Running News Daily

Moh Ahmed withdraws from Houston Half Marathon due to hamstring injury

Moh Ahmed’s debut in the half-marathon will have to wait. He has withdrawn from this Sunday’s Aramco Houston Half Marathon after suffering a hamstring injury in his final tune-up workout.

“I am regretfully withdrawing from the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. In my final tune-up workout on Wednesday, I tweaked my hamstring/hip flexor a bit, such that my coach, Jerry Schumacher, and I felt it would be unwise to line up on Sunday,” said Ahmed in a statement Thursday.

Ahmed’s half-marathon debut was highly anticipated, given his Canadian records in the 5,000m and 10,000m on the track. He is the only Canadian distance runner to have medalled in the men’s 5,000m event at an Olympic Games (Tokyo 2020).

“After a great few months of training, I was really looking forward to testing myself over the streets of Houston against a great field, but it will have to wait until next year,” said Ahmed. Outside of a few local road races and winning the Canadian men’s 10K title last year, he has not raced the 21.1 or 42.2 km distance.

Rory Linkletter will be the lone Canadian athlete in the men’s elite half-marathon field. Linkletter is racing in Houston in preparation for the Sevilla Marathon on Feb. 18, aiming for the Olympic standard of 2:08:10. His personal best of 61:08 was set at this race in 2022 (a Canadian national record at the time). Ljnkletter’s PB is only 50 seconds behind the Canadian half marathon record of 60:18 held by Cam Levins.

Despite Ahmed’s withdrawal, there will still be a large Canadian presence in Houston. Four athletes will be chasing their Olympic dreams in the marathon. Leslie Sexton, 2016 Olympian Lanni Marchant, and Canadian marathon record holder Natasha Wodak will all have their goals on the women’s Olympic standard of 2:26:50, with two spots still open for Paris 2024.

On the men’s side, Tristan Woodfine from Cobden, Ont, returns to the marathon looking to break his personal best of 2:10:51, set three years ago at the London Marathon. The men’s Olympic standard for Paris is 2:08:10.

Four Canadian runners to chase Olympic dreams at Houston Marathon

As the 2024 Houston Marathon Weekend approaches, the spotlight is not only on the highly anticipated half-marathon debut of Canada’s Moh Ahmed, but also on the intense competition among four Canadian marathoners aiming to earn the Olympic qualifying standard for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Wodak eyes Olympic standard

Canadian marathon record holder Natasha Wodak leads a strong Canadian contingent in Houston, all chasing the Olympic A standard of 2:26:50. Former national team athletes Leslie Sexton and Lanni Marchant will also be vying for the two available spots on the women’s marathon team.

Wodak holds the fastest Canadian women’s time in the last two years, but her Canadian record of 2:23:12 from the 2022 Berlin Marathon was outside the Olympic qualifying window. Wodak took another shot at achieving the time at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, but warm conditions and a tactical race prevented her from earning a spot in Paris (she finished in the top 15, in  2:30:09).

Sexton returns to the marathon after a break from the distance of a year and a half. Sexton ran 2:28 twice in a 10-month period, winning the 2021 Philadelphia Marathon and finishing as the top Canadian at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Ore. ((she finished 13th). With a best of 2:28:35, she would need to shake off almost two minutes to solidify her spot in Paris. But the fast Houston course (which she has raced before) could provide what she needs.

Also returning to the marathon after a long hiatus is 2016 Olympian Lanni Marchant. The London, Ont., native holds a personal best of 2:28:00 from Toronto in 2013, but there are a lot of questions around her fitness, after racing only twice in 2023. Marchant would need a career-best performance to earn her a spot on the Canadian Olympic team for 2024.

Malindi Elmore of Kelowna, B.C., is the only Canadian woman to have achieved the Olympic standard of 2:26:50 at the 2023 Berlin Marathon. Elmore was also the top North American female finisher in 2:23:30, achieving an 80-second personal best.

Ontario’s Tristan Woodfine takes another shot

After thinking he had a spot on the Canadian Olympic team for Tokyo, then having it taken from him in the final week of qualifying by Cam Levins and Athletics Canada, Tristan Woodfine is heading to Houston for another shot at his dream of being on Team Canada for the Olympics. Woodfine’s personal best came on a cold and wet day at the 2020 London Marathon, clocking 2:10:51. Since 2020, he has had his struggles with the marathon distance and beating that mark.

After tough luck with the heat and his stomach at the 2022 Ottawa Marathon, Woodfine switched coaches and spent most of the 2023 season building his speed on the roads. He recorded personal bests of 14:05 for 5K and 29:06 for 10K. Only two Canadian men have ever broken 2:10 in the marathon: Trevor Hofbauer and Levins.

Levins cemented his spot on the Canadian Olympic team for Paris at his record-setting run at the 2023 Tokyo Marathon. To this day, he is the only Canadian marathoner to have run under the men’s Olympic A standard of 2:08:10. (He also did so at the 2022 World Championships.)

How to follow

The 2024 Chevron Houston Marathon is scheduled for Jan. 14. It is one of the fastest marathon courses in North America; in 2020, Elmore set the previous Canadian marathon record of 2:24:50 there. The last Canadian marathoner to win the Houston Marathon was Mississauga’s Peter Fonseca, who ran 2:11:52 for the win in 1995.

