CALLUM Hawkins’ reaction was as telling as his performance after Scotland’s leading marathon man smashed a course record at the weekend, once again demonstrating that he has pace to go with his endurance.
The 24-year-old Kilbarchan AC runner took more than a minute off the course record in winning Bellahouston Harriers’ Brian Goodwin 10k in a time of 29 minutes 14 seconds. His performance also provides the latest evidence of the way that the whole of Scottish athletics is benefitting from the raised standards since Giffnock North’s Luke Traynor, the previous record holder, also hugely improved on that time, coming in just 13 seconds behind the winner.
Yet, for all that he was pleased to get another win under his belt, Hawkins – who has recently returned from a stint of altitude training in Colorado – was to register mild disappointment at his time. That in spite of having prepared for the race by putting in a challenging training session earlier in the day which had seen him do a half marathon in total, with six miles at his normal pace, just under six-minute miling, then five miles at “quicker than marathon pace”, averaging four minutes 53 per mile, before a two-mile warm down.
“I really enjoyed the race. My legs felt not too bad, but when I do these double workouts I usually do the race first then the session second.
“I was slightly disappointed to not be under 29 minutes, but I was out to race first.”
With expectations rising he is still very much in the early stages of his career and determined to remain realistic about his prospects in both the short and longer term as he acknowledges the feats of his predecessors.
“My aim for [the IAAF World Championships in August in] London is to improve on Rio and put my face into the mix, but really to just go out and enjoy it,” he said. “I am still a long way from Steve Jones’ record. It would be nice to get it but it is a ridiculous time when you break it down.”
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