At the very end of the 800m final at the 2024 CTFL championship, five athletes – three in the CTFL – crossed the finish line within less than a quarter of a second of each other in an unbelievably close race.

The men’s 800m field was highly competitive, made clear as the athletes tore around the track for their first lap at Ottawa’s Terry Fox Stadium.

Leading the race through the bell was Bears’ Alonzo Ryan, followed closely by Arctics’ athletes Michael Peterson and Robin Lefebvre. Peterson, CTFL champion in 2022, was looking to prove he could still contend with the best. Lefebvre, a 17-year-old wonderkid on the tail end of an impressive season, looked to prove he was ready to do the same. 

An entire seven positions off Ryan’s lead was Spitfires’ Dawson Mann, who was arguably the favourite given he led the 800m standings heading into the finals.  Mann’s strategy is usually to run an even-split between his two laps, which he was doing despite the obvious setback.

“Lots of times I’m feeling pretty good on that first lap but I’m not in a very good spot,” Mann said. “It was the same thing today; I was basically at the back.”

As the pack charged through the next corner, Lefebvre caught himself falling slightly behind the kick.

“I saw people passing me between 500 and 600 [meters], so I knew I had to push it,” Lefebvre said.

But he wasn’t the only runner looking to change their fate, Mann began a herculean effort to regain a favourable spot.

“On the back stretch I started working,” Mann said. “I Just tried to get everyone at the end.” 

As five members of the scrambled field gunned through the finish line, it was unclear who took the victory in the end.

Among the leaders, an unexpected contender in Ryan topped the CTFL field with an elite time of 1:48.85. However, because he had not raced in any preliminary races, Ryan’s win raised his point total to 45, securing him fourth place in one of the league’s most talent-stacked fields. 

Just behind Ryan was Lefebvre, clocking in at 1:48.99. The youngster’s incredible effort in the final lap was enough to earn him second place in the standings with 53 points and a CTFL silver medal. Earlier in the season, the youngster clocked in at an unbelievable league best preliminary mark of 1:48.61 at the Guelph Inferno meet.

But it was Spitfires’ Dawson Mann at the tail end of the lead group, clocking in at his season’s best of 1:49.03, who cemented himself as 2024 CTFL champion. The 16 points Mann earned in the tight race topped off what was a season of consistently elite performances. His season total reached an impressive 61 points.

With 46 total points, fellow Arctics’ runner Adam Schmidt hung onto a podium position – just ahead of Ryan – in the standings despite falling to fourth among CTFL athletes in the finals with a time of 1:51.47.

“I can’t be too upset with the effort,” Schmidt said. “It’s felt like a pretty long season and the body’s feeling a little bit tired now.”

In one of the CTFL’s closest ever races, the young Lefebvre encapsulated the spirit of the race minutes after the finish.

“It was a tough race but that’s what it takes,” Lefebvre said after the race. 

“This sport is tough.”