Bairu smashes Canadian 10,000m record

Simon Bairu of Regina broke the Canadian record in the 10,000m at the Payton Jordan Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., on Saturday night.

Bairu finished in fifth place, but his time of 27:23.63 was almost 13 seconds better than Jeff Schiebler’s previous Canadian best of 27:36.01, set back in 2001.

Chris Solinsky, who trains with Bairu in Portland, Ore., won the race in stunning fashion, setting an American record 26:59.60 in his 10,000m debut.

Eleven men broke 28 minutes in the race that saw the lead pack split 5K in 13:34.

“I knew I was going to probably blow up with 10 laps to go,” Bairu told Race Results Weekly. “But the plan was just hold on as long as you can, and then whatever’s left: how badly do you want that record?”

Bairu also gave a shout out to his old training partners and supporters in Regina, where he went to high school.

“Just trying 2 rep Regina, 2 all the people who believed in me this is 4 you w MUCH more 2 come!” Bairu wrote on his Twitter feed.