Weekend recap: the biggest week of running results since March

Over the weekend, Mohammed Ahmed gave the running world one of its most exciting performances ever (and certainly the most exciting performance since March). On Friday evening at a high school in Portland, Ahmed ran a 12:47.20 to shatter his own Canadian 5,000m record and crack the top 10 list of all time in the event. However, while Ahmed’s was the most notable run of the weekend, he certainly wasn’t the only runner who posted a quick result. Here’s a recap of some of Canada’s (and the world’s) most notable performances.

RELATED: RECORD ALERT: Mohammed Ahmed smashes Canadian 5,000m record

Shelby Houlihan and Karissa Schweizer – 5,000m

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCgMWzUpvL4/

At the same meet as Ahmed, Shelby Houlihan broke her own American 5,000m record by 10 seconds, finishing in 14:23.92. She was closely followed by fellow Bowerman TC teammate Karissa Schweizer, who ran 14:26, also under the previous record.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce – 100m

It’s been five months since world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has been on a starting line, but over the weekend she clocked an 11-second 100m in her season opener in Kingston, Jamaica. She holds the Jamaican national record at 10.70 from 2012. 

John Gay – 5,000m

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCjNBxCgRtr/

Over in B.C., 2019 world championship steeplechase competitor John Gay ran a huge personal best (by 22 seconds) in the 5,000m to finish in 13:35. He has been trending well over the past two years and said he’s taken this strange time to work on his weaknesses and focus on events outside of his normal range. “On top of that, it’s been really nice to take this opportunity to not have to run steeple. You’re kind of beholden to your main event, but I’ve run so many steeplechases over the past couple of years that we decided it was a nice window to work on other things.”

Up next for Gay is a mile time trial, where he’ll attempt to go sub-four for the first time (he’s already run 4:00.2 this season). 

Rory Linkletter – 5,000m

We got to race!! It went fine!!
I took a chance and tried to make a move 4 laps out at the @KTTape St. George Showdown presented by @PolarGlobal. As you can see here I didn’t really drop anyone and got roasted in the last lap.
Hopefully we get to do this kind of thing again! pic.twitter.com/rj2q9dIxCO

— Scott Fauble (@scottfaubs) July 12, 2020

The HOKA NAZ Elite group participated in the KT Tape St. George Showdown in St. George, Utah (which is at just under 3,000 feet altitude) over the weekend and saw some killer times as a result. Canadian Rory Linkletter was among them and ran a strong 5,000m to finish in 13:50.72 for second place. His teammate Dillon Maggard took the top spot in 13:50.38. 

In the women’s results, it was Kellyn Taylor who just outran Steph Bruce to finish in 15:29.44 to Bruce’s 15:29.95. 

RELATED: Regan Yee runs Olympic standard in 5,000m time trial