Joshua Cheptegei withdraws from 5,000m with foot injury

Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei, a three-time world champion in the 10,000m as of Sunday, has announced he will be pulling out of the 5,000 meter race. Cheptegei addressed fans on social media: “I am proud and happy to have won another gold medal on the 10,000m,” he wrote. “I would have loved to compete in the 5000m as well, but unfortunately I had to decide not to start.”

Cheptegei has opted to rest a foot injury, alluded to by his coach Addy Ruiter after Cheptegei’s 10,000m victory. “He is having little injury under his foot. It was already there the past couple of weeks,” Ruiter said to the media, explaining that Cheptegei would have to see how his body felt before toeing the line at Thursday’s prelims. The 5,000m final will be held on Sunday, the last day of championship competition.

Cheptegei is the reigning Olympic champ in the 5,000m and holds the world record in the distance (12:35.36, set in 2020) as well as the world record in the 10,000m event. He is only the 10th man in history to hold both those records concurrently. At the 2022 Worlds in Eugene, Cheptegei attempted the double and finished ninth in the 5,000m after sustaining a hamstring injury, while his compatriot Oscar Chelimo ran to third. Fans will be looking to 21-year-old Chelimo to make it through to the final round while keeping an eye on Cheptegei in the future–the athlete is set to make his marathon debut on Dec. 3 in Valencia.

Joining Chelimo on the start line will be Canada’s Ben Flanagan in his first world championship race. Flanagan has shifted his focus to the 5,000m this season, and his efforts have paid off, breaking the 13:20 mark on three occasions. He took gold at the Canadian championships in 13:39.36, and shared on Instagram that he was “ready to capitalize” upon arrival in Budapest earlier this week, after wrapping up a solid training camp in Spain.

Canada’s Moh Ahmed will be hoping for redemption in the 5,000m event after what he felt was a disappointing repeat sixth-place finish in the 10,000 on Tuesday. It was Ahmed’s fourth consecutive sixth-place finish in the men’s 10,000m at a major championship, after finishing sixth at the 2022 Worlds in Eugene, sixth at the Tokyo Olympics and sixth at the 2019 Worlds in Doha, Qatar.

“I had high aspirations this year, and I’m very disappointed to be sixth, again,” Ahmed shared after the race. The athlete has previously won a silver and bronze over 5,000m, finishing fifth last year behind Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigsten.

The 2023 World Athletics Championships are taking place from August 19-27 at the National Stadium in Budapest, Hungary. All the action will be brought to you by Canadian Running and Asics Canada. Follow us on Twitter on Instagram for all things Team Canada and up-to-date exclusive news and content.

Natasha Wodak and Moh Ahmed win top spots at Canadian 10K Championships

More than 6,400 runners took part in the 2023 Ottawa 10K, presented by Otto’s Ottawa. The race attracted some of the best professional runners in Canada as well as thousands of participants from across the National Capital Region and the country. Once again this year, Ottawa played host to the Canadian 10K Championships. 

In the women’s category, 41-year-old Natasha Wodak of Vancouver completed the 10K in 32:51, winning the Canadian Championship for the third year in a row. Wodak took an early lead, leaving Leslie Sexton to take 2nd place, in 33:13. Montreal’s Caroline Pomerleau captured 3rd in 33:16.

Mohammed Ahmed took first place in the men’s category, with a time of 28:21. For most of the race, the St. Catherine’s runner ran neck and neck with Cam Levins, of Black Creek, British Columbia. But Ahmed was able to pull away in the final stretch, leaving Levins to take second in a time of 28:39. Jeremy Coughler, of London, Ontario, took third place in 29:31. 

Starting at Ottawa City Hall, the 10K course took runners along the famous Rideau Canal before heading across the Pretoria Bridge to an exciting finish in front of thousands of cheering spectators on Queen Elizabeth Drive. But the heat posed a challenge for many runners, as it was 28 degrees Celsius when the race started. 

Moh Ahmed, Cam Levins to face off at Ottawa 10K

Two of the fastest distance runners in Canadian history will go head-to-head.

Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend will once again host the Canadian 10K Championships in 2023, and as always, this is an event that no runner or fan will want to miss. Two of the best distance runners in Canadian history, Cam Levins and Moh Ahmed, will headline the men’s race alongside former national champions. And four of the top five women from last year’s championships are returning, making the Ottawa 10K one of the most anticipated races on the 2023 event calendar.

It’s an equally fun and exciting race for non-elites, as the 10K follows a beautiful course through Ottawa, one of Canada’s most beautiful cities. The 2023 Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend is set for May 27 and 28.

The elite fields

Canadian Olympic marathoner Dylan Wykes has been the elite athlete co-ordinator at Run Ottawa for four years, but due to the pandemic, the 2023 race weekend will mark only the second in-person edition of the event he has worked on since taking over the role in early 2020. Wykes says this year’s race will be a special one, as “the best 10K runners in the country will be hitting the streets of Ottawa.”

Headlining the event are Levins and Ahmed, neither of whom have ever competed at Ottawa Race Weekend. Ahmed, a 2020 Olympic medallist in the 5,000m, holds the Canadian record for 10,000m (26:34.14 on the track), but has not yet raced on the roads in his professional career. Ahmed is amped about the opportunity to kick off his 2023 season at the Ottawa 10K and make his road-racing debut.

