:48.30. Toronto's Lioudmila Kortchaguina, a two-time winner of the event, was forced to withdraw due to injury.

Macharia, from St. Catharines, Ont., won the national men's title with a 14th place finish in 2:16.55.

Kenya's David Cheruiot won his third Ottawa Marathon in 2:11.00 — narrowly edging out Solomon Molla of Ethiopia's second-place time of 2:11.05. Vincent Kiplagat of Kenya was third in 2:11.55.

Other top Canadians in the Men's event included Ottawa's Matthew McInnis, with a 16th place finish in 2:16.59, while Stephen Drew of Waterloo, Ont., was 18th in 2:18.11.

James Baker of Ottawa won the men's paraplegic wheelchair event.

With files from the Canadian Press