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Ben Flanagan and Leslie Sexton claim Canadian 10K titles in Toronto

TORONTO — Ben Flanagan and Leslie Sexton won the Canadian 10K Championships on Sunday, signalling the return of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

TORONTO — Ben Flanagan and Leslie Sexton won the Canadian 10K Championships on Sunday, signalling the return of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

Flanagan, who narrowly missed a Tokyo 2020 Olympic berth, covered the out-and-back course along Toronto's lakeshore in 28.45 seconds, pocketing $5,500. 

The Kitchener, Ont., native was pushed by Vancouver's Luc Bruchet, an Olympian in the 5,000 metres, who finished in 28:52.

"It feels great," Flanagan said. "I am a happy guy. I knew coming in it was going to be a pretty good race and with 10 or 12 guys at 6K it was a race all the way to the line. I kind of had a hunch it was going to be me, Luc, Ben (Preisner) and (Justin) Kent in the last few kilometres, and that is how it worked out. I just gave everything I had over the last 2K to bring it home."

Preisner, who ran the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics, was third.

Sarah Inglis, a Scottish international, ran 31:59 to cross first in the women's race, but the Canadian title went to Sexton, who finished behind the Scot in 32:04, pumping a fist at the finish line. 

"It was a happy fist bump," Sexton said. "I was hurting pretty bad but I couldn’t be any happier. It felt like it was Sarah’s race and there happened to be a Canadian Championship behind her, to be honest, but chasing her pulled me to a fast time."

Cleo Boyd won the Canadian championships silver, while Natasha Wodak, an Olympian in the marathon, was third. 

The race featured 5,000 entrants, the largest in Canada since COVID-19. The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon is a fixture on the road racing calendar, but hadn't been held in two years. The event included only a 10K this year due to capacity numbers around health and safety protocols. 

Evan Dunfee, Olympic bronze medallist in the 50K race walk, walked the course in 41:34 -- losing in a friendly competition to his brother Adam, who ran.

"We thought would be evenly matched. He has been running regularly to get in shape, but I don't think he has put on a race bib in 20 years," Dunfee said. "He kicked my butt today. It was really awesome."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2021. 

The Canadian Press