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Weekend recap: Quebec duo collect wins at New York City Track Night

A recap of the long weekend in Canadian running, highlighting performances in Halifax and New York City

Jean-Simon Desgagnés Photo by: Kevin Morris

With the 2023 outdoor track and field season in full swing and athletes beginning to target world championship qualifying times, two Canadian runners ran to near-best times at the NYC Track Night on Randall’s Island Park in New York City on May 19. Quebec City’s Jean-Simon Desgagnés won the 3,000m steeplechase for the third consecutive year, while his training partner, Thomas Fafard, won the men’s 5,000m in a near-best 13:33.00 (his second-best time over the distance).

The French quarters

For the third-straight year, Canadian steeplechaser Desgagnés won the men’s 3,000m steeplechase at NYC Track Night. He set the pace from the front early on and put in a surge with two laps to go, winning the race by three seconds in 8:23.32, only three seconds off his personal best of 8:20.68 set earlier this season. In 2022, Desgagnés represented Team Canada in the 3,000m steeplechase at the World Athletics Championships and NACAC Championships.

Moments later, in the men’s 5,000m, it was a Canadian one-two, as Fafard took the win in 13:33-flat, followed by Jeremy Coughler of London, Ont., seven seconds behind his compatriot in 13:40.70. Despite the windy conditions on Randall’s Island, Fafard ran the second fastest 5,000m time of his career, only a little more than a second behind his personal best of 13:31.50 from 2022.

The three men continue to inch closer to the 2023 World Championships standards of 8:15.00 for the 3,000m steeplechase and 13:07 for the 5,000m.

First-time winners at Halifax Blue Nose Marathon

Hundreds of runners beat the rain on Sunday morning in Halifax at the 2023 Blue Nose Marathon. For the second year in a row, two runners from out of province won the race, with Toronto’s Brent Scheibelhut winning the race in 2:47:51 and Amber MacLeod of Stratford, P.E.I., taking the women’s win in 3:23:29. 

Although the rain held off, all runners battled strong gusts and headwinds during the race. Scheibelhut won by nearly five minutes ahead of Matthias Mueller of Lower Sackville, N.S., in 2:52:44. Mueller was the half-marathon champion at the 2021 Blue Nose Marathon. Five-time Blue Nose champion David MacLennan of Scotsburn, N.S., was third in 2:54:19.

MacLeod finished two-and-half minutes ahead of runner-up Shannon Brittany-Pollock of Fredericton, N.B. (3:25:57). Jessica Morehouse of Timberlea, N.S., was third, two minutes behind Brittany-Pollock, in 3:27:57.

Here are the full results from the 2023 Blue Nose Marathon.

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