Two national records inside 27 minutes at The TEN; Shelby Houlihan debuts in 30:50

The TEN is a 10,000 m meeting on a high school track in San Juan Capistrano, California, run by Sound Running at the end of March so that distance runners can chase times before the championship season. The sixth edition on Saturday was the first stop on the 2026 USATF Tour, and it did what it is for.

Mohamed Abdilaahi of Germany won the men's race in 26:56.58, a national record, with a 58.33 last lap. Ky Robinson of Australia was half a second behind in 26:57.07, an Australian and Oceanian record, after leading through 4 km in 10:48.22 and 8 km with Ahmed Muhumed eight seconds back. Mike Foppen of the Netherlands outkicked Woody Kincaid for third in a Dutch record 27:20.52; Kincaid, the 2023 winner, ran 27:20.84 and Muhumed 27:22.93. India's Gulveer Singh was fourth with three laps left before cramp took him. Somalia's Mohamed Guled set a national record in 13th.

Shelby Houlihan ran her first 10,000 m and won in 30:50.10, a world lead and the tenth-fastest time by an American. She had gone after Alicia Monson's American record of 30:03.82, set on this track in 2023, but her pacers were gone before lap nine and she ran the rest alone: 12:08.80 at 4 km, 18:22.83 at 6 km with 30 seconds in hand, 24:38.39 at 8 km. Jessica McClain was second in 31:15.49 and Allie Buchalski third in a lifetime best 31:29.06.

Olli Hoare won the 1500 m in 3:35.82, six hundredths ahead of Waleed Suliman, with five men inside 3:37.14. Gabbi Jennings set a meet record of 4:07.69 in the women's race.

Twenty-five laps on a Catholic high school track. Three national records and the year's fastest women's time. The TEN remains the best idea in American distance running.

Sources: FloTrack; USATF; Wikipedia.