According to Laurentian Voyageurs' cross-country alumnus Caleb Beland, the Sporting Life 10km race in Toronto "is known for being a pretty quick course".

It just has not been, historically speaking, for the graduate of Bishop A. Carter Catholic Secondary School in Hanmer.

"I ran this race the last two years and both were pretty rough," Beland noted, having just finished his clinic internship to round out his academic requirements at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in Toronto and writing his board exam on the weekend.

"Going into this race (May 12th), there were some demons that I wanted to slay," he added. "Thankfully, I was able to do that."

Beland most certainly did, dropping his personal best time in the 10km by almost 20 seconds as he clocked in at 30:53 on the course that runs faster over the first five km than the second five.

"I was flying the first half of the race," noted the 26 year-old who established a new PB for the half-marathon (1:08.33) earlier this year in Houston and crossed the midway point in Toronto in 15:01.

"You just have to commit to the pace. I didn't look at my watch a single time in the second half. I just ran."

Ironically, all of this would happen exactly two weeks to the day when his half-marathon run in Mississauga required an altering of the race plans very early on.

"It was a very humid, windy day and I wasn't feeling reeally good so we turned it into a workout knowing that the big 10km I had been thinking about for a while was two weeks away from then," said Beland.

Given the overall scope of his 2024 racing calendar, it was easy to see why the new resident of Burlington (he begins working in the Hamilton/Oakville area shortly) was not overly despondent over his lack of success in his latest crack at the 21km distance.

"Heading into Mississauga, we hadn't really focused on the half-marathon this spring because we knew that I really wanted to run well at this particular 10km," said Beland. "Also, with it being an Olympic year, we're going to run the 5km at the end of June at Olympic Trials."

"Basically we knew that we would be doing 10km/5km more so this spring and summer."

As for the Trials, it is not necessarily with an eye on Paris in July/August that Beland is taking to the track in Montreal a month or so earlier.

"The Olympic standards are crazy and I did not run a single track race in the entire year of 2023," he said. "Ultimately, this is more just getting out and seeing where I am at."

"Obviously I want to perform but it's more about seeing what I can do, but enjoying the moment."

Clearly there was plenty of enjoyment to be had from his results at the Sporting Life 10km as Beland finished fifth in a field of 16,854 runners / joggers / walkers.

"I knew early on that I was feeling good and mentally, I was ready for the course," he acknowledged. "This was very pleasing. There is a difference in being a 30-minute runners versus being a 31-minute runner."

Caleb Beland is now in the former bracket and not the latter - and pretty darn proud of that.