What happened with the men’s 1500m at the Canadian track championships?

The men’s 1,500m finals at the Canadian track and field championships was won in 4:06:16. What happened?

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The men’s 1,500m race at the Canadian track and field championships this weekend stunned many fans in the crowd. The winning time was unexpectedly slow, bringing tactical racing to another level.

The winner this weekend was Thomas Riva who ran a 4:06:16. Second was Charles Philibert-Thiboutot in 4:06:58. Following him was Daniel Gorman (4:06:88). Jeremy Rae (4:06:98) placed fourth. Nate Brannen and Cam Levins placed farther back than expected. Brannen ran 4:07:07, landing him in fifth place. Levins followed in 4:07:24.

To put these times into context, Levins, one of Canada’s favourite runners and 10,000m Canadian record holder, runs 65.1 seconds per lap in the 10,000m. In the 1,500m, the pace was 65.9 seconds per lap.

There was a strong headwind in Edmonton this weekend which would have slightly slowed the times. And usually championships races aren’t incredibly fast either. Tactical racing like this turns track racing into more of a mind game than a contest of speed.

“It was definitely a weird race. Although I think I was ready for any kind of race, we took the definition slow race to a whole new level,” says Charles Philibert-Thiboutot. “I remember vividly being embarrassed when I heard the 2:28 split at 800.”

He says that Riva did a great job at seizing the opportunity to kick at the end and wins the race. “I think it being so slow favored guys like Thomas and me who have good 800m speed,” he adds.

The men’s race also prompted some funny commentary from runners on Twitter. Here’s some of the conversation in case you missed it.

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