Levins told race organizers he’s eager to check the Ottawa 10K off his bucket list. “The opportunity to run in such a competitive field in Canada is really great,” Levins said. “Ottawa has always been an event at which I’ve wanted to race.” Joining Ahmed and Levins in the men’s field are 2:10 marathoner Tristan Woodfine, U Sports cross-country champion Max Turek, Canadian cross-country champion Connor Black and others. 

The women’s field is equally stacked, with four of the top five women from the 2022 Ottawa 10K returning to this year’s championship race. Natasha Wodak, who won last year’s race, will not be back to defend her title, but second-place Leslie Sexton, third-place Sasha Gollish, fourth-place Emily Setlack and fifth-place Cleo Boyd are all in the lineup and ready to fight for the win. “It’s a really great group of women,” Wykes says, pointing out that the field spans more than 15 years in age. “All these women have great stories and are an inspiration. 

“This is a great opportunity for fans of the sport to see [these athletes] in action,” Wykes continues, pointing to Ahmed and Levins, who headline the men’s 10K field. “Levins is performing incredibly well right now, as well as any Canadian ever has on the roads at the world level, so it’s an exciting opportunity for fans of the sport to get to see him compete on home soil.”

Wykes adds that the 10K isn’t the only spectacle for fans who will be in Ottawa on May 27 and 28. “The entire weekend is a great opportunity to see some of the world’s best runners,” he says. “Our marathon is a World Athletics Elite Label event and will have athletes from three of the best marathoning nations in the world: Ethiopia, Kenya and Japan.” 

The race

For runners who aren’t looking to go sub-30 at the Ottawa 10K, this is still a great race. One detail Wykes points out that makes it unique is the race’s start time. “I think it is special because it is an evening race,” he says. “Most road races are held in the morning, so there is definitely a bit of a different feel to things when the race is in the evening.” 

Wykes says fans are “a bit rowdier” than they might be at the crack of dawn, and he says there’s “a bit more of a party atmosphere.” This all adds up to a great night of adrenaline, fast racing and post-race fun. 

The race starts on Elgin Street, not far from Parliament Hill, and takes runners down to the Rideau Canal. “Elgin Street is lined with patios and restaurants,” Wykes says, so there are plenty of people to cheer runners on as they kick off the race. Once at the Rideau Canal, runners follow the water all the way to Dows Lake, then cross a bridge and head for the finish on the other side.

“The final mile of the race is packed with fans along the Pretoria Bridge and Colonel By Drive,” Wykes says. “I’m getting excited now, just thinking about it.” 

Two-time Canadian Olympian Lucas Bruchet hangs up his track spikes

On Feb. 14, two-time Canadian Olympian and multi-time national champion Lucas Bruchet announced on Instagram that his journey in track and field is over. The 31-year-old schoolteacher and third-fastest Canadian over 5,000m will retire from competitive racing–but he has plans to stay in the sport.

Bruchet posted on Instagram:

“It’s been no secret to many, but to everybody else that’s followed my journey in athletics it’s time I tell you it’s over. I mean it’s not totally over, I’ll always run, but it’s no longer the thing that drives my life.

The goals will be different and I hope to continue to inspire the Canadian running community and explore ways to continue growing this awesome sport. I am looking forward to connecting everything I’ve learned to teaching and coaching.

Much love and thank you to my team of people who guided me and helped me achieve every goal I ever set. To all those who have supported me over the years, I appreciate y’all, these were some damn good times.”

Bruchet represented Team Canada in the men’s 5,000m at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he finished 19th in his heat. At the 2021 Harry Jerome Classic in Vancouver, Bruchet ran a 12-second PB to become the third-fastest Canadian of all time, which earned him a spot on the Tokyo Olympic team alongside Moh Ahmed and Justyn Knight.

Bruchet ended up placing 12th in his 5,000m heat in 13:44.08. He also collected several national championship titles over the 5,000m, 10,000m and cross-country. Until 2022, Bruchet never finished lower than fourth at the Canadian XC Championships (ACXC), and he is the only male athlete in the last decade with more than one ACXC win.

He finished his career with personal bests of 3:58.60 (mile), 7:46.89 (3,000m), 13:12.56 (5,000m), 27:56.12 (10,000m) and 63:12 for the half-marathon.

Many icons in the Canadian running community paid homage to Bruchet in the comment section:

“Congrats on a great career Luc. Had a lot of fun races lining up next to you and was inspired by all the times you stepped up with big performances when you needed them. All the best moving forward!” – Cam Levins (Canadian marathon record holder and Olympian)

“You’re an inspiration man… congrats on an exceptional career. Good luck on your next chapter!” – Ben Flanagan (Canadian 10K record holder)

“Mudtruck, we love ya! what a career. Now let’s go coach some athletes and ride some bikes.” – Rob Watson (Mile2Marathon Coach and Olympian)

Bruchet plans on continuing to coach with Mile2Marathon’s Vancouver group, which offers services and training communities to runners and endurance athletes of all abilities.

London, Ont. runner breaks Moh Ahmed’s U23 5,000m record

At the Windy City Invite in Chicago on the weekend, Evan Burke of London, Ont., put himself in elite company by breaking Moh Ahmed’s Canadian U23 indoor record in the 5,000m, running 13:38.46.

