And the winner of the Canadian 5000 battle between Ben Flanagan, Justyn Knight and Mo Ahmed at the Canadian Champs was......

Watched Ahmed race the Comm games here in Aus

Guy has some large jatz crackers...impressive running against Cheruiyot

Black Caviar wrote:

Watched Ahmed race the Comm games here in Aus

Guy has some large jatz crackers...impressive running against Cheruiyot

guy is also one of the nicest pro runners you will meet

ahmedfan wrote:

guy is also one of the nicest pro runners you will meet

Speaking of which. Here is a great article on how Flanagan and Knight have always looked up to Mo - and how he's always been nice back.

"Mo, when I started doing track I realized who the top dogs were at the senior level, and obviously Mo was up there. And I'm not going to lie, I pretty much fan-boyed Mo," Knight said laughing. "I was that kid, he added me back on Facebook and I was freaking out, and it took me about seven days to figure out a sentence to write to him."

"I was starstruck, I looked up to him my whole career," Flanagan said. "Ever since then, my whole family has been 'How's that Mo guy doing? We all think he's such a great guy." It's been so cool to follow him."

how come the winning time was so slow? (for them?)

Odd take on QOTD on the front page.

Pretty sure Mo Ahmed would rather have a national title than an NCAA title any day....

ahmedfan wrote:

Black Caviar wrote:

Watched Ahmed race the Comm games here in Aus

Guy has some large jatz crackers...impressive running against Cheruiyot

guy is also one of the nicest pro runners you will meet

This a million times over. I've raced Mo many times as a younger kid in St. Catherines.

Great guy.

Southern Ontario has been going through a heatwave and the article mentioned that temperatures reached 35 degrees C in Ottawa which is 95 degrees F. Can't speak for Ottawa but with humidity in Toronto (which is very close to Ottawa) temperatures have been well over 100 F for the last week.

jeff tallon wrote:

how come the winning time was so slow? (for them?)

AnotherCanadian wrote:

I've raced Mo many times as a younger kid in St. Catherines.

Likewise. The Niagara Running Series? I knew he was good, but had no clue he'd make it to the level he is at now! It's hard to tell when they are still quite young. And I agree - great guy.

lollerama wrote:

AnotherCanadian wrote:

I've raced Mo many times as a younger kid in St. Catherines.

Likewise. The Niagara Running Series? I knew he was good, but had no clue he'd make it to the level he is at now! It's hard to tell when they are still quite young. And I agree - great guy.

Nope it was highschool for me, south regionals/OFSAA and other various high school meets.

I was at the meet and it was hot and humid as hell. It felt like you could cut the air, no kidding the guys took it pretty slow to start....super exciting race. While Flanagan came third, he was the one that seem to shock everyone pushing the others right to the line. The kid is going to be a great. With that stride and his surprising closing speed, I would guess a World's 10k qualifier next year, and maybe an amazing marathon for the 2020 Olympics?

Didn't see the race, and I know it was slow, but I'm very impressed that Flanagan had the wheels to go with Ahmed and Knight at the end. Even after seeing what he did in the 10k at NCAAs, I didn't think he would be this close to them. Congrats to him, a great way to start a pro career.

oldlegs wrote:

I was at the meet and it was hot and humid as hell. It felt like you could cut the air, no kidding the guys took it pretty slow to start....super exciting race. While Flanagan came third, he was the one that seem to shock everyone pushing the others right to the line. The kid is going to be a great. With that stride and his surprising closing speed, I would guess a World's 10k qualifier next year, and maybe an amazing marathon for the 2020 Olympics?

flanagan should focus on the 1500 to 5000 and see what he can do with his 400m speed in the off season.

Flanagan is very fast , especially at the end of races. He might not break 4 but I'm sure he could come close if that was the event.

It was a RACE, NOT a BATTLE.

mgoblues wrote:

Flanagan is very fast , especially at the end of races. He might not break 4 but I'm sure he could come close if that was the event.

Before NCAAs not many people outside his circle heard about his potential then came his massive PB 10k outkicking a kenyan all of this done on limited run training and Max cross training such a profound story it would be nice to read about the training in detail leading up to the breakthrough

Yes and Sully, here, describes what limited training he had, fluffing my own feathers....:

http://athleticsillustrated.com/editorial/add-ben-flanagans-name-to-the-top-of-canadas-distance-talent/