See photos from the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend 10K event

Going 10 kilometres across the roads of central Ottawa faster than anyone else was what it took to be a winner in the feature event of the first day of Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend.

Benjamin Flanagan of Kitchener, Ont., did just that, completing the course in 28 minutes nine seconds to set a new Canadian record time for the distance while also claiming the Athletics Canada road race championship.

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Flanagan had established the previous road race record of 28:11 at Boston in 2022, and it had been equalled by Toronto’s Cameron Levins at Paris in April.

Calgary’s Rory Linkletter was next across the line on Saturday evening in 28:40, followed by Jeremy Coughler of London, Ont., in 28:55.

Malindi Elmore of Kelowna, B.C., who will soon represent Canada in the Olympics for the third time, took the women’s title Saturday with a clocking of 32:50. Second place went to Kingston’s Cleo Boyd (33:12), while North Vancouver’s Natasha Wodak, winner of the previous two national championships, took third in 33:21.

Here are some race photos by Postmedia’s Ashley Fraser.