Kenya's John Kelai won the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Sunday in 2:09:30, the fastest time ever run on Canadian soil.

Kelai, 30, shaved 25 seconds off the time posted by East Germany's Waldemar Cierpinski at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

Kenya's John Kelai, shown here after winning the Mumbai Marathon in January, cut 25 seconds off Waldemar Cierpinski's 31-year-old record for the fastest marathon on Canadian soil.
(Rajesh Nirgude/Associated Press)

The new Canadian mark came on the same day Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie broke the world record by running a 2:04:26 in Berlin.

Kelai also cut 43 seconds from the Toronto Waterfront record previously held by countryman Daniel Rono, who Kelai ran down Sunday near the 40-kilometre mark before pulling away with a strong sprint to the finish line.

Rono finished a close second in 2:09:36, while Ethiopia's Kasime Adilo was third in 2:10:20.

Toronto's Danny Kassap was the top Canadian in 2:17:20.

Ethiopia's Asha Gigi won the women's race in 2:33:16, a course record for women. She was followed by Poland's Malgorzata Sobanska (2:34:21) and Russia's Alevtina Biktimirova (2:34:54).

Calgary's Lisa Harvey was the top Canadian woman in 2:48:46.

Michal Kapral set a new "joggling" record for completing the marathon while juggling three objects.