Men’s 10K preview: Canadian Cross-Country Championships

Olympians, national record holders, NCAA All-Americans and Canada’s top university runners are expected to make the senior men’s 10K at the Canadian Cross-Country Championships one of the day’s highlights. The event finale is set to go off at 3:30 p.m. EST at Fort Henry in Kingston, Ont.

Matt Hughes, Luc Bruchet and Charles Philibert-Thiboutot comprise the Olympic contingent set to race Saturday at the National Historic Site of Canada. Hughes is the national record holder in the 3,000m steeplechase and placed tenth at the Rio Olympics. Bruchet represented Canada in Rio racing the men’s 5,000m and Philibert-Thiboutot contested the men’s 1,500m.

Course conditions as of Wednesday

?? cross-country nationals course (Kingston, Ont.) as of Wednesday afternoon. Race day is Saturday ❄️?☔️ pic.twitter.com/cJFYNR2omT

— Canadian Running (@CanadianRunning) November 23, 2016

Ross Proudfoot, who relocated to Victoria from Guelph, Ont. recently, returns as the defending champion. The Speed River Track Club athlete missed qualifying for the Olympics in the 5,000m this past summer but is expected to contend for the national title on Saturday.

Canadian university champion Yves Sikubwabo should also be in the mix as he is coming off a strong run at the 2016 CIS Championships, to be named the U Sports Championships in 2017. University nationals runner-up Declan White, who Canadian Running recently chatted to in regards to his diet, is also in the field for Saturday.

 

Ross Proudfoot in slo mo #ftw #acxc

A video posted by canadianrunning (@canadianrunning) on Nov 28, 2015 at 4:31pm PST

One darkhorse to watch out for is Calgary-born Rory Linkletter, who attends Brigham Young University (BYU). He finished 32nd, good for All-American (top-40) honours, at the NCAA Cross-Country Championships– which is one of, if not the, deepest collegiate cross-country races in the world. Another lesser-known runner who could be a factor is Thomas Toth, the 2016 Canadian half-marathon champion.

Last year’s hairpin turn

 

The junior boy’s pack going through the hairpin #acxc

A video posted by canadianrunning (@canadianrunning) on Nov 28, 2015 at 10:09am PST

Top athletes will be vying for a spot on the 2017 IAAF World Cross-Country Championships team in Kampala, Uganda. A spot on the North American, Central American and Carribean (NACAC) Championships team is also on the line.

National team eligiblility is based on finishing in the top-10 at the national cross-country championships. Selection is further broken down into the top six runners who have declared an intention to represent Canada.

RELATED: Women’s race preview: Canadian Cross-Country Championships.

The course is spectator friendly and admission is free as races on Saturday begin at 9 a.m. EST and finish at 3:30 p.m. The live stream for the event can be found here. Canadian Running‘s editor-in-chief Michael Doyle will be commentating along with Steve Fleck on Saturday.

Schedule

9:00 am U18 Girls 4k
9:30 am U18 Boys 6k
10:10 am Community Races 2.5k & 5k
10:15 am U18 Awards
10:45 am Masters 8k
12:00 pm U20 Women 6k
12:45 pm U20 Men 8k
1:30 pm Masters Awards
1:50 pm U20 Awards
2:30 pm Open (Senior) Women 10k
3:30 pm Open (Senior) Men 10k
4:30 pm Open (Senior) Awards

2015 champions

Youth Girls – Brogan MacDougal
Youth Boys – Jonathan Stoppa
Junior Women – Hannah Bennison
Junior Men – Ehab El-Sandali
Senior Women – Natasha Wodak
Senior Men – Ross Proudfoot

Canadian Running will be in Kingston on Saturday providing live updates. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat for the latest from Fort Henry. Don’t forget to subscribe to CR‘s YouTube channel for race videos.

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