Triathlon superstar Kat Matthews threw her ‘disciplined’ gameplan out of the window and then promptly destroyed an elite field of 5k runners at the weekend.
Last year’s IRONMAN Pro Series overall women’s winner and runner-up in both the IRONMAN World Championship in Nice and the 70.3 Worlds in Taupo, Matthews took a break from her pre-season training to line up in the Podium 5k event in Leicester, jointly organised by sportsshoes.
In fact, ‘taking a break’ isn’t strictly true as the morning of the race saw the Brit log a three-hour training ride on the bike.
It’s unlikely many of her competitors in the women’s elite ‘B’ race had a similar prep but when the start came at the Leicester Cycle Circuit, Matthews was in a league of her own.
A class apart
She looked super relaxed but was soon clear of her 94 rivals and went further and further ahead, completely bossing the race as she stopped the clock in a rapid 16:04.
That was fully 39 seconds clear of runner-up Sophie Crumly, with the next 10 women all within 11 seconds of each other.
It’s safe to say that if she returns in 12 months time, Matthews will be in the A race – her time would have placed her just inside the top 20 this year in that event, which was won by Olympic 1,500m runner Katie Snowden in 15:18.
‘Incredible atmosphere’
And Matthews seemed to thoroughly enjoy the whole experience judging by her Instagram posts and her interview on the live broadcast after the victory, which is embedded below, though she did admit her pace was a little faster than intended!
She gave plenty of credit first of all to all the runners who had lined up throughout the day in a series of races and then added: “I’ve been bragging all day to my friends about how much discipline I have – to just get carried away, I’m embarrassed!
“Maybe it was a really good pacing strategy – the first k and a half should really be that fun and then the last 3k it gets a bit tough.
“I’ve already asked Asics if I can come back next year so I actually think this might be my pre-season target race, the atmosphere is incredible.”
“Six weeks to go now to my first race of the season – IRONMAN Texas which I hope to win for the third year in a row.”
‘I’ll be back next year’
And posting later on Instagram, Kat added: 🎤Such a privilege🙏 to be offered a microphone, to voice your opinion. My overarching feelings from this weekend are how excellent running as a sport is! 🏃♂️
“🫶 The passion of the hundreds racing and supporting with such a range of ages, background, training experience.
“☝️People setting themselves a challenge and following it through🤩.
“I think it’s just brilliant and never to be undervalued, especially in our society today.
“Thank you for making me feel part of something so much bigger than myself @asicsrunning.
“I’ll be back next year, and 🤞 in the A race!”
