Ben Flanagan | Why the time is right in Toronto for his much-anticipated Marathon debut

The 2025 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon takes place this Sunday, October 19th. Headlining the Canadian National championship field this year is Ben Flanagan, as he looks set to make his much-anticipated debut over the Marathon distance. This week on The Shakeout Podcast we catch up with Ben to hear how he's approaching his first step into the deep waters of marathoning. Following a stellar 2024 season that saw him PB on the track at every distance from 1500m to 10,000m and make his first Olympic team in Paris, Ben tells us why the time was right to make the move full-time onto the roads.Already a multi-time national champion at shorter distances and the Canadian record holder at the road 5k, Ben shares his thoughts on why the roads have always felt like home for him despite a glittering track resume and how the unprecedented depth of Canadian marathoning currently is making the move both a daunting and exciting one for him. He also shares about his decision to move from his long-time training group in Michigan under the legendary Ron Warhurst to training solo in Cape Cod, his relationship with new Jon Green, and what it's been like to balance so much change with the demands of parenthood after the arrival of his first daughter this March. Subscribe to The Shakeout Podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts.Follow Ben on social media @Ben_flanaganHuge thank you to this week's sponsor Smartwool. Join the Smartwool mailing list to received updates and 15% off your first purchase 👉  https://bit.ly/4nrD1wb