VANCOUVER – It took about 25 minutes longer than it should have, but UBC Thunderbird and Team Canada cross country runner Kieran Lumb wound up with the gold medal for Canada at the NACAC Cross Country Championships in Boca Raton, Florida on Saturday morning. NACAC is an abbreviation for the athletic body that governs the North American, Central American and Caribbean nations.
 
Leading the 6.5 km race in the closing stages, Lumb was sent in the wrong direction by a race official. By the time he figured out that the official had made an error and got back on course, the first-year T-Bird had been passed on his way to the finish line.
 
Preliminary results had him finishing second, as that was the position he crossed the finish line, but revised results, after a Team Canada protest, awarded Lumb a tie for first with Mexico's Arturo Reyna Tristan. Canada as a team finished third in the U20 men's division.
 

Kieran Lumb promoted to tie for ?? in #NACAC U20 men's race. pic.twitter.com/5hICgnAIIT

— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) March 4, 2017

 
"I would have been happy with second, to be honest," said Lumb via Facebook from Florida. "I went for a cool-down and the whole process took about 25 minutes for them to say I had finished tied for first. Second place would have been a great result for me anyway."
 
The great result for Lumb, albeit a round about path to victory, sets him up well as he prepares for the IAAF World Cross-Country Championships on March 26 in Kampala, Uganda. Lumb has been undergoing a rigorous training regiment in conjunction with lululemon and UBC Athletics sports science head James Brotherhood that sees him running in an artificial humidity chamber to prepare for the conditions in Uganda.
 
"It's been great to have access to those resources and the support from UBC," says Lumb.


 
The Lord Byng graduate's quick rise from high school cross-country star to Canadian National Team member is not surprising to his UBC coaches.
 
"He was clutch today," says UBC assistant cross-country coach Chris Johnson. "He has a big engine and we are just beginning to see what he is capable of. This is going to do wonders for his confidence heading into the world championships in Uganda."
 
Lumb will return to Vancouver for a couple more weeks of training before heading off to Africa with the Canadian National team.