Night of the 10,000m PBs: Nick Goolab takes British champs silver at Highgate
Belgrave's Nick Goolab won individual British 10,000m silver and and team silver in the European Cup at the Night of the 10,000m PBs at Highgate.
Humid conditions and a mid-race downpour meant that PBs were few and far between in the men's A-race, but Nick's 28:10 - his 10,000m debut on the track - was still good enough for third on the Belgrave all-time rankings.
Belgrave all-time 10,000m rankings
| Time | Name | Venue | Date | |
| 1 | 27:47.79 | Paul Evans | Stockholm | 5 Jul 1993 |
| 2 | 27:48.73 | Gary Staines | Bislett Games, Oslo | 6 Jul 1991 |
| 3 | 28:10.48 | Nick Goolab | European Cup, Highgate | 6 Jul 2019 |
| 4 | 28:27.70 | Martin Dent | Zatopek:10, Melbourne | 10 Dec 2009 |
| 5 | 28:39.85 | Andrew Lloyd | Unknown | 1990 |
| 6 | 29:08.5 | Gerald A. North | Lauriston Runners v S. Africa, Walton | 21 Mar 1967 |
| 7 | 29:10.66 | Phil Wicks | European Cup, Madeira | 6 Jun 2009 |
Nick had prepared for Highgate with his highest ever mileage in training as well as easy runs and long tempo work on the track to get used to the mental grind of 25 laps. His result was 12 seconds quicker than his English 10k title win in Bournemouth in April, even if it wasn't quite the sub-28 clocking he'd hoped for.
But World Champs qualifying time of 27:40 had been out of reach for most of the race, with the pacers and lead pack, including Nick and Derby's Ben Connor, quickly falling behind the green LEDs marking World and Olympic standards, and going through halfway in 14:02.
Connor sat patiently behind Goolab for much of the race, waiting until 7k to break from 7th place with a gradual wind-up that would see him finish 3rd overall in 27:57, good enough for the British title.
Goolab's pacing was remarkably consistent, posting identical 14:05 first and second 5ks, and his 28:10 got him a European Cup 8th place and British silver, well ahead of compatriots Chris Thompson and training partner Mahamud Aadan.
| Pos | Time | Name | Team |
| 1 | 27:49.79 | Yemane CRIPPA | ITA |
| 2 | 27:52.25 | Amanal PETROS | GER |
| 3 | 27:57.60 | Ben CONNOR | GBR |
| 4 | 28:04.09 | Soufiane BOUCHIKHI | BEL |
| 5 | 28:06.27 | Sondre MOEN | NOR |
| 6 | 28:09.21 | Lorenzo DINI | ITA |
| 7 | 28:10.16 | Juan PÉREZ | ESP |
| 8 | 28:10.49 | Nick GOOLAB | GBR |
| 9 | 28:21.24 | Aras KAYA | TUR |
| 10 | 28:26.02 | Said EL OTMANI | ITA |
| 14 | 28:28.55 | Chris THOMPSON | GBR |
| 15 | 28:28.56 | Mahamud Aadan | GBR |
The British team of Connor, Goolab, Matthew Leach, Jack Gray, Adam Hickey and Andrew Heyes took home the team silver medal, with Italy taking gold and Germany bronze.
