Bears’ distance runner Thomas Laviolette finished the men’s 5000m final in dominant fashion with a big last lap.

The CTFL Final was Laviolette’s CTFL debut this season, having only submitted a free mark. His victory at the July 6 championship race in Ottawa would only deliver him the silver medal because of it. Samuel Kinahan of the Spitfires finished in third place at the final, which only added to a very solid season for him. Kinahan’s consistency earned him the top position in the season standings and the title of 2024 men’s 5000m champion.

As the athletes stepped onto the track for the 5000m final, they were faced with a torrential downpour, and the rain had been pelting the track for hours by that point. Laviolette admitted the weather bothered him during the warmups, but he was able to ignore it when it counted.

“It’s not that fun to run in the rain,” Laviolette said. “But in the race, I wasn’t feeling anything.”

Alongside Laviolette and Kinahan, Huskies’ Rudy Saal rounded out the three CTFL men in the final. Saal was looking to finish off a consistent season, much like Kinahan. Saal took the victory at the season opener in Montreal and was looking to recapture his winning instinct in Ottawa.

Kinahan earned his CTFL win this season at the Royal City Inferno meet in Guelph in early June, running the field’s best preliminary mark of 14:15.34 through the twelve and a half laps. 

Laviolette was coming into the final in incredible form, with a personal best of 13:57.32 at the Canadian Championships in Montreal on June 27. At the meet, Laviolette laced up against some of the countries best in the event, including Olympians Mohammed Ahmed and Arctics utility athlete, Ben Flanagan. 

Adding to Laviolette’s advantage, Kinahan had run the 1500m earlier in the day and was dealing with some fatigue.

“I made quite a bold decision today to run two events,” Kinahan said.

As the leaders rounded the track for the first several laps, however, Laviolette did not make his advantage abundantly clear.

“In the middle of the race I was like nine seconds behind,” Laviolette said.

Laviolette made a move with a lot of distance left to run, building a considerable lead. That was until non-CTFL athlete Will Norris found his way back into the race to catch Laviolette.

“I was waiting for the [right] moment,” Laviolette said. “I knew I wanted to close fast.”

As the two runners rounded the track for the bell lap, Laviolette went for it with 300 meters to go, leaving a fatigued Norris behind him. Laviolette closed quickly for a time of 14:26.75, followed by Saal who finished in 14:43.66 as the second-placed CTFL athlete.

“If you’re patient enough, you can win the race,” Laviolette said.

Kinahan came through in 15:14.35, but his efforts earlier in the season paid off to make him the 5000m champion on the season. 

“Overall, pretty happy with this year so far,” Kinahan said. “I’m happy to compete with the CTFL again.”