Ben Flanagan and Marco Arop eye national records at New Balance Grand Prix

The indoor track season is in full swing, and Canada’s Ben Flanagan and Marco Arop are back in action this weekend at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, after sensational performances to open the 2024 season last weekend. Both men have their eyes on the Canadian indoor record book.

Flanagan, fresh off achieving his first career Olympic standard in the men’s 5,000m, joined this week’s episode of Canadian Running’s The Shakeout Podcast with host David Stol. On the podcast, Flanagan announced he would be racing again at Sunday’s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in the men’s 3,000m, and that he has a Canadian record time on his mind.

“I would really like to take [Kieran] Lumb’s Canadian record in the indoor 3,000m of 7:38.39 […] That’s the goal for Sunday,” said Flanagan. “Just because I know he’ll take it back from me at some point.”

Flanagan has had some previous luck at this NB Grand Prix track. Last year, he ran his 3,000m personal best of 7:43.49 to place fifth in a world-class field. Lumb set the Canadian indoor 3,000m record in December 2023. He is the only Canadian athlete to run under 7:40.

Ben Flanagan recaps 5,000m Olympic qualification at Boston meet

Joining Flanagan in the men’s 3,000m at the New Balance Grand Prix is Quebec’s Charles Philibert-Thiboutot, who is coming off a second-place finish and personal best of 3:53.41 over one mile at the John Terrier Classic last weekend in Boston.

Flanagan, who just turned 29, said he’s excited to see a lot of Canadian distance runners at major track events like the NB Grand Prix—a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold event. “It’s been incredible to see Arop’s rise to becoming the 800m world champion,” said Flanagan. “I met him for the first time in Budapest. He’s super soft-spoken and genuine. He really impressed me.”

At the 2023 World Championships, Arop became the first Canadian 800m runner to win world championship gold. In Paris, he will look to reach uncharted territory once again, becoming the first runner in Canadian history to win gold in the 800m discipline.

“To see him pull off what he did in Budapest, it was incredible—I think he’s still just getting better,” said Flanagan.

Arop is coming off a national record of 1:45.51 over 800m indoors in Arkansas, improving his previous Canadian indoor record by nearly half a second. The world 800m champion dominated the race, negative-splitting a 52-second final 400m to win by 1.5 seconds. He now has another record on his mind that he hasn’t added to his impressive resume yet—the Canadian 1,000m record.

The 25-year-old will toe the line against the reigning world indoor champion Mariano García of Spain in the men’s 1,000m. García is the Spanish national record holder over 800 and 1,000m indoors and is known for his late-race strength. Despite not making the Spanish team for worlds last year, he opened his 2024 season with a 2:17.51 for 1,000m.

The time Arop will have his eyes on is the Canadian 1,000m indoor record held by Nathan Brannen, which is 2:16.87, set in Boston 10 years ago. For Arop to have a chance, he will need to come through 800m in under 1:49, which he showed he was capable of last weekend, when he ran his new personal best at the University of Arkansas.

Flanagan and Arop will be two of seven Canadian athletes competing at the 2024 New Balance Grand Prix. Sisters Lucia Stafford and Gabriela DeBues-Stafford will race each other over 1,500m on the same track for the first time since 2022. Lucia is coming off two wins to kick off her season at last weekend’s John Terrier Classic, while Gabriela is returning to the professional scene after two years of injuries and setbacks.

Canadian XC champion Kieran Lumb will be in the men’s 1,500m, and Julie-Anne Staehli of Lucknow, Ont., is entered in the women’s 3,000m.

How to follow?

Canadian Running will be live in Boston on Sunday at The Track at New Balance for the 2024 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. We will be tweeting and posting interviews and results with athletes as it happens. If you are looking for a livestream of the races, you can do so on FloTrack or the FloSports app (membership required). The event will start at 4 p.m. ET and will run until 6 p.m. ET.