"You can't expect things to fall into place. I was at a place where I was so close to being in or out that I had to rely so much on these uncontrollable factors where you're just rooting for everything to work out. I left that year being like, ‘OK, I can't do that again.’ I can't just put myself in a decent place and expect everything to work out. If I want to make it, I have to step up. And luckily, since I made the change to Very Nice Track Club with Ronnie, my trajectory has been a lot better."

Ben Flanagan is a fan favorite and has been on the show a few times. He is fresh off running 13:04 at the Terrier Classic at Boston University. That got him under the Olympic qualifying standard, which is huge because if we went back to his last appearance on the podcast in 2021 – he was stressing over his ranking and chasing a fast enough time to get himself in a good spot for the Tokyo Olympic selection. He didn’t end up going.

He finally got the chance to represent Canada last year at the World Championships in Budapest and now his path is a little bit easier. He’ll explain that, how he found his speed again at The Very Nice Track Club and why he’s so excited to chase some records.

We also answered a bunch of your listener questions that we submitted via Instagram.

Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram⁠⁠⁠

Guest: Ben Flanagan | @ben_flanagan on Instagram

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