Burke, who attends Stanford University in Palo Alto, Ca., finished sixth in the race behind the 2022 NCAA cross-country champion Charles Hicks, clocking the sixth-fastest 5,000m time in his school’s history.

Burke’s previous accomplishments include winning the 2018 Ontario XC Championships and finishing fourth in the 3,000m at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, where he set a Canadian U18 record of 8:14.99.

His achievements eventually led him to a scholarship at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., where he is currently in his fourth year and competes with the school’s cross-country and track program, specializing in the 3,000 and 5,000m.

The previous record, held by Ahmed, was set in 2011, when he ran 13:41.74 at the Texas A&M Invite. Burke bested Ahmed’s time by three seconds. 

Burke’s record is the third Canadian U23 record to be broken in this 2022-2023 indoor season, joining Quebec’s Olivier Desmeules of Penn State University, who broke the 600m record, and Vancouver’s Ceili McCabe of West Virginia University, who broke her own women’s 3,000m record in December.

Grant Fisher sets new America 5000m record

In the latest installment in one of the greatest seasons ever by an American distance runner, Grant Fisher ran 12:46.96 at the Memorial Van Damme Diamond League meet in Brussels on Friday to smash Bernard Lagat’s 11-year-old American 5,000-meter record of 12:53.60. Fisher was also in contention for his first Diamond League victory with 150 meters to go but had to settle for second as Kenya’s Jacob Krop, the Worlds silver medallist, pulled away to win in a world leading 12:45.71 (#6 all-time).

Fisher had near-perfect conditions to break the record. The temperature (low-70s) and wind (6 mph) were fine and wavelight technology was in play, but the most important ingredient was a trio of opponents committed to pushing the pace once the pacemakers dropped: Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha and Kenyans Krop and Daniel Ebenyo.

Kejelcha hit 3k in the lead at 7:41.74 (12:49 pace), by which point the four leaders had begun to separate. The gap between those four and the rest of the pack would only continue to grow as Krop took the lead with 1700 meters to go and kept his foot on the gas. Fisher, seeing Krop’s eagerness, was content to sit at the back of the group of four and get towed along to a fast time.

Just before three laps to go, Fisher went past a fading Kejelcha (who would end up dropping out) and moved into third. With a little bit more than 500 to go, a gap started to open up between Krop and Ebenyo and Fisher showed he had more in him as he went past Ebenyo and latched on to Krop. It was now a two-man affair.

Krop was keeping the pace scorching hot as the 4th to last lap was 61.43, the 3rd to last was 61.52 and the penultimate lap was 61.37. At the bell (11:47.9), it was clear Lagat’s American record was history. How fast could they go and who was going to emerge as the winner?

Fisher was ready to put up a fight but he was looking like a car with its engine maxxed out while Krop still looked incredibly smooth. Ultimately Krop broke Fisher with 100m to go to cap a 57.75 final lap (unofficially we had it 29.68, 28.06).

Fisher sprinted it in to finish just behind and break Bowerman Track Club Moh Ahmed’s 12:47.20 North American record in addition to obliterating Lagat’s AR. After running 12:53.73 for 5,000 indoors in February, 26:33.84 for 10,000 in March, and 7:28.48 for 3,000 in August, Fisher’s 12:46.96 tonight gives him four American records in a 2022 season that will go down as a year for the ages in the annals of American distance running.

Grant Fisher (12:53.73) DESTROYS US 5,000 Record in Boston, Moh Ahmed (12:56.87) and Marc Scott (12:57.08) Break Canadian and British Records

As the runners were getting ready for the elite section of the men’s 5000 meters at the 2022 Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Saturday evening, we should have known we were in for a treat. After all, the slow heat had just been won in 13:05.

It’s crazy, when you think of it: Bowerman Track Club coach Jerry Schumacher had decided Woody Kincaid, the reigning US 10,000-meter champion, was not quite ready to mix it up with his BTC teammates in the fast section and Kincaid wound up running 13:05.56, at the time the second-fastest indoor 5,000m ever by an American. 

Just as crazy: Schumacher was kind of right. Because what we saw in the fast heat was the deepest 5,000-meter race ever contested on US soil, indoors or out.

Grant Fisher, a former high school phenom who won two Foot Locker titles and broke 4:00 in the mile while balancing soccer with running, delivered on his immense promise and ran 12:53.73 to win the race, smash Galen Rupp’s American indoor record of 13:01.26, and come within a whisker of Bernard Lagat’s American outdoor record of 12:53.60. He is now the fifth-fastest human ever at 5,000 meters indoors, one spot ahead of a guy by the name of Eliud Kipchoge.

Fisher’s Bowerman teammate Moh Ahmed, the Olympic silver medalist last year, was next across, running 12:56.87 to break his own Canadian indoor record of 13:04.60. Marc Scott completed the BTC national record sweep in third, and like Ahmed, Scott lowered his own European indoor record, taking it from 13:08.87 to 12:57.08.

In the process, Scott became the first man born in the United Kingdom – and just the third born in Europe – to break 13:00, indoors or out. The race marked the first time that three men broke 13:00 in the same race indoors (only once before had even two done it in the same race).

