Jadyn Keeler and Mitchell Ubene showed steely resolve to win the elite 5K races at the Hamilton Marathon Road2Hope on Saturday, October 31, in Hamilton, Ontario.
Keeler’s run
Keeler won the women’s race in 15:10, setting a personal best and breaking the 22-year-old Canadian record of 15:16, formerly held by Émelie Mondor.
The 23-year-old is coming off another national record, having run 1:08:35 in the half-marathon at the 2026 World Athletics Road Running Championships just six weeks earlier. That performance bettered Andrea Seccafien’s previous Canadian record of 1:09:38, set at the 2020 Marugame Half Marathon.
Keeler also holds a 5000m personal best of 15:14.76, set indoors at Boston University in 2025.
Siona Chisholm finished second in a personal-best 15:23, while Simone Plourde took third in 15:36. Plourde’s best road 5K performance is 15:30, recorded at the Carlsbad 5000 in April 2026.
Ubene’s run
In the men’s race, Ubene took the victory, with Matt Talbot finishing just one second behind in a personal-best 13:54. Matthew Beaudet was third in 14:02.
The 26-year-old Beaudet set his personal best in Copenhagen on September 19 at the World Road Running Championships. Talbot improved on his previous best of 14:09, set at the same Road2Hope event in 2025.
The 28-year-old Ubene is four years removed from setting his outdoor 5000m personal best of 13:36.71. He recorded an indoor best of 13:40.75 at Boston University in 2025.
In an interview with Athletics Illustrated, Keeler said she is looking forward to moving up to the marathon distance.
“I’m excited to continue moving up in race distance. If all goes to plan, I’ll be making my marathon debut in the spring! Other than that, I definitely plan to continue racing some more half-marathons to try to get under the 68-minute barrier.”
