Ben Flanagan smashes Canadian soil 5K record in his first-ever national win

All photos: Maxine Gravina.

Sunday morning at the Canadian 5K Road Championships in Toronto, Ben Flanagan took his first-ever national title and set a Canadian soil record in the process. He ran a 13:56 to break the previous Canadian soil record held by Charles Philibert-Thiboutot in 14:04.

Flanagan said post-race that he’s overwhelmed by all of the support he’s received this season, “It’s been amazing.”

The 5K record holder signed with Reebok earlier this week. Sunday’s championship was his second time wearing his new Reebok kit. After Flanagan won the NCAA 10,000m this June, things changed for him. “Since NCAAs the opportunities that became available to me have changed enormously. After singing with agent Dan Lilot, we decided that the best approach for choosing a company was to be as open minded as possible. I didn’t want to make any impulsive or emotional decisions.”

RELATED: Ben Flanagan has signed with Reebok

Flanagan adds Sunday’s race to his impressive roster of accomplishments this season: winning the Falmouth Road Race, winning the NCAA 10,000m, and breaking four minutes in the mile for the first time on Wednesday evening. 

RELATED: Ben Flanagan on his big win at Falmouth and the race that changed his running career

Second place went to 2016 Olympian Lucas Bruchet in 14:12.6 and third to Mike Tate in 14:18.6. 

On the women’s side, Natasha Wodak was the winner in 15:58.6. After a two month break from competition, Wodak is back on the roads and running well. She will race the Under Armour Eastside 10K next weekend, and then will get off the road and onto the trail for some cross-country races. 

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Second place in the women’s results went to Kate Van Buskirk in 16:02.8 and third place to Julie-Anne Staehli. 

UPDATE: There was a timing error in this morning’s race. The times listed are the most current results.