The times were so fast up front that would-be historic performances were relegated to also-ran status. Emmanuel Bor ran the second-fastest time in US 

indoor history (under Rupp’s previous AR) but was only 4th (13:00.48). Sam Atkin of Great Britain and Jonas Raess of Switzerland both ran faster than the previous European indoor record but had to settle for 5th (Atkin in 13:03.64) and 6th (Raess in 13:07.95).

Florida State’s Adriaan Wildschutt of South Africa ran the second-fastest NCAA time ever indoors and third-fastest under any conditions – 13:09.20 – setting a national indoor record in the process and he was only 5th – in the B heat. Notre Dame’s Dylan Jacobs ran 13:14.04, #4 on the NCAA all-time indoor list and an American indoor collegiate record.

It was sheer madness.

In the main race, the early pacing was good, with 2020 US indoor 1500 champ Josh Thompson and 27:20 man Zouhair Talbi of Morocco taking the field through 3k in 7:53.51, but the real racing didn’t get going until just under a mile to go, when Atkin signaled for Fisher to pass him, knowing he could no longer hold the pace Fisher wanted to run.

From there, Fisher conducted a symphony of pain on the BU track, stretching the field out until Atkin, Scott, Ahmed, and finally Bor had dropped, leaving Fisher all alone for the final 400 as the crowd roared him into the history books. His last four 400m splits: 60.00, 58.95,  59.91, 58.74, good for an otherworldly 3:57.56 final 1600.

Fisher’s performance, just like almost every elite distance performance in the year 2022, must be placed into the context of its era. Earlier in the day on the same track, Notre Dame’s Yared Nuguse, the Olympian and 2019 NCAA 1500 champ, broke Alistair Cragg’s 7:38.59 indoor collegiate record which had stood since 2004. And last night, Gabriela DeBues-Stafford and Elise Cranny set dueling Canadian/American records, Cranny taking 14 seconds off Shalane Flanagan’s 14:47.62 AR.

Fisher and Cranny’s talents have long been known, and they are undoubtedly great runners. Yet between them, they own a grand total of one NCAA and one US title. That they could annihilate national records established by two of the greatest distance runners in American history is yet more evidence that we have entered a new age of distance running ushered in by super shoes, one in which the standards must be (and are being) adjusted.

Eugene will play host rematches betwen olympic medalists at the Prefontaine Classic

Dozens of medal winners from the recent Tokyo Olympic Games will be back in action at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Eugene when Hayward Field hosts the Prefontaine Classic on August 21.

Based on the announcements made so far by the meeting organizers, five events will feature a full set of Olympic medalists from Tokyo.

Double Olympic champion Sifan Hassan headlines the women’s 5000m field and she’ll take on two-time world champion Hellen Obiri and world indoor 1500m record-holder Gudaf Tsegay, the silver and bronze medalists in Tokyo over 5000m.

All three medalists from the men’s 5000m will also be in action as Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei, Canada’s Moh Ahmed and USA’s Paul Chelimo clash over two miles.

Teenage stars Athing Mu and Keely Hodgkinson, the top two finishers in the 800m in Tokyo, will be back in action over two laps, along with world and Olympic bronze medallist Raevyn Rogers, world champion Halimah Nakaayi, Britain’s Jemma Reekie, Jamaica’s Natoya Goule and USA’s Ajee Wilson and Kate Grace.

World record-holder and two-time Olympic champion Ryan Crouser will look to maintain his winning streak in the shot put when he takes on world champion Joe Kovacs and 2017 world champion Tom Walsh. Brazil’s Darlan Romani and US duo Darrell Hill and Payton Otterdahl are also in the line-up.

Jamaican sprint stars Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson – who filled the 100m podium in Tokyo – will face USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson and Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast.

The men’s 100m, meanwhile, features Olympic silver and bronze medalists Andre De Grasse and Fred kerley, along with world indoor bronze medallist Ronnie Baker, 400m specialist Michael Norman and African record-holder Akani Simbine.

Two-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon will once again line up against Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir and Canadian record-holder Gabriela DeBues-Stafford, while world champion Timothy Cheruiyot will clash with Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the men’s Bowerman mile.

In the women’s steeplechase, world champion Beatrice Chepkoech takes on world leader Norah Jeruto Tanui, Olympic silver medalist Courtney Frerichs and 2017 world champion Emma Coburn.

Other global stars confirmed so far include world 400m hurdles champion Dalilah Muhammad, Olympic triple jump champion Pedro Pablo Pichardo and world indoor triple jump record-holder Hugues Fabrice Zango.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen sets new European 5000m record

A 12:48.45 by 20-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen from Norway takes down a loaded men’s 5,000m field in Florence Italia and he records a new European record in the process!

2. Hagos Gebriwhet 12:49.02

3. Moh Ahmed 12:50.12

4. Mohammed Katir 12:50.79

5. Justyn Knight 12:51.93 PB

6. Joshua Cheptegei 12:54.69 - first 5K loss since July 2019

Imagine running a 12:51 5000 and it’s only good for 5th!

So yeah, how good is he?

Jakob Ingebrigtsen becomes the first man to simultaneously hold European records in both the 1500 and the 5000.

1500m 3:28.68

5000m 12:48.45

since 1966 by France's Michel Jazy

Jakob Ingebrigtsen sets new European 5000m record

A 12:48.45 by 20-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen from Norway takes down a loaded men’s 5,000m field in Florence Italia and he records a new European record in the process!

