National Track League to kick off in Guelph

Canada’s growing elite track and field series gets started this weekend with a new addition in Guelph, Ont., at the Speed River Inferno.

Though not a new meet, 2015 will be the first year the Inferno is included in the five-meet series. The meet, first run in 2010, has grown from a small local meet at a unsuspecting track to one full of Olympians at the University of Guelph’s new Alumni Stadium. After the Toronto leg of the National Track League folded due to funding shortfalls in 2014, the Inferno was added to the lineup.

In the past a more middle-distance-focused meet, 20 Olympians will compete in a number of different races and field events including a notably strong men’s 800m race. The lineup sports four athletes with person bests under 1:46, three of whom are Olympians. The other, Canada’s Anthony Romaniw, represented Canada at the 2013 world championships in Moscow.

The National Track League holds a $100,000 prize purse over the span of the five meets and was put together in the hopes of giving Canadian athletes more access to high-calibre competition at home without the need to travel to Europe.

The race series is based somewhat off the Diamond League series of races where athletes are awarded points for how they finish in events. Prize money is awarded both for individual races with bonuses for strong performances and to the athletes at the end of the series who have accumulated the most points.

Generally, it’s been a success, notably the West Coast races which are more accessible to multiple strong Oregon-based American training groups. The Edmonton International Track Classic has also seen very high level competition in recent years.

The Inferno’s elite international section starts at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The full schedule can be found here.