Simon Bairu was awarded the first gold medal of the 2010 Canadian Track and Field Championships Wednesday night in Toronto after a convincing victory in the men's 10,000 metre.

The native of Regina, Sask., followed the early pace-making of 2008 Olympian Eric Gillis and 2009 Canadian champion Reid Coolsaet until eleven laps remained — then he surged to the lead and opened a large gap, winning in a time of 28 minutes, 48.25 seconds.

Kip Kangogo of Running Room Track Club was the last to be dropped and was rewarded with the silver medal in 29:02.12, while Coolsaet took the bronze in 29:14.63. Gillis struggled home in 29:35.63 for fourth place.

"I just came off a 170-kilometre week of training," Bairu said. "It really wasn't as easy as it looked. I am glad it looked easy but I was struggling the whole time, to be honest. The humidity, I don't think I was fully prepared for it.

"I knew I was going to do a move eight or nine laps from the finish, and at 11 to go I could tell Reid was fatigued a little bit because he kept looking around while in the lead. We had a couple of steps on Eric so it was the right time to do it."

Bairu set the Canadian record of 27:23.63 at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford University in May. But his main focus this year is on his marathon debut in New York City in November.

Solid return for Zelinka

Both Coolsaet and Gillis, who run for the Speed River Track in Guelph, Ont., are running the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Sept. 26, and, like the winner, are piling on the kilometres in preparation.

The first day of the championships also saw the return of heptathlete Jessica Zelinka, who gave birth to a baby girl, Anika, 14 months ago. Two years ago the London, Ont., native finished fifth at the Beijing Olympics with a Canadian record score of 6,490 points.

Zelinka started the day well with a quick time in the 100m hurdles (13.27 seconds) and then cleared 1.73m in the high jump. She ended the first day of competition with a total score of 3640 points, more than 300 points clear of her nearest competitor.

"This is my second heptathlon of the year," she said. "I did Gotzis in May. There, I had no expectations, just go out and compete. Here I came out wanting to be focused and compete hard. The hurdles was my best event today. It's a work in progress, It is very good that the Commonwealth Games are in the fall. That works a lot better for me.

"I am really excited about tomorrow. I am working on things mentally, I am a different athlete now than I was two years ago."

Jamie Adjetey-Nelson of Windsor Legion Track Club has a slight lead in the men's decathlon at the end of the first day. His total score from five events is 4,184, while University of Toronto's Massimo Bertocchi, a 2008 Olympian in this event, is second with 4,120 points.