2. Hagos Gebriwhet 12:49.02

3. Moh Ahmed 12:50.12

4. Mohammed Katir 12:50.79

5. Justyn Knight 12:51.93 PB

6. Joshua Cheptegei 12:54.69 - first 5K loss since July 2019

Imagine running a 12:51 5000 and it’s only good for 5th!

So yeah, how good is he?

Jakob Ingebrigtsen becomes the first man to simultaneously hold European records in both the 1500 and the 5000.

1500m 3:28.68

5000m 12:48.45

since 1966 by France's Michel Jazy

Sir Mo Farah opened his 2021 racing season winning the inaugural Djibouti International Half-Marathon

Mo Farah opened his 2021 racing season Friday at the Djibouti International Half-Marathon, winning the race in a time of 1:03:06. This was his first competition since he ran the Antrim Coast Half Marathon on September 12, where he crossed the finish line in 60:27 for the win.

After spending the last seven weeks at a training camp in Ethiopia, this race was meant to be a test of fitness ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, where the four-time Olympic champion will be hunting for another gold medal.

The Djibouti Half-Marathon is a special race for the 37-year-old, because it’s a chance for him to run in the place where he spent his childhood before moving to Britain. In an interview with Athletics Weekly ahead of the race, Farah was not shy about his goal: he was there to win.

“It’s not just going to be a case of me turning up. It’s going to be tough and there are a lot of decent guys racing so I’ll just go out there and see what I can do,” he said. ““It’ll be good to get back in the right frame of mind in terms of racing again and to test myself.”

As Farah predicted, the race was tough, and he didn’t win it handily. His training partner Bashir Abdi finished only four seconds behind him in 1:03:10, and the top seven men all ran under 1:05.

With the Tokyo Olympic Games only four-and-a-half months away, Farah will now be turning his attention to the track as he prepares to defend his 10,000m Olympic title. With competitors like Joshua Cheptegei, who ran a 26:11.00 for 10K last October, challenging him for the win, this won’t be an easy feat, but Farah told AW that results like that get him “fired up.”

“It’s not just Cheptegei – there’s Jacob Kiplimo, Moh Ahmed – you’ve got so many guys coming through at the moment and I think it’s exciting for the sport to have all of these people at that level.”

While his result in Djibouti was a few minutes off his half-marathon personal best of 59:32 (set in 2015), Farah did exactly what he set out to do, which was to test his fitness and win the race. With that goal accomplished, it’s safe to say that Farah is progressing well toward the Olympics, and we look forward to seeing what he will do on the track this summer.

Paul Chelimo says that he is willing to die in a race

United States Olympic 5,000m silver medallist Paul Chelimo was the guest on last week’s LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast and he had a lot of interesting things to say about his career, running fast, his goals, doping in Kenya, racism in America, his daughter, his rivalry with Lopez Lomong, and a lot more.

As a teenager in Kenya, Chelimo ran a tryout race in the hopes of earning a scholarship to come to the United States. Though Chelimo ran poorly, he still made it to the States, and the rest is history. He arrived at NAIA Shorter (Ga.) University with $450 to his name. He’d move on to UNC Greensboro and become a two-time NCAA runner-up, but then joined the Army thinking his running career may be over. Fortunately for Chelimo, he was accepted into the Army World Class Athlete Program and in 2016 he burst onto the professional scene in the biggest way possible, ending up with an Olympic silver in the 5,000m in Rio.

Chelimo revealed two factual things of note we had not heard before. First, he said his ultimate goal is to run the Los Angeles Olympic marathon in 2028.

And he revealed that he missed two out-of-competition drug tests when he was first put into the anti-doping pool after bursting onto the scene in 2016. He said he was unfamiliar with the whereabouts system and how it worked so he missed two tests. “Since then I was so strict, because I knew if I just missed the last one, the third one, it’s gonna be a huge mess,” he said, explaining that a lack of familiarity with the system may be why runners in Kenya are now getting whereabouts failures of their own.

More highlights from Chelimo’s comments below. You can click on the timestamps to listen to them.

[60:06] On what he thinks of Moh Ahmed running 12:47 for 5,000m and Lopez Lomong going sub-13:00 and whether that makes him scared or confident:

“I never get scared. As long as we start from the same starting line in a race, and we finish at the same finishing line in a race [it] really, really doesn’t scare me…

“Usually they say it’s the lion that is smart that strikes the meat. My goal is, it’s towards the Olympics…

“If you’re going to show up and run really fast, and try to frustrate me or frustrate anyone else, I really don’t care. I have a strong mind…. I know they can run fast now. They can pace me. I don’t have to pace them anymore… So it’s good. It’s good for the sport, actually.”

On whether his rivalry with Lomong is overstated:

[62:37] “You know, it gets to a point like when someone is becoming dominant. It’s time someone else tries to break that dominance and I see Lopez Lomong try[ing] break the dominance that I’ve had in the 5K and I like it. I like challenges and Lopez Lomong is very competitive. We’re going to show up and we’re going to race and whoever wins is a champion that day.”

Chelimo says his ultimate goal is running the Olympic marathon in LA 2028, so that makes it easy to avoid taking the shortcut of doping.

