Ahmed should have been racing in Tokyo now, but is still running fast times

When Moh Ahmed ran to a stunning Canadian record recently, his cheering section was his 20 or so Bowerman Track Club teammates spaced out around the 400 metres of infield at Jesuit High School in Portland, Ore.

The stadium was otherwise empty due to COVID-19. But 20 people or 20,000, it didn’t matter to Ahmed.

The most important voice was the one in his head.

With each 200-metre split hollered out by his coaches, the 29-year-old from St. Catharines, Ont., was mentally calculating his pace.

“I was doing the math, I was looking at the clock, I was like, ‘OK, I’m on pace, I can do this.’ I was very focused. I was very much in the zone,” Ahmed said. “More than anything it was the internal (dialogue). It was the plan that I had laid out beforehand, and the various little cues, words that I needed to use at various different distances.”

He also heard the familiar voice of his brother Ibrahim, and his coach Jerry Schumacher.

“I think with 3,600 metres, or maybe even 4,000 metres (into the race), Jerry said, ‘We’re getting this record, we’re getting this record.’”

Ahmed sliced 11 seconds off his own Canadian record when he ran 12 minutes 47.20 seconds in the 5,000 on July 11. It was also a North American record and made Ahmed the 10th fastest runner over the distance in history.

On Tuesday, he moved down to the 1,500 — a virtual sprint for the 5 and 10K specialist — and became the fifth-fastest Canadian at that distance.