Fans at the Ottawa Race Weekend cheering on their local favorites had a treat with a very close finish in the men's marathon.

In a race that took two hours, ten minutes and 17 seconds, Laban Moiben from Kenya needed every tick of the stopwatch to hold off Dereje Abera Ali of Ethiopia, who finished .9 seconds behind.

The top Canadian male was Lucas McAneney of Toronto, whose time of 2:19:51 in his first Ottawa race earned him the Canadian men's marathon championship.

"I knew well before the race started I was in it for the win," he said. "I just started pushing it around 21k to 30k, and never looked back.

Trevor Walmsley of Kingston was the top local male, crossing the line about half an hour after Moiben.

On the women's side, Kebebush Haile Lima of Ethiopia won by a minute over her closest competitor.

Emily Kroshus, a Canadian living in Boston, finished sixth with a personal-best time of 2:42:26.

"It's just fun being back in Canada," she said. "My mom's here watching, living in the States for the last ten years it's nice to feel Canadian."

Kelly Knoll of Ottawa won her age group with a time of 3:14:23.

The half marathons were won by Quebec natives Stanislas Papadimitriou (men) and Melissa Chenard (women).

Local runners did win the kid's marathons, Sean Devanderschueren for the boys and Sara Borrens for the girls.

On Saturday, runners in the ten-kilometre race had the first chance to try out the new course for the longer runs.

Eric Gillis of Guelph, who finished fourth in the men's race, said the new route through Little Italy and Chinatown did more than take the runners past some picturesque landmarks.

"It felt like there was quite a bit of downhill, like gradual downhill which runners always enjoy," he said.

Runners also said they enjoyed the weekend as a whole, showing why Ottawa Race Weekend is the biggest running event in Canada.

"This is truly the one race in Canada where everyone goes all out," said Daphne Germain from North Bay. "It's the biggest, it's the best, it's so well organized. Ottawa knows how to do a race weekend."

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Katie Griffin and Vanessa Lee