[63:41] “Eventually the big goal is to get to LA 2028 in the marathon, think about me being in the LA 2028 marathon. It’s gonna be big. So I just want to keep going and keep going to when I get there.  I just want to have a long career. That’s that’s what my big goal is and I just don’t want to be greedy and that’s why I don’t support the drug cheats because I know the more patient you are, the more you get. I know like if I cheat today, yeah, I’ll make a lot of money. But what happens if I get busted? I stay out of running for four years…. And it’s so easy in track and field to be so greedy. It’s so easy to be greedy, especially when people are smoking you in races. It’s so easy to be greedy and try take the shortcuts but let them… I’m happy with what the anti-doping [authorities] are doing and everything because people are getting busted. Which shows it’s working.”

On being willing to die in a race:

[89:19] “Really, it’s all about life. I just have to put food on my table. I just have to hustle hard and I just have to make a living. People hate, they don’t know what I’ve been through…  I ran a 5k on a dirt track in Kenya. I ran like eight laps. And I got kicked out of the track because I got lapped in a 5k, running barefoot. And I remember I ran a cross country race in Kenya. I was third to last. I was like, second or third to be last….So, coming from that, and now Nike [is] sponsoring me, I have the best shoes in the world and you want to put me in a race against someone who has had shoes the whole time? You’re gonna think that guy is gonna beat me? I mean I’m just gonna do my best, just to do all I can win the race because I know where I’ve come from…. And I really, really want it. So am I guy, I’m willing to die in a race. And trust me if I die in a race one day, that’s the best way I could die man. I could be happy because I know I was hustling and I know I was digging deep. So that’s pretty much it. That’s pretty much me.”

Moh Ahmed Amazes with 12:47 5K (3:58 Final 1600) as Lopez Lomong Becomes 9th American Under 13:00

2019 World Championship bronze medalist Moh Ahmed is truly among elite company now. Running in the Bowerman Track Club Portland Intrasquad II meet, just minutes after Shelby Houlihan lowered her American record (14:23.92) at 5,000m, Ahmed clocked 12:47.20 to smash his Canadian record (12:58.16) on Friday night. He became the 17th man to run under 12:50 for 5,000 meters and moved to #10 on the world all-time list. As impressive as the time was, it was the way he did it — an incredible 3:58.59 final 1600, with each lap faster than the previous one (61.34-60.31-59.48-57.45) — that truly resonated.

So great was Ahmed’s run that he made Lopez Lomong’s 12:58.78 runner-up effort look downright ordinary by comparison — despite Lomong, the reigning US champion, becoming just the ninth American to join the sub-13:00 club.

Afterwards, Ahmed said he really wanted to dip into the 12:40s, saying he saw the split with two laps to go (10:50.26) and thought “You can run 2:00.” Ahmed, who broke 13:00 for the first time last year, knew there was a big time gap between him and some of the other top guys in the world. Two years ago in Brussels, Selemon Barega ran 12:43, Hagos Gebrhiwet 12:45, and Yomif Kejelcha 12:46. Ahmed? He ran 13:03, which was then a PR.

“I saw those guys run 12:43 and how easy they made it look,” Ahmed said on the USATF+ broadcast.

Ahmed said he was “super nervous” before the race and despite running so fast said it’s been a “super challenging year.” “Right now I’m speaking to you, but I don’t know where the hell I am,” he told Paul Swangard.

Both Ahmed and Lomong benefited from some world-class pacemakers, with Bowerman Track club teammates Ryan Hill, Grant Fisher, and Evan Jager helping them through 1600 in 4:09 and 3200 in 8:18. Once the final pacer, Jager, stepped off at 3600, however, it was all Ahmed. This wasn’t exactly unfamiliar territory — Ahmed ran almost all of the way in last year’s fast Bowerman 5,000 in Beaverton that saw Woody Kincaid run 12:58. The question on many people’s minds that night was how fast Ahmed could have run had he stayed in the race. Tonight’s effort provided an answer of sorts.

World bronze medalist Moh Ahmed and US champion Shelby Houlihan smash North American 5000m records in Portland

World bronze medallist Moh Ahmed and US champion Shelby Houlihan made significant improvements on the North American 5000m records at a low-key competition at Jesuit High School in Portland on Friday night (10).

Ahmed’s 12:47.20 took more than six seconds off Bernard Lagat’s continental record set back in 2011, while Houlihan’s 14:23.92 was a 10.53-second improvement on her own North American record from two years ago. Runner-up Karissa Schweizer also finished inside the previous continental record, clocking 14:26.34.

Organised by their training group, the Bowerman Track Club, the meet comprised just two 5000m races and the intention for both events was to provide the opportunity for fast times. Steeplechase specialist Colleen Quigley paced the early stages of the women’s race, taking the field through the first 1000m in 2:55.44.

Fellow steeplechaser Courtney Frerichs, the 2017 world silver medallist, took up the running just before 2000m, which was passed in 5:51. Three women – Quigley, Marielle Hall and Gwen Jorgensen – withdrew at the 3000m point. Elise Cranny briefly led at that point, clocking 8:47.88 for her 3000m split, and was just ahead of Houlihan, but Cranny and Frerichs eased off for the final stages of the race, leaving just Houlihan and Schweizer out in front.

