On Sunday morning, a sold-out crowd of seven,500 runners took to Toronto’s Lakeshore Side road within the Underneath Armour Toronto 10K. Runners from 9 provinces, two territories (the Yukon and the Northwest Territories), 18 American states, and 20 nations loved sunny, if moderately heat stipulations, with a repeat efficiency at the ladies’s facet and a winner that almost overlooked his alternative within the match at the males’s.
Final-minute luck
JP Flavin, a 25-year-old from New Jersey, just about overlooked the Underneath Armour Toronto 10K, ringing up organizers moments ahead of the registration restrict was once reached. His eleventh-hour access changed into a triumph as he clinched victory with a time of 29:20, main the race from begin to end. This win additionally helped carry most sensible Canadian runner Andrew Davies to a PB of 29:25. 3rd position (and 2d Canadian) went to Ottawa’s Lee Wesselius in 29:49, and Rob Kanko of Dundas, Ont. rounded out the highest Canadian finishers at half-hour flat.
“I’m very grateful they let me within the race,” stated Flavin, who trains with the Brooks Hanson Challenge in Michigan. “I stored 4:40 miles during, which was once my plan. It was once a laugh.” Flavin made his decisive transfer on the 5K mark, breaking clear of the lead pack with a purpose of distancing himself from Davies, and maintained his result in safe the win.
Davies, a Sarnia, Ont, local who’s recently a legislation scholar in Vancouver, attempted to take care of however couldn’t shut the distance.“I used to be looking to duvet it as absolute best I may with out risking blowing up on the finish,” he stated. Davies has been specializing in the 5,000m, aiming for the Canadian Olympic trials in Montreal.
Mawhinney dominates ladies’s race
Protecting champion Erin Mawhinney delivered a commanding efficiency at the ladies’s facet, completing in 33:40, a complete 25 seconds forward of runner-up Salome Nyirarukundo of Ottawa. The ladies’s podium was once a repeat of remaining yr’s, with Mawhinney, a nursing guide from Hamilton, Ontario, pleasantly stunned by means of this yr’s time after a contemporary fight with iron deficiency.
“This was once the primary race since February that I haven’t felt dizzy,” Mawhinney stated. Her trainer, two-time Canadian Olympic marathoner Reid Coolsaet, greeted her on the end line. Rachel Hannah, who not too long ago took 3rd within the Ottawa Marathon, took 3rd in 34:10 (nearly a minute sooner than remaining yr), making the ladies’s winners a repeat of 2023.
Masters championships
The race additionally featured the Canadian Masters’ championships. Toronto’s Allison Drynan crowned the 45-49 age crew with a time of 38:46, whilst Bryan Rusche led the lads’s masters with a 33:37 efficiency.
“We noticed an excellent aggressive race up entrance as Flavin and Davies battled the entire strategy to the road, and a wonderful display of group spirit lately,” stated Alan Brookes, race director of Canada Operating Collection. “The Underneath Armour Toronto 10K is at all times one probably the most thrilling occasions of the collection and lately’s race was once no exception. With a fantastically sunny day alongside Toronto’s waterfront, we have been joined by means of runners from around the continent and Toronto’s run crews grew to become out in complete drive to cheer them on. The power was once palpable from begin to end,” he added. “Everybody was once a winner lately!”
For complete result of the 2024 Underneath Armour 10K, head right here.