Runners Feed’s Brandon Laan had the opportunity to catch up with the 2011 Canadian Cross Country Champion who also placed 4th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships one week ago! Levins shares how much he values his friends and family and how he can’t wait to don the red and white singlet post collegiately (perhaps at the 2012 London Games!).

1) Were The Canadian Cross Country Championships on your schedule all along?

I wasn’t planning on doing it when I started the NCAA cross country season. I decided that I would because the event was so close to home in B.C., and that the opportunity to defend my title in front of family and friends made it worth it. The difficulty with trying to add the Canadian Cross Country Championships was that I now competed in three 10km’s over the last two weeks, but it absolutely was worth racing and a great experience tackling conditions on the day.

2) Did you have a lot of friends and family along the course?

I like to think I had the best crowd support out there! In all seriousness though a lot of my friends and family made the trip including my parents and brother. They made an awesome cheering section coming around each lap and it was larger than I could have ever hoped for.

3) Would you recommend the NCAA-Canadian Cross Country Championship double?

Absolutely. I felt as though I was able to recover well after NCAA Nationals, which was definitely my toughest race of the year. Recovery was the big issue when I was originally considering the double, but I want to support Canadian Cross Country in any way I’m able to.

4) Will you be representing Canada at The NACAC championships in March?

Unfortunately, due to my obligations in the NCAA for indoor and outdoor track, I won’t be able to do it this year. However, I am in my senior season of eligibility and I will be looking to continue competing for Canada in subsequent years.

5) What are your goals for the near future?

I am looking to try and win an NCAA National title before I’m done in college, but more importantly I need to get Olympic standard in whatever event I can. I am certainly leaning towards the 5000m at this point, but I will have to see how the season goes in all events. If the 1500m goes well or perhaps 10000m, then I will consider adjusting to whichever seems to be my best event.

Rapid Fire Questions:

1) What was your average mileage per week throughout the fall season? 155+ miles
2) Did you celebrate Canadian and American Thanksgiving? Unfortunately neither this year.
3) Letterman or Leno? Craig Ferguson haha.
4) My favourite Christmas song is…White Christmas.
5) All I want for Christmas is…to be able to spend the holidays with my girlfriend and family.

About the Author: Brandon Laan is a runner, coach, and entrepreneur. He spent his undergraduate days at The University of Western Ontario where he captained the Cross Country Team before fleeing to Hawaii Pacific University for graduate school. He is a Level II Certified USATF coach and holds personal bests of 1:06 and 2:21 in the Half Marathon and Marathon respectively. He also enjoys running to eat, not eating to run…and always will.

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