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It was expected that Andrea Seccafien from Guelph, ON would take the Canadian record in the 10,000m distance on Friday night. She did just that by over 27 seconds. The 30-year-old clocked a 31:13.94 to not only take Natasha Wodak’s long-standing record but also bettered the Tokyo Olympic standard for the distance which is 31:25.
Wodak used social media earlier in the day to say, “I think my record will be going down tonight.”
The record was 31:41.59 set at the Payton Jordan Invitational in Palo Alto, CA in 2015.
Seccafien won the race at the Sound Running Track Meet by more than seven seconds over Kenyan Ednah Kurgat who finished in the time of 31:21.65. American Sara Hall finished in third place at 31:21.90. Eleven women ran under 32-minutes, 22 went under 33, but just the top three got under the Olympic standard. All three ran new personal bests.
This isn’t the first national record that Seccafien has taken from Wodak. In 2020, Wodak broke the half-marathon record in Houston. She was the first Canadian to get under the 70-minute benchmark with her 69:41 performance. Two weeks later in Marugame, Japan, Seccafien, who now trains in Melbourne, AUS took three seconds off the time with a 69:38 clocking.
🚨 Canadian 🇨🇦 record set under the lights! 😁
— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) May 15, 2021
In the women’s 10,000m final at the Irvine Track Meet, Andrea Seccafien ran under the Olympic standard and set a 🇨🇦 record of 31:13.94. 👏
📸: Chuck Utash pic.twitter.com/FPshAY8Tlq
Men’s 10,000m
There were two men’s races. In the faster section, Moroccan, Zouhair Talbi, won in the time of 27:20.61, seven seconds below the Olympic standard. Like the women’s race, three men ran under the Tokyo standard which is 27:28.00. Kenyan Emmanuel Bor and American Joe Klecker, finished in second and third positions clocking 27:22.80 and 27:23.44, respectively.
It was a new personal best for all three athletes. Ten men ran sub-28, while 24 of 27 nipped under 29-minutes.
Canadian Ben Flanagan took down his own personal best with a 27:49.09 performance and a seventh-place finish. The NCAA 10,000m champion had a best of 28:06.88 from August 2020 going into Sound Running. American Marty Hehir, who won the Marathon Project in Chandler, AZ in December with a time of 2:08:59 also ran a new best of 27:57.02.
Full results are available here>>
The meet continues through the weekend.
