Report by Emily Green

Race Date: Friday 8^th August 2025

The Beginning

The twenty minute barrier for 5K has been a dream since joining Steel City back in 2022 but it has proved to be an up and down journey whilst taking on my dream job last year has made it difficult to train consistently. After watching and being inspired by so many at Manchester and London at the end of Spring, I nearly signed up for a marathon there and then but, when asking about which Autumn marathon to run, Malcolm Baggaley (Coach in Running Fitness who looks after the 19:00 Thursday track sessions) suggested that maybe maybe a sub 20 5k would be a good starting point. Thus the #ProjectTwenty training group was formed.

Training

Malcolm prepared a ten week programme (eight if doing Leeds) to give us our best shot at breaking the barrier. What stood in our way were far too many soul destroying solo 2000m and 3000m lactate threshold sessions each week (except week 7 where 3x3000m was just too much to do solo so we all got together), Thursday track sessions with a few additional ‘leisurely runs’ in the middle. A group of 12 was formed and a WhatsApp group created and so began the training block. Instructions were given by Coach every Sunday as to what to do the following week. A few added in additional races during the block which required some rewritten training plans but on the whole the weeks ticked by. Targets for longer threshold sessions earlier in the week were 4 min kilometres and, like unwanted guests, the doubts rolled in as everyone tried and failed to hit the target times questioning  whether we were ever going to see any speed appear. Malcolm, the unflappable and potentially most positive person I have ever met, never lost faith and reminded us that if we could get out on a random Tuesday after work and run hard, race day would be fine. The weeks ticked by and I have to say (but don’t let Malcolm know) that I really enjoyed having the structure of a training programme with a group. I knew I had to do the sessions otherwise I’d feel guilty for letting the team down. Don’t get me wrong, the sessions were tough, especially the ones on your own, but it gave me accountability. I even did three speed sessions whilst on holiday and never slacked on the programme!

Race Day

Race day also coincided with one group member’s ‘big’ birthday. A fine excuse to organise post race pizza and prosecco with the obligatory Parkrun the following morning! In her own words, “The race coincided with a new age category birthday weekend and it was great to spend the evening with some great running friends”.  Travelling up on the day of the race, the only one feeling positive was Malcolm! Everyone else was still very pessimistic but the thought of pizza on the other side was motivation alone. The other half of the group had already performed exceptionally in Leeds two weeks earlier so the pressure was on. On top of our challenge, Pierre, who had paced so well at Leeds for the group, was now after his own PB of sub 18 minutes! Having checked in at the Travel Lodge, being greeted by a very enthusiastic member of staff, we debated what to drink in the pub next door which wasn’t going to cause issues with race preparation. These included: a cup of tea, a glass of water and a blackcurrant or sports drink? We then headed down the road to the race location, also the  site of the Heslington Parkrun, a 1000m cycle track which we needed to navigate five times. Warm up went by with Seth, who came to pace and never broke sweat, discussing what he was planning on doing. The final bit of advice from Malcolm  was to stick to Seth for four laps then let the brakes off. All this activity meant that all too suddenly we were lined up at the start.

The Race

The York 5K attracts the very fastest runners and despite aiming for 20 minutes, we were very much near the back. The starter set us off and, after a bit of weaving, I settled into running next to Seth who never once checked his watch! The first two laps went by and I was surprised at how fresh I felt considering that we went through the first km in 3:53 and then the second in 7:48. (See the chart below, Seth’s pacing was like clockwork. Ed.) It was only as Seth announced that we were at the halfway point that I began to feel less than fresh! It was then that I recalled the painful 2500m reps Malcolm had us doing during training and I was relieved to feel slightly fresher now than when I was about to do rep number two! Having passed the start/finish line a third time, I was beginning to feel the slight breeze and tucked in to try to get Seth to block it for me. Just before finishing our fourth lap, the leaders came through and I was pleased to notice that only the top seven had managed to lap me.

The five lap course did make it challenging for spectators. With times ranging from 15 to 33 minutes it would have been difficult to follow but I was in my own race and therefore didn’t notice the chaos. In the final lap, after the ‘uphill’ (we’re not even talking a metre of elevation gain but it felt like a mountain), Seth moved across and told Kathy and myself to push. At this point, I went for it down the slight incline around the hairpin bend and then gritted my teeth hoping to cling onto my pace, desperate for some of my track speed to come through to see me over the finish line.

I could see the clock as I came out of the final bend but knew I was well under 20 minutes but how quick could I go? A text came instantly on crossing the line: ‘19:34’, I had smashed my 5k pb by over a minute! Kathy followed not far behind as we navigated the guy throwing up just after the finish line. Seth had dropped back to try and pick up the next in the group to try and get them under 20 minutes but Bethan just missed it, coming in a matter of seconds over 20 minutes. Her words, “a race so nice, I’ve just got to do it twice!” indicated determination not to be beaten.

After The Race

A welcome selection of chocolate bars at the end definitely made the race a little sweeter and catching up with Pierre to find out he’d smashed his PB too during our cool down!

So what have I learnt during this 5k training block:

1: 5k distance is a mental game and getting the speed sessions in might not feel like you’re making progress during training but helps massively with the mental side of racing.

2: Malcolm knows best (but I didn’t say that!).

3: Training in a group really does improve your experience.

Remember I said that despite aiming for a sub-20, we were still well down the field when setting off, well…I finished 105 out of 154 (24th female) with 112 runners breaking 20 minutes! Huge thanks must go to Malcolm for putting the training programme together and never once getting annoyed at the endless excuses and negativity in the WhatsApp group. Also to Seth, who like a metronome, kept his pace consistent for every lap. He even didn’t mind the silence he received during the race whilst giving us all words of encouragement and us all conserving every bit of energy!

What’s next? Well, Malcolm joked about project 19, but for now, I need to think a little long term and the ‘I will never do a marathon’, marathon after successfully gaining a place for London through the ballot. I should have done the lottery instead, who ever expects to get a place in the ballot?  So now it’s a careful programme of increasing distance and maintaining speed with an Autumn/Winter 10K target and early 2026 half before London in April.