By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved – Used with permission.
OTTAWA (24-May) — On a cloudy and chilly evening here in the Canadian capital, Gracelyn Larkin and Charles Philibert-Thiboutot won the Athletics Canada 10-K road running championships in exciting races. Larkin, 24, running in only her second road 10-K, came from behind to pass early leader and defending champion Malindi Elmore and break the tape on Queen Elizabeth Driveway in 32:43. Philibert-Thiboutot, 34, broke away from marathoner Cam Levins in the ninth kilometer to win in 28:06, a new Canadian record. Both athletes won CAD 6000 in prize money.
ELMORE TRIES TO RUN AWAY
Not even two minutes into the race, Larkin and Elmore opened up a big lead on the rest of the field. It looked like they would work together, but with three minutes and 45 seconds on the clock Elmore began to pull away. The three-time Olympian, who is still running strong at 45 years-old, cruised through 3-K in 9:32 and hit the halfway split in 16:06. At that point she had a 12-second lead on Larkin, who is 21 years her junior. Larkin was worried at first.
“I was thinking it’s 1-K in and I’m alone,” Larkin told reporters. “I was thinking, oh no!”
But Larkin –who lives and trains in Flagstaff, Arizona, under coach Stephen Haas– kept her cool. She tried to stay calm and focused on Elmore ahead.
“I was focused on her back the whole time, trying to stay strong in the middle, in the hard parts,” she said.
Early in the second half, Elmore’s form began to break down. The high knee lift she showed in the first half of the race was gone, and Larkin started to gain ground. In the middle of the eighth kilometer, Larkin caught Elmore then gently pulled away.
“It was still kind of far out; it was, I think, two and a half K out,” said Larkin, who had never won a national title before. “I was like, oh no, am I going to make this move, am I not? But I just stuck to it. My high school coach was out there and… he was just screaming at me.”
The move stuck and Larkin had 18 seconds on Elmore by the time she finished. Elmore’s time of 33:01 was nonetheless outstanding for a 45 year-old.
“On the one hand I’m really pleased that there is some up-and-coming talent that’s 20 years younger than me,” Elmore told Race Results Weekly. “Because, you know, we need a new generation ready to shine. But, it’s always a little…
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