Nick Goolab breaks British 5k road record in Monaco

Nick Goolab on the podium with Joshua Cheptegei (middle) and Jimmy Gressier (right)

Belgrave’s Nick Goolab broke a 24-year-old British record with a 13:27 at the Monaco 5km Herculis road race.

He finished third behind France’s Jimmy Gressier in 2nd (13:18, European record) and Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei (12:51, World record).

In his own words: How the race unfolded >>

After taking six weeks off running after the summer track season of 2019, Nick built his fitness back and has enjoyed a near-perfect 2020, with a win the Middlesex County XC championships, a win in the Surrey League, a win in the Chichester 10k and then a British record in Monaco.

See all Belgrave club records >>

Cheptegei, who set a 10k world record in December in Valencia, led from the gun and was around 10 seconds clear of the pack by the end of the second km. Gressier in second also ran a fairly isolated race, with clear daylight behind and ahead of him.

Nick tucked in nicely with the chase pack and was in 6th with 1km to go, before surging to a brilliant 3rd place finish with a 2:39 final km.

His 13:27 beats his own club record of 13:34, set in Ipswich in 2019, and the 13:30 British record set by Rob Denmark in 1996 and equalled by Mo Farah in 2006.