Houlihan drifted to the front with three laps to go and gradually started to increase the pace for the final kilometre. Schweizer managed to stick with her training partner until the final lap, which Houlihan covered in 61.4 seconds, giving her a finishing time of 14:23.92. Schweizer was second in 14:26.34.

“I knew Karissa was going to try to come up on me and take the lead, but I decided I was not going to let that happen,” Houlihan told usatf.tv after the race. “I just kept trying to fight her off and tried to have a big kick on the last lap.

“Karissa was in the race in Heusden two years ago where I set the previous record,” added Houlihan. “It’s been really awesome to have her as a training partner and to see how far she has come. She was only three seconds behind me today and I know she’s going to get that 5000m record at some point.”

The men’s race played out in similar fashion, with half the field helping to set the pace for the first 3000m before leaving Ahmed and Lopez Lomong to battle it out for victory.

Ryan Hill (2:36.2) and Grant Fisher (5:12) were the respective leaders for the first and second kilometres as Ahmed and Lomong sat in the middle of the pack. Fisher reached 3000m in 7:46.10, closely followed by Evan Jager and Sean McGorty, but they soon stepped off the track and Ahmed took up the running with three laps to go.

Ahmed then started to wind up the pace and broke away from Lomong on the penultimate lap, which he covered in 59.5. He moved up another gear and ran the final 400m in 57.45 to cross the finish line in 12:47.20, smashing his own Canadian record and moving to 10th on the world all-time list. Lomong, who narrowly missed out on breaking the 13-minute barrier last year with 13:00.13, finished second in a lifetime best of 12:58.78.

“Once I saw the way Shelby and Karissa attacked the last 600m, I told myself that I just had to do the same kind of thing,” said Ahmed, whose previous best was 12:58.16. “With two laps to go, the clock said 10:49 and I just thought, ‘you can run two (minutes) flat (for the final 800m)’. With 200m to go, I just tried to blast it as hard as I could.

“I’m excited, it’s something I’ve been working really, really hard for. It’s been an extremely challenging year, but luckily we have a good group and it was great to deliver this.”

Ethiopia’s Muktar Edris, Repeats As 5,000 World Champion

Ethiopia’s Muktar Edris, the man who two years ago shocked the world by knocking off Mo Farah to capture the men’s 5000-meter world title, has done it again. Edris came into the 2019 IAAF Worlds Athletics Championships as a 15/2 underdog, having done nothing this year (his SB was just 13:29), but he will leave it once again with a gold medal hanging around his neck as he used a 55.07 final lap to close out a 3:59.63 final 1600 (64.62, 60.84, 58.99, 55.07) and come from behind to win gold in 12:58.85.

Edris’ compatriot Selemon Barega, who ran 12:43 last year, nabbed silver in 12:59.70. Moh Ahmed of the Bowerman Track Club made history for in third (13:01.11), earning Canada’s first-ever world or Olympic medal in an event longer than 1500 meters, after a confident run that saw him lead from 3800 until just after the bell.

Norway’s teen sensation Jakob Ingebrigtsen, 19, the youngest sub-4 miler in history and betting favorite, ended up fifth in 13:02.29 after putting forth his best impersonation of Steve Prefontaine at the 1972 Olympics. Ingebrigtsen boldly ran for gold taking the lead with just less than 300 meters to go before totally running out of gas in the last 100, which he covered in just 17.17 seconds.

Two of Ingebrigtsen’s older brothers were also in the race. Filip Ingebrigtsen was still with the lead pack with a lap and half to go and actually still ahead of the race winner Edris when he raised the white flag and stepped into the infield with 550 meters remaining, saving himself for the 1500 meters, where he won bronze in 2017. Henrik Ingebrigtsen was dropped early in the race and finished 13th in 13:36.25.

American Paul Chelimo, who had medalled as the last two global outdoor championships in the 5000, entered the final lap in 4th but ended up 7th in 13:05.27.

Paul Chelimo qualifies for World Championship 5,000m final, who won without a shoe

In Friday’s World Championship 5,000m, American and Olympic 5,000m medallist Paul Chelimo lost his shoe in the heats but still managed to win his section and qualify with the leading time for the final on Monday.

Chelimo was clipped on lap seven of 12.5. He reportedly has several blisters, but should be fine to compete come Monday. After his cool down, he said he plans to go and find his shoe.

Chelimo ran a strong race and managed to remain on the pack despite multiple pace and lead changes during the 13 minute race. Canada’s Justyn Knight and Moh Ahmed are also both through to Monday’s final. Both Knight and Ahmed were 2017 World Championships 5,000m finalists and are poised to be serious contenders.

Knight has run a massive personal best this year, hitting 13:09 in the same race that Ahmed became the first Canadian to run under 13:00 minutes for the 5,000m.

After one day of track action, team Canada is has sent an athlete to the semi-final in every event with qualifiers. Gen Lalonde has qualified for the 3,000m steeplechase final on Monday, Lindsey Butterworth qualified for the 800m semi-finals, Andre De Grasse and Aaron Brown are both through to the 100m semi-final and now Ahmed and Knight are through in the 5,000m.

Tonight is the first final of the event with three Canadian women running the marathon at 4:59 p.m. EDT. Sasha Gollish, Melanie Myrand and Lyndsay Tessier are all lining up for what will likely be the hottest marathon of their lives this evening. The temperature at the start of the marathon is estimated at upwards of 40 degrees celsius.