Weekend recap: May 2-3, Canadian distance records in California
Two national records fall in Palo Alto
Toronto-native Justyn Knight smashed a 52-year-old Canadian junior 5,000m record at the Payton Jordan Invitational on Saturday evening on the Stanford track in Palo Alto, Calif. Shortly after, Vancouver athlete Natasha Wodak broke the women’s national 10,000m record, running under the 2016 Olympic standard for that event.
Knight finished his 5,000m performance in 13:34.86, breaking the store 13:43Â record that was held by Bruce Kidd. Wodak ran 31:41.59, besting the 31:44 record held by Courtney Babcock from 2003.
The meet saw plenty of other strong results, including a 13:19.56 5,000m result from Canadian steeplechase record holder Matt Hughes and a 15:06.44 5,000m by Calgary’s Jessica O’Connell.
Full results can be found here.
Absolutely overwhelmed & ecstatic- can’t believe I ran CND 10000m record tonight! 31.41! Thx for all the love everyone! #PaytonJordanInvite
— Natasha Wodak (@tasha_wodak) May 3, 2015
World record in medley relay
Two new world records were set in the distance medley relay, an event rarely run on the international level. Commonly known as the DMR, the race is a collegiate staple in the United States. The relay consists of 1,200m, 400m, 800m and 1,600m legs. The United States men and women both set world records in The Bahamas, racing to a 9:15:50 world record for the men and 10:36:50 for the women.
Canada sent teams to compete in the more traditional races of the 4x100m and 4x400m, though failed to medal in any events. It was the second year the event has been hosted.
Canadians race marathons across the country
It was one of the busiest marathon weekends of the year in Canada, seeing them run in Vancouver, Mississauga and Toronto. Between the three events, nearly 28,000 Canadians competed.
The quickest of the three, the Vancouver Marathon, saw a Canadian win the women’s race. Master`s runner Lioudmila Kortchaguina finished in 2:37:37. Vancouver’s Ellie Greenwood surprised herself by finishing third in 2:47:23. The men’s race was won by Kenyan Luka Chelimo in 2:18:37.
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