2004 Olympian Courtney Babcock wins “World’s Fastest 5K” masters division

It was a blast from the past as one of Canada’s best-ever distance runners won an iconic California race on the weekend.

Courtney Babcock, who represented Canada at the 2004 Olympics in the 1,500m and 5,000m, ran 17:29 to win the women’s masters division at the early-spring Carlsbad 5000 in northern San Diego county. The road race is referred to as the “World’s Fastest 5K.”

The Carlsbad 5000, which this year was held on April 2, first started in 1986 and attracts some of the top runners in the world. Babcock, 44, is the Canadian 5,000m record holder, with a blistering 14:54.98, and held the 10,000m record until 2015 when Natasha Wodak improved the mark to 31:41.59.

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The current Canadian 5K record, held by the late Emilie Mondor, was set in Carlsbad attesting to the course’s quickness as conditions are often warm and sunny. (Separate national records are kept for the roads and for the track.) Two Canadians, Lynn Williams and Angela Chalmers, have won the open women’s race in the past.

Coming in hot! ?Congrats to the winners!

Men's Masters – Neville Davey (15:20)
Women's Master’s – Courtney Babcock (17:29)#Carlsbad5000 pic.twitter.com/Yh8f49uCQO

— Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series (@RunRocknRoll) April 2, 2017

The Chatham, Ont. native now resides in Missoula, Mont. and has raced the event in the past, both as an elite and, more recently, as an entrant in the masters division. “I knew I was pretty fit, I wanted to race well and run in the pack instead of going out really hard, which is how I used to race,” she said after the race.

Finish

Babcock is currently coaching with Key Running out of Montana and travelled to California with family. (A trip to Legoland was on the itinerary too.) She attended the University of Michigan before running professionally for Reebok.

Olympic photo from 2004

Rock ‘n’ Roll, the organization known for its half-marathon and marathon races across North America, hosts the Carlsbad 5000. The Rock ‘n’ Roll circuit will pass through Montreal this September for one of the area’s most popular road races.

Ethiopia’s Dejen Gebremeskel won his fifth Carlsbad title in 13:27 on Sunday; Kenya’s Violah Lagat (spelled Viola Cheptoo Lagat according to her IAAF profile), the sister of Bernard Lagat, won the women’s open race in 15:35. According to the San Diego Tribune, there were 6,923 runners who took part in the 32nd annual Carlsbad 5000.