Moh Ahmed healthy, in top fitness for much-anticipated half marathon debut Sunday in NYC

Doug Harrison · CBC Sports

· Posted: Mar 14, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Coach Jerry Schumacher inactive marvels months aboriginal astatine however Moh Ahmed navigated the Paris Olympic men's 10,000-metre final. The mode helium executed his race, the decision-making, however helium positioned himself and his last determination connected the 25th and past lap.

Ahmed worked his mode to 2nd spot 100 metres from the decorativeness enactment past Aug. 2 astatine Stade de France aft edging past 2 Ethiopian athletes. But wrong seconds, American Grant Fisher and past Ethiopia's Berihu Aregawi blew by him connected the outside. The Canadian placed 4th successful 26 minutes 43.79 seconds, 34-100ths down the Calgary-born Fisher, his erstwhile Bowerman Track Club teammate, for a bronze medal.

"That mightiness person been the champion 10,000 metres he's ever run," Schumacher said recently. "I cognize he's tally faster [with a 26:34.14 idiosyncratic best] but however helium raced it ... helium wasn't trying to get connected the podium. He tried to triumph the golden medal.

"It's hard to locomotion distant from the way erstwhile you're moving that good against world-class competition."

On Sunday, Ahmed is scheduled to marque his long-awaited fractional marathon debut astatine 7 a.m. ET successful New York City, wherever chap Canadians Ben Flanagan, Tristan Woodfine and Andrew Davies volition articulation him successful the elite men's field.

WATCH | Paris 2024 Olympic 10,000m final:

Schumacher expects Ahmed to vie outdoors connected the way this season, including the 5,000 and/or 10,000 successful Tokyo astatine the World Athletics Championships successful September since helium has met the qualifying times.

But speech of the 34-year-old making the modulation to roadworthy racing has ne'er been louder.

Ahmed won the Ottawa 10K roadworthy contention 2 years agone for his first Canadian 10K Championships rubric and planned to tally a fractional marathon successful January 2024 but withdrew from the Houston contention aft tweaking his hamstring/hip flexor successful his last workout.

WATCH | Ahmed earns his 1st Canadian 10K Championships title:

Schumacher told CBC Sports the St. Catharines, Ont., autochthonal is steadfast and successful large signifier six weeks aft a insignificant ft contented forced Ahmed to retreat from the men's indoor 3,000m contention astatine the Millrose Games successful NYC.

"It's not an casual course," said Schumacher, caput manager of Eugene, Ore.-based Swoosh Track Club (formerly Bowerman) who besides guides the University of Oregon cross-country and way and tract program. "We bash roadworthy moving a mates of times a week truthful Moh's acquainted with hitting the roads.

"Moh's ever been a strength-trained athlete, truthful I deliberation he's going to construe to a fractional beauteous well."

In 61-minute shape

Cam Levins has held the Canadian grounds of 60 minutes 18 seconds since Feb. 12, 2023, but the New York people isn't record-eligible, per World Athletics, due to the fact that the straight-line region betwixt the commencement and decorativeness is greater than 50 per cent of the full contention distance.

However, Schumacher noted Ahmed, who astir precocious competed past Aug. 30 successful a 5,000m race, is successful 61-minute shape.

Flanagan, 30, volition contention his 5th fractional marathon and archetypal successful New York earlier transitioning to marathon grooming soon aft the expected accomplishment of his archetypal child, a girl, aboriginal this month.

The erstwhile Canadian grounds holder successful the fractional marathon who inactive holds nationalist marks connected the roadworthy crossed 5K, 8K and 10K wouldn't beryllium amazed if Ahmed lowers the nationalist people to 59 minutes oregon faster successful the fractional marathon, but doesn't consciousness New York is the spot to bash so.

"When you're arsenic accelerated arsenic Moh, you're amended disconnected letting things consciousness really, really, truly bully aboriginal [in a fractional marathon] and beryllium cautious versus letting that deceivingly bully gait travel backmost to wound you later," said Flanagan, who ran 61:19 successful Houston successful January.

Flanagan is present coached by Jon Green, who helped American Molly Seidel to bronze successful the 2021 Olympic marathon successful Sapporo, Japan. Green besides enjoyed contiguous occurrence with Calgary-born Rory Linkletter, who clocked 2 hours 11 minutes 42 seconds past November for the fastest-ever clip by a Canadian successful the NYC Marathon.

"My No. 1 precedence semipermanent is to beryllium 1 of the champion Canadian marathoners ever, and ideally 1 of the champion marathoners successful the world," said Flanagan, who won the Ottawa 10K past spring.

Woodfine finished sixth (1:03:50) successful the NYC Half a twelvemonth ago, a small implicit a infinitesimal shy of his 1:02:40 best, acceptable successful Boston successful November 2023. Most recently, the 31-year-old Cobden, Ont., autochthonal (near Ottawa) was 2nd astatine the Canadian 5K Championships past September successful Montreal.

Davies, 24, volition marque his NYC Half debut 5 weeks aft lowering his PB by 14 seconds to 1:03:05 successful the Vancouver First Half Marathon.

Last Nov. 30, the University of British Columbia instrumentality pupil won the men's 10K successful freezing temperatures astatine the Canadian cross-country championships successful London, Ont.