Luc Bruchet (left), shown here competing at the 2016 Olympics, clocked a personal best in the 10,000-m in Burnaby last weekend. (Laci Perenyi/Sportphoto photo)

Elgin Park alum clocks personal-best in 10,000-m race

Luc Bruchet inches closer to Olympic qualifying standard

Elgin Park Secondary alum Luc Bruchet set a new personal best time at a BC Athletics event last weekend in Burnaby – very nearly hitting an Olympic qualifying standard in the process.

The 29-year-old runner, who now lives in Vancouver, clocked a time of 28 minutes, 17.33 seconds in the 10,000-m race at Swangard Stadium Saturday, in a race that was part of the BC Athletics-hosted BC Endurance Project.

Bruchet’s time was just 45-and-a-half seconds off the pace to qualify for the next Olympics, set for next summer in Tokyo.

Vancouver’s Kieran Lumb was second to Bruchet, and Kelowna’s John Gay crossed the finish line in third.

Bruchet – who is also a three-time national cross-country champion – competed for Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, running the 5,000-m. He finished 37th.

Bruchet’s run at Swangard Saturday – in an empty stadium, save for a few race officials, coaches and fellow athletes – was the fastest 10,000-m run on Canadian soil since the 2001 world championships, when Jeff Schiebler crossed the finish line 10 seconds faster at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium.


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