Canadians chase standards at Hoka Distance Classic

Many Canadians will continue the chase for world championships standards in Los Angeles this weekend at the Hoka One One Distance Classic.

The meet, which has been known in the past as the USATF High Performance Distance Classic, is a popular May race held at Occidental College allowing elites to chase fast times.

Cam Levins will make his outdoor debut, racing in the 5,000m with his Nike Oregon Project teammates Galen Rupp and Suguru Osako. Levins hasn’t raced since ending a great indoor season and is likely looking at trying to take on Jeff Schiebler’s national record of 13:13.96.

In the women’s 5,000m, Natasha Wodak will continue her track season which opened with a new national 10,000m in Palo Alto. The race was her first on the track in over a year. Natasha Labeaud will also be racing the 5,000m.

In the men’s 3,000m steeplechase, Canadian record holder Matt Hughes will open his season in his main event after a strong 5,000m in Palo Alto. Hughes will be racing with his 2014 world championships teammate Chris Winter and other Canadians.

Nate Brannen, a two-time Olympian, will race the men’s 1,500m alongside a strong group of Canadian men and 2012 Olympians Hilary Stellingwerff and Nicole Sifuentes will race the women’s 1,500m.

There are many other Canadians racing the meet. A full entry list can be found on the USATF website and the race will be streamed online there also. Races begin at 6:15 p.n. PDT.