After hitting the Olympic customary for five,000m earlier this yr, Canada’s Ben Flanagan is now aiming to realize one other Olympic customary in an occasion that ignited his profession in 2018. Flanagan will likely be one among two Canadian males competing on the Sound Working TEN in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., on Saturday night time, aiming for the Olympic customary over 10,000 metres.
The boys’s 10,000m Olympic customary of 27:00 is likely one of the most difficult marks for athletes. Solely 11 males have achieved it to this point, out of an allotted 27 spots, and it’s a distance that isn’t typically raced on the skilled monitor and discipline circuit. Flanagan gained the NCAA 10,000m title in his remaining yr on the College of Michigan in 2018, nevertheless it’s a distance he hasn’t raced a lot since turning skilled. “There aren’t a number of alternatives to race the ten,000m, and with such a troublesome customary, it’s the toughest to qualify for world groups,” says Flanagan.
The 29-year-old acknowledges that his focus will nonetheless be on reaching the Olympic remaining within the 5,000m, however he additionally sees a practical alternative within the 10,000m. “I believe 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 discipline. Getting back from damage, Canadian 10,000m document holder Moh Ahmed can even be aiming to hit the Olympic customary on the identical monitor the place he set the nationwide document of 26:34.14 in 2022. “Moh has redefined what’s doable in Canadian distance operating, and also you by no means know what sort of kind 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 among the finest Canadian distance runners; I wish to be one of the 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 staff in Budapest final summer season and operating beneath the Olympic customary of 13:07 on the John Thomas Terrier Basic in January.
Flanagan will come into the Sound Working TEN after a five-week coaching stint at altitude in Boulder, Colo., one thing he’s by no means finished for a race in his skilled profession. “I used to be in a position to practice 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.”
New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish shocks discipline for gold in males’s 1,500m remaining
Flanagan reveals to Canadian Working 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 night time in San Juan Capistrano, Flanagan faces a troublesome problem, however he believes operating as shut as doable to 27 minutes will put him in a very good place for Olympic qualification, whether or not he makes the usual or not. The Sound Working TEN will likely be broadcast stay on FloTrack (subscription required) on Saturday at 8:45 p.m. ET.
