On a quiet, warm Wednesday in Guelph, Ont., the track lit up with a thrilling battle for the Canadian 10,000m crown. Held at the University of Guelph’s Alumni Stadium, the national competition aligned with the Royal City Inferno track and field meet. Taking centre stage were Florence Caron of La Malbaie, Que., and Ehab El-Sandali of Toronto–both capturing their first-ever national titles.
Caron, a track star for Penn State University, clocked 33:18.84 to win by a commanding margin of nearly 10 seconds after a battle with last month’s Canadian road 10K champion, Gracelyn Larkin, who ran 33:28.07. Rounding out the national podium was Jade Berube of Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Que., with a time of 34:50.36.
Caron came into the competition fresh off an impressive 5,000-10,000m double at last weekend’s NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships in Oregon; there, the 25-year-old sped to 15:49.72 and 32:23.71 for 16th and 11th place, respectively.
Men’s race
The men’s side, in contrast, saw a very tight race. El-Sandal narrowly snuck past the reigning U Sports cross-country champion Philippe Morneau-Cartier of La Pocatière, Qué., at the line to claim the title in 29:33. Mississauga, Ont.’s Dylan Alick took the bronze-medal spot in 29:35.
El-Sandali, 28, a University of Iona alum and former Puma athlete, has represented Team Canada twice at the senior level, competing at the 2022 World Indoor Championships and the 2019 World Cross-Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark. The victorious performance comes after his first training block with a new Toronto training group–his first time training in Canada since high school.
Click here for full results from the Canadian 10,000m Championships and Royal City Inferno.
