Moh Ahmed smashes Canadian 5,000m record

Mohammed Ahmed took almost 11 seconds off his own 5,000m record at the Bowerman Track Club Intra-squad Meet on July 10, running a 12:47.20 and outrunning several world-class runners including Evan Jager, Lopez Lomong and Woody Kincaid. With two laps to go, it was only Ahmed and Lomong remaining. Lomong ran 12:58.78, putting him eighth among Americans at the distance. Ahmed’s time moved him into 10th position on the all-time list.

At the same meet, Shelby Houlihan broke her own American 5,000m record by 10 seconds, finishing in 14:23.92. Ahmed credits Houlihan’s killer last lap with inspiring him to attack in the same way. He told World Athletics after the race, “Once I saw the way Shelby and Karissa [Schweizer] attacked the last 600m, I told myself that I just had to do the same kind of thing. With two laps to go, the clock said 10:49 and I just thought, you can run two (minutes) f lat (for the final 800m). With 200m to go, I just tried to blast it as hard as I could.”

Ahmed also upgraded his 1,500m PB twice this summer, first running 3:39.84 for third place at the first Bowerman Intra-squad meet, held June 30 ( breaking the 3:40 barrier that had so far eluded him), and winning the race in an astonishing 3:34.89 at the third btc meet on July 21.

In other Canadian racing news, Justin Kent of Langley, B.C. posted a PB of 28:52 in the Canadian Virtual 10k Championships, held in various locations on Canada Day. Canadian 10,000m record holder and 2019 Pan Am Games gold medallist Natasha Wodak took the women’s title by almost a minute, successfully defending her title with a 32:41, running in Vancouver. The championships are normally held as part of Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend.