Page 3 - Ben Preisner News Today

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 . . .

Here's what to watch on Saturday night and Sunday morning, including one more solid chance for Canada to win its 24th medal before the Tokyo Games come to a close.

Nine Canadian marathoners had achieved the qualifying criteria in the marathon, but each country is allowed only three men and three women, leading to speculation about the squad in recent weeks, and posing a good problem for Athletics Canada with the depth of talent. "Over the past few years, Canadian middle- and long-distance runners have accomplished great things on the track and on the road," Athletics Canadas head coach Glenroy Gilbert said in a statement. "In Tokyo, well see a new generat...

Canada's Cam Levins raced Sunday knowing it was his last shot. Two previous failed attempts lingered in the back of his mind.

"(But) nothing was going to stop me today is what I told myself," Levins said. The 32-year-old from Black Creek, B.C., finally dipped under the Tokyo Olympic standard in the marathon with just a week to spare. Levins, the Canadian record-holder in the event, ran two hours 10 minutes 30 seconds to win the S7 Marathon in the mountains in Styria, Austria. The qualifying standard of 2:11.30 had to be accomplished before June 1. Levins had been well on pace twice in the past seven months, in London ...

Lori Ewing Trevor Hofbauer finishes the 2019 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon as the top Canadian male, in Toronto, on Sunday, Oct., 20, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov February 16, 2021 - 7:47 AM Trevor Hofbauer misses the thrill of the race. The 28-year-old Canadian is most famous for crushing the Tokyo Olympic marathon standard in a seven-minute personal best in 2019. The fact he did it without wearing a watch for pacing purposes — racing...

And so, while Hofbauer can rest easy knowing that his spot on the Olympic team is locked up, his 2020 racing season was scrubbed by COVID-19. And with no definite race on the horizon until the Tokyo Olympic marathon, getting out the door some days feels like a grind. "For me, competition is huge. And just not having a competitive field to battle against kind of takes away some of that purpose as to why I train," Hofbauer said. The six-foot-three Hofbauer, who played basketball through high scho...

Even worse for Levins’ prospects, fellow-Canadian Ben Preisner of Milton, Ont., ran under the standard in an all-time Canadian fourth-best 2:10:17 to become the third Canadian to breach the qualifying standard. That means all three Canadian spots for the Olympic marathon are filled. But only provisionally. Levins, or anybody else, has until the June 3 cut-off to beat the times posted by Preisner, in just his first marathon, Tristan Woodfine of Cobden, Ont., (2:10:15 at London in October) or T...

Lori Ewing Natasha Wodak ofCanada celebrates winning the gold medal in the womens 10000m final during the athletics at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019. Wodak finished fifth in The Marathon Project on Sunday and achieved the Olympic qualifying standard. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Martin Mejia December 20, 2020 - 2:43 PM In the middle of a global pandemic that cancelled almost every major marathon over the last nine months, Natasha Wodak felt ble...

Lori Ewing Canadian Cam Levins reacts as he crosses the finish line of the Toronto Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon in Toronto on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston December 18, 2020 - 12:14 PM Midway through the rainy, windy London Marathon in October, Cam Levins hands got so cold, he had to grip his water bottle with both hands to drink. A few kilometres on, his hands were so numb he couldnt hold the bottles at all, knocking them off the water sta...