Moh Ahmed to make surprise return to Canadian XC nationals after 13 years
Can Canada's greatest distance runner grab his first national cross-country title on Saturday?
Nick Iwanyshyn
The fight for the 2025 Canadian men’s cross-country title just got a whole lot spicier. For the first time since 2012, after a last-minute entry, Canadian four-time Olympian Moh Ahmed is set to compete at the national cross-country championships (ACXC), undoubtedly seeking redemption after a tough season on the track.
The 34-year-old shakes up a stacked field of athletes featuring current and former U Sports stars, Canada’s top endurance athletes from the track to the marathon and previous ACXC champions. The competition will return to London, Ont.’s Fanshawe Golf Course on Saturday for the second straight year.
Ahmed’s surprise registration came on Sunday (the final day to enter), just one week after news broke about him leaving longtime Bowerman Track Club head coach Jerry Schumacher. It will be the Canadian’s first race since beginning training with Nike-sponsored Swoosh TC, based in Flagstaff, Ariz.
A rocky 2025 year of racing
Ahmed’s 2025 track season was a difficult one; he only raced twice throughout the year–the Canadian national 5,000m and the World Athletics Championships 10,000m in Tokyo. But due to calf pain, he recorded a DNF in both. He was also forced to scratch from the 5,000m race at worlds.
Who’s on Canada’s dream team for the World XC Championships?
Twelve years ago, when Ahmed last raced ACXC, he took the runner-up spot to now-Canadian marathon record holder Cam Levins. It was a tight race, with Levins taking the win by less than a second; the men clocked 29:41.55 and 29:42.07, respectively.
Fast-forward to September 2025, after his world championship marathon, Levins hinted that we might see an appearance from him and Ahmed at ACXC. “It’s been a long time since we’ve done Canadian cross-country,” he told Canadian Running. “So maybe we’ll try to put a team together for [the World XC Championships] in Tallahassee. I think that would be pretty fun.” Despite the indication, Levins will not be at this year’s national championship.
Other standouts slated to toe the line on Saturday include:
- Three-time U Sports champion (2023, 2024, 2025) Philippe Morneau Cartier
- 5K road star and former U Sports champion Mitchell Ubene, last year’s ACXC bronze medallist
- 2021 Olympian and three-time world championship marathoner Ben Preisner
- Post-collegiate 5,000m and 10,000m NCAA runner Evan Burke
To be eligible for the World Cross-Country Championships, set for Tallahassee’s Apalachee Regional Park in January, runners must place within the top 10 at ACXC; Athletics Canada will select up to six athletes to compete for Team Canada.
