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St. Catharines, ON native Mohammed Ahmed and Vancouver Island’s Cameron Levins will be racing the Tamarack Ottawa 10K on Saturday, May 27.
Ahmed is the Canadian record holder in the 10,000m (26:34.14) and the 5000m (12:47.20). Meanwhile, Levins is the Canadian record holder in the half-marathon (1:00:18) and is North America’s all-time fastest marathon runner with his 2:05:36 from the Tokyo Maraton run in March this year.
.@Moh_Speed will face @CamLevins for the 1st time since Levins began his illustrious marathon career, setting up a showdown between the fastest Canadian marathoner & half marathoner of all-time with the fastest Canadian 10,000m & 5,000m runner of all-time. https://t.co/kqxtH0RO9D pic.twitter.com/yoREyyVbwT
— Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend (@OttawaRaceWknd) May 11, 2023
Levins held the 10,000m record until Ahmed bettered his time during the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships with his 26:59.35 sixth-place performance. Levins ran 27:07.51 at the old Hayward Field in Eugene in 2015.
The 32-year-old St. Catharines, ON native now lives and trains in Oregon with the Nike Bowerman Track Club. Levins, age 34, also lives in Oregon and is from Black Creek, BC. He is coached by Jim Finlayson in Victoria.
Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend elite athlete coordinator, Dylan Wykes, said, “We are excited to welcome Moh to the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend. We always enjoy when the Canadian greats race on Canadian soil in front of home fans.” Wykes added, “We could be in for something really really special with the Ottawa 10K presented by Otto’s Ottawa.”
Organizers are also excited to welcome back 2022 champion Natasha Wodak and 2021 champion Leslie Sexton to the Canadian 10K Championship Women’s event. Full fields for the Ottawa 10K presented by Otto’s Ottawa, also the host of the Canadian 10K Championships, can be found here.
Wodak is the Canadian record holder in the marathon with her 2022 Berlin Marathon performance of 2:23:12. She formerly held the national 10,000m record at 31:41.59, which continues to be her best time over the distance.
Ben Flanagan holds the national road 10K record at 28:11. This time is well within both Levins and Ahmed’s ability, however, Ottawa can heat up in late May and sometimes there can be a strong wind during this event. It is likely that Ahmed is looking to be in form soon for track season and certainly to perform well during the Budapest World Athletics Championships in perhaps both the 5000m and 10,000m events.
