After hitting the Olympic normal for five,000m earlier this 12 months, Canada’s Ben Flanagan is now aiming to attain one other Olympic normal in an occasion that ignited his profession in 2018. Flanagan shall be one among two Canadian males competing on the Sound Operating TEN in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., on Saturday evening, aiming for the Olympic normal over 10,000 metres.
The lads’s 10,000m Olympic normal of 27:00 is likely one of the most difficult marks for athletes. Solely 11 males have achieved it up to now, out of an allotted 27 spots, and it’s a distance that isn’t usually raced on the skilled monitor and subject circuit. Flanagan gained the NCAA 10,000m title in his last 12 months on the College of Michigan in 2018, but it surely’s a distance he hasn’t raced a lot since turning skilled. “There aren’t loads of alternatives to race the ten,000m, and with such a troublesome normal, it’s the toughest to qualify for international groups,” says Flanagan.
The 29-year-old acknowledges that his focus will nonetheless be on reaching the Olympic last within the 5,000m, however he additionally sees a sensible alternative within the 10,000m. “I feel it’s going to take one thing particular to run a 27-flat, however I’ve nothing to lose,” says Flanagan.
Flanagan gained’t be the one Canadian within the males’s subject. Getting back from damage, Canadian 10,000m file holder Moh Ahmed can even be aiming to hit the Olympic normal on the identical monitor the place he set the nationwide file of 26:34.14 in 2022. “Moh has redefined what’s attainable in Canadian distance operating, and also you by no means know what sort of type he’s in,” says Flanagan about Ahmed. “It’s been a confidence booster to know I get nearer to his calibre, and to see how far I’ve come.
“I don’t wish to be simply top-of-the-line Canadian distance runners; I wish to be the very best. I wish to shut the hole.”
Within the final two seasons, Flanagan, who’s from Kitchener, Ont., has discovered success within the 5,000m, making his first world championship workforce in Budapest final summer season and operating beneath the Olympic normal of 13:07 on the John Thomas Terrier Basic in January.
Flanagan will come into the Sound Operating TEN after a five-week coaching stint at altitude in Boulder, Colo., one thing he’s by no means achieved for a race in his skilled profession. “I used to be in a position to prepare with the On Athletics Membership [OAC] guys in Boulder,” he says. “It was actually cool. I used to be a bit starstruck at first, seeing world champion Geordie Beamish and Boston champion Hellen Obiri.”
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Flanagan reveals to Canadian Operating that he had some uncertainty about how his physique would react to coaching at altitude, however after chatting with professionals and his coach, Ron Warhurst, he took a extra conservative strategy, which helped him settle in. “I attempted to not be a hero in week one,” laughs Flanagan. “I simply let the adjustment come naturally.”
To assist Flanagan settle in, OAC head coach Dathan Ritzenhein and assistant coach Kelsey Quinn took him beneath their wing for the previous 5 weeks. “They each have nice consideration to element, are very accommodating and arranged,” he says concerning the On Athletics Membership management in Boulder. “They have been affected person with me, and it wasn’t till 20 days in that I began finishing my exercises.”
On Saturday evening in San Juan Capistrano, Flanagan faces a tricky problem, however he believes operating as shut as attainable to 27 minutes will put him in an excellent place for Olympic qualification, whether or not he makes the usual or not. The Sound Operating TEN shall be broadcast reside on FloTrack (subscription required) on Saturday at 8:45 p.m. ET.
