SOUTH Bendigo Athletics Club’s Archie Reid is ready to tackle two major athletics showdowns in the space of five days.
The distance running star from Moama will contest next Tuesday’s running of the Victorian 5000m championship at Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne’s Albert Park precinct.
Five days later and Reid will line up on Batman Avenue to contest the half-marathon (21.1km) at the Nike-backed Melbourne Marathon festival.
The race will finish on the MCG turf.
The lead-up to the December 12 half-marathon has involved many hours of running on the roads around Moama and Echuca.
“A lot of my training the past few months was aimed at the half-marathon,” Reid said.
Reid completes two main sessions a week in which he will do a 4km warm-up, 12km run session, and 2km cool-down.
He completes more than 130 kilometres a week in training.
Not only is there time committed to athletics, but also full-time work in the family business at Bru Burger in Echuca.
The 20-year-old has raced the 21.1km distance in Launceston, Dubai and Valencia, and also did a time-trial for the distance with coach Brady Threlfall in Echuca.
“I go into this race a lot stronger than I was a year or two ago,” Reid said of his physical and mental toughness.
Reid said the 5000m championship will play a key part in his build-up for the longer distance.
“After a training session a couple of weeks ago Brady spoke about the speed I was running at and suggested I have a go at the 5000.”
Reid ran 14:39 at Lakeside in March 2019 to set the Bendigo residential under-18 record for the 5000m distance.
A goal was this year’s half-marathon on the Gold Coast, but the race was called off at late notice because of COVID-19.
“It’s been a tough year in terms of staying motivated to train for races,” Reid said.
“At times I would think why am I doing all this work, only for a race to be called off a couple of days before it was to be run.
“Brady has done a lot to help me. He’s a great athlete, mentor and has lot of training and racing experience.
“In previous years I never did big training sessions as I have done with Brady.
“It’s helped a lot to build my leg strength and also to keep pushing on when it’s not so easy in a race or a training session.”
The field for the Melbourne Marathon (42.2km) will include Threlfall who has raced the Berlin Marathon on three occasions and contested the Japan Marathon in 2019.
A long-time member of Bendigo Harriers, Threlfall has starred at many distances on the road and track.
He has played a key role in coaching Reid and Nathan Stoate.
Reid holds seven Bendigo residential records and five Centre across various distances.
Most are in the under-18 and under-17 age groups for the 5000m and 10,000m, although he also holds the open mile record.
A highlight of Reid’s year was fifth placing in a time of 29.22 in the Launceston 10km road race in June.
“That time meant I have qualified for the Zatopek 10 to be run at Lakeside in Melbourne on January 26.
“A goal will be low 29 minutes. That’s a night I want to be running really fast.”
