
Logan Smith believes the Reedham Ten was the perfect race to come back to after a brief illness over the Christmas period as the City of Norwich AC athlete broke the course record.
Smith recorded a time of 49:53 in the first race of the 2025 Sportlink Grand Prix Series despite being laid low over the festive season as he held off a stern challenge from Callum Bowen-Jones (51:19) to take the win.
City of Norwich AC’s Luke Alden completed the podium in 53:14 as runners took advantage of the friendlier than normal conditions to record quick times.
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect,” Smith told Sportlink TV. “Before Christmas I was probably in about low 29-minute 10K shape but then I was ill over Christmas so I probably lost a bit of that sharp end speed. But I’ve got the mileage in the legs from a couple of marathon blocks now and I think today was the perfect distance to come back to.”
Much of the pre-race talk was the battle between Smith and Bowen-Jones and it was always likely the course record would be broken as both athletes pushed each other on.
“It was my first time racing over that distance (10 miles) so it was always going to be a PB! It felt good – we started off pretty conservatively – a 5:05 (mile), 5:04 and then we picked it up a little bit in the third mile – that was a sub 5 and it felt good then I just rolled with it.
“It was a bit undulating at points. It wasn’t probably until the last mile and a half stretch that you got a bit of wind but overall really pleased with it and sub 50 on a course like this. It was really good to have Callum at the front for a bit of company.”
Meanwhile, Emily Ruane (Cambridge & Coleridge) beat her own course record from last year to claim overall victory in the women’s race in 57:27. Eleanor Grubb (City of Norwich AC) also beat last year’s time but it was only enough for second place (58:14)whilst Norwich Road Runners’ Kate Murrell took third spot in 62:03.

“It was really nice – I went off a bit quicker than I had planned but I felt really good so stuck with it,” she told Sportlink TV.
“I felt strong so I’m happy. I’m gearing up for the Barcelona Half Marathon and last year I did this before the Cambridge Half and that was a really good tester so I thought I’d definitely come back and do it again.”
Make sure you subscribe to Sportlink TV for the full highlights package from the Reedham Ten event.
The Sportlink Grand Prix moves on to the Valentine’s 10K next month for the second race in the series. There are a handful of places left, which can be bought here.