© Copyright – 2015 – Athletics Illustrated
Canada’s Cameron Levins smashed the Canadian 10,000m record Friday, May 29th at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon in the time of 27:07:51. The previous record was held by Regina’s Simon Bairu, who set the time at the 2010 Payton Jordan Invitational with his run of 27:23.63. When asked about his race and pacer, Levins told Athletics Illustrated, “I ran the race pretty much how we planned it. I had a rabbit (Brian Shrader) who was planning on going through 5K in 13:35, but couldn’t quite make it. That wasn’t a problem though because we still made it through in 13:38. He did really great.”
The race featured several athletes who have run under 27-minutes, including double Olympic and World championships gold medallist, Mo Farah, who was looking for the British record of 26:46.57, which he set in June of 2011 on the same track. Farah wasn’t quite able to achieve the mark; however, he did win the race with a strong finish kick in the time of 26:50.97. Tanui and Kamworor finished in 26:51.86 and 26:52.65, respectively.
The lead pack took off at record pace and kept it up through the 5K split. At the start of the race the field quickly separated into two packs, the major players at the front included Farah and Kenyans Paul Tanui and Geoffrey Kamworor, who each shared the lead, until Farah unleashed his kick and the three separated over the final lap.
Levins, who was looking for a sub-27-minute performance, hung back – as is his trademark – until the late stages of the race. He ended up finishing fourth overall, having run much of the second half of the race in no man’s land and running a small negative split.
“The second half the race I just kept pushing to catch people and hunted after a sub-27 minute performance. Of course the crowd’s enthusiasm made it feel like I could do anything. Overall, I am really happy with it, and I’m excited to see what the rest of the season has in store,” shared Levins.
The 26-year-old Levins is originally from Black Creek, BC, which is a small community on Vancouver Island near Campbell River. He now trains with the Nike Oregon Project in Portland, Oregon under the direction of famed coach Alberto Salazar. Levins competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games in both the 10,000m and 5,000m distances. Until Friday night, Levins was the second-fastest all-time Canadian in both events. This performance improved on his personal best time of 27:27.96. His 5,000m record is 13:15.19.
