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Canadians crush Boston’s B.A.A. Half

Vancouver's Kieran Lumb captured third in his half-marathon debut, in 62:03

Kieran Lumb Thomas Fafard Photo by: Kevin Morris

On Sunday morning at the B.A.A. Half in Boston, Vancouver’s Kieran Lumb delivered an impressive half-marathon debut, clocking a swift 62:03 to secure third place. Lumb finished just two seconds behind Kenya’s Isaac Kipkemboi, who took second in 62:01, with Yemane Hailelassie of Eritrea winning in 61:46.

Lumb wasn’t the only Canadian who excelled on Sunday morning—his Olympic teammates Thomas Fafard, Ben Flanagan and Hamilton’s Max Turek (who recently paced Natasha Wodak to her 2024 Canadian marathon title) also captured top 10 positions, with Fafard taking seventh in 62:17, ahead of Flanagan in eighth (62:23) and Turek, who captured the 10th spot in 62:45. Toth was 25th in 67:11.

Following a busy summer on the track, where 26-year-old Lumb captured his second consecutive national title over 1,500m and represented Team Canada at the Paris Olympics, Lumb was eager to take on a new challenge—a race 14 times the length of his usual 1,500m event. “My coach and I wanted to try something different this fall and emphasize strength,” Lumb told Canadian Running pre-race. “It’s been refreshing to mix things up.”

BAA Half Thomas Fafard
Canada’s Thomas Fafard and Kieran Lumb at the 2024 B.A.A. Half Marathon. Photo: Kevin Morris

Lumb said he was eager to compete against Flanagan and Fafard, two athletes he rarely faces. Fafard, of Repentigny, Que., made his professional debut with Brooks Running at the 2024 Bell Canadian Olympic Track and Field Trials, where he finished second in the men’s 5,000m. Flanagan, a former Canadian half-marathon record holder, briefly held the accolade in 2022 after running 61 minutes at the Valencia Half Marathon. (Flanagan’s record was surpassed by Cam Levins at the Vancouver First Half in February 2023, with Levins’s time of 60:18 still standing as the top Canadian mark.)

The scenic B.A.A. Half course winds through the city’s Emerald Necklace Park System, passing landmarks such as the Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Pond and Franklin Park Zoo. The finish line is in Franklin Park, just south of the city.

This year’s race did not feature any Canadian female elites. For a complete list of results, head here.

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