Olympians headline stellar field for upcoming Canadian 5K Championships

Six Olympians from the recent Rio Olympic Games will trade their track spikes for racing flats at the upcoming Canadian 5K Championships in Toronto.

On to the next…#getbacktowork

A photo posted by Charles Philibert-Thiboutot (@charlespt) on Aug 23, 2016 at 3:31pm PDT

The Canadian 5km Road Race Championship is set to take place on the morning of Sunday, Sept. 11th in downtown Toronto. Not surprisingly, the races will be hotly contested on both the men’s and women’s side.

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Recent Olympians Charles Philibert-Thiboutot, a.k.a. Chuck PT (Quebec, 5K PB: 13:33), Nathan (Nate) Brennan (Cambridge, Ont., 1,500m PB: 3:34.22) – making his road 5K debut – and Lucas Bruchet (Surrey, B.C., 5K PB: 13:24.10) will be the clear favourites and could be looking to break the Canadian soil record of 14:06 set by Kenya’s Wesley Korir at this event back in 2012.

Soaking up the sun, it's a beautiful day for a run! #poetry #yycnow ? Jordan Gooden @experimentalexperience

A photo posted by jess oconnell (@jessmoconnell) on Jul 24, 2016 at 8:51am PDT

On the women’s side Olympians Jessica O’Connell (Calgary, 5K PB: 15:06) and Andrea Seccafien (Toronto, 5K PB: 15:17.14) will be joined by Pan American Games medallists Sasha Gollish (Toronto) and Rachel Hannah (Toronto). They too could put the Canadian soil record in jeopardy. It stands at 15:48 set by Malindi Elmore in Sidney, B.C., in 2012.

Natasha Wodak, who was on the original start list, told Canadian Running that she has pulled out of the race.

Canadian Running will be providing race-day coverage of the event and a comprehensive recap of the event. Follow us on Twitter for the latest.

Complete start lists (subject to change):