Newry City 10K 2025

 


After weeks of consistent training, there was only one way to test the results. Run a good 10K.


The road to Newry really started after a disappointing performance at the Portadown 10K in March. After dealing with a knee injury and getting the flu just a week before, this meant that I went into the race without any training or full recovery from illness. Therefore, my only concern was actually getting the race done. 


After that race I was determined to break my 5k and 10K PB.


The weeks after the Portadown 10K were very successful as I was able to consistently train. At the end of April I also did the Belfast City Marathon Relay to test my endurance over a longer distance. During the week leading up to the Newry City 10K I decided to taper, so I cut 10 minutes from my two 60 minute runs and shortened my tempo run to just 20 minutes.




On the morning of the race, I did my usual 2 mile warm up and strides. My race plan was to follow the sub 40 minute pacer as that was close to my PB time (40:17), I also wanted to make sure I was among a pack at the 5k mark, which is usually exposed to strong winds.


At the start line I found the sub 40 pacer and then the race started. For the first 5k I was able to follow the pacer. However, looking at my watch it indicated I was running at around 41:30 pace which suggested that I would need to run at my 5k PB pace to the finish line.   


At the 5k mark it started to get very windy, but luckily enough there were a lot of other runners with the pacer, so I went into the back to be shielded from the wind. However, I was starting to get tired at that point and was not able to keep up with the pacers at the 7k Point.




At the 8 to 9k point I was starting to get really tired and got a stitch. However, before the final corner I realised that if I do a really fast sprint I might be able to get a PB - So that was what I did. I sprinted to the finish. However, I saw on the clock it was 40:18 which was one second off my PB and initially I felt disappointed. It wasn’t until I got home and checked the results that the chip time was 40:14. I completely forgot that there is chip time and a clock time - chip time is usually counted as the PB. My previous 10K PB was also chip time so there is consistency using the chip time.



Looking back I am slightly annoyed about the finish as it didn’t allow me to enjoy my PB. I am also concerned about the reliability of my watch which displayed 500m short of a 10K which ruined my perception on how I was actually doing. For my next 10K I will not follow the pacer as I want to try to do a 10K with a negative 5k split. In conclusion, this is not going to be my last PB.

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