Holly Archer broke the course record at the Valentine’s 10K on Sunday – but admitted the result had left her with a tinge of regret.
Archer cruised to victory in the second race of the 2025 Sportlink Grand Prix Series in 34:12, knocking three seconds off her time last year at the Norfolk Gazelles event.
However, the Cambridge & Coleridge athlete was hoping to go under 34 minutes and rued a decision mid-race that could have potentially made up enough time to break that barrier.
“I got the course record but if I’m honest I wanted better – I think I’m in sub 34 shape but it wasn’t to be today,” she told Sportlink TV.
“I felt good in the latter half which shows me that I’m where I need to be.
“I knew there was a group ahead so as an athlete you have to make that decision whether to run a faster kilometre to catch up with them and then slow down, which is a hard decision when you’re already running hard.
“I knew what to do and didn’t do it. I thought they would come back to me but they didn’t.
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“I was just then telling myself when running into the wind that I should have caught up with that group! We live and we learn but hopefully I’ll come back next year and break 34 minutes. It’s been about five years now (since going under 34 minutes) and I’m so close.”
Archer, who was joined on the podium by Eleanor Grubb (City of Norwich AC) in 35:54 and Mabel Becket (City of Norwich AC) in 36:48, is now turning her attention to her marathon debut in London in April.
“Right now, I wouldn’t say that I’m in marathon training, which is a bit scary as there’s 12 weeks to go,” she added.
“I’ve actually dropped the mileage and put more strength work in. I didn’t know how I’d perform today because I’m a lot heavier in terms of bodyweight.
“I’ve been doing a lot less mileage but I managed to run a quicker time. I’m going to up the mileage now and start doing a marathon block.
“I’ll be racing with some stellar women – it’s going to be an exciting race to be part of and I won’t be worrying too much about the time, I’ll be honest. I just want to enjoy it but I want do myself proud.”
You can catch up with the latest top 20 standings in the 2025 Grand Prix Series here.