Time trials clearly have their place, but National Athletics League stalwart and GB international Sam Reardon says out-and-out racing has been crucial for him during his excellent season.
The Blackheath & Bromley athlete will line up in the NAL final in Bedford on Saturday just two weeks after finishing fifth in the 800m at the World Athletics U20 Championships.
Reardon, who was also part of the GB senior 4x400m quartet at the World Indoor Championships this year, recognises the value of paced races. However, he has only ever run four British Milers Club races, including three this year.
He says: “I’ve always been described as more of a racer than a runner. I tend to run my best times when I’m not chasing for a time. I feel like, when I’m not chasing for a time, I put too much focus on it and things go wrong because of that whereas, when I’m more relaxed and just racing the field, I tend to do better and the times come from that.
The 18-year-old cites the NAL at Kingston in July when he ran his 400m PB of 46.69. “I wasn’t feeling my best. I wasn’t feeling at my fittest form,” he says. “But in a race format, trying to get points for my team, I ran a PB. I’d definitely take value over racing more than time trials.
“Obviously, time trials are important as well and I got my [World] junior standard in at a time trial sort of race. But I think racing at NALs also gives you experience of tactics, which is so important in 800m running.”
No doubt the league has been key in transforming Reardon this year. He began 2022 with PBs of 46.97 and 1:50.68 over 400m and 800m respectively. It was quite a shock to him, therefore, that he made the British relay team for the World Indoors in Budapest.
He recalls: “I wasn’t planning on doing an indoor season at all. But my winter season didn’t go too well with a few injuries. Mentally, I found it quite exhausting, so my coach (Nigel Stickings) and me decided to do an indoor season… We were only aiming for really UK indoor champs as the main goal. It was only when I got through the heats and won my heat that I thought I could potentially run my way into the relay squad for the World Indoors.”
Having improved to 1:47.38 for 800m to make the team, Reardon clocked 1:46.80 in the Cali semi-finals to go to 10th on the UK all-time junior list.
He says he has mixed feelings about his fifth place in the final but is taking the event as a learning experience. “I maybe got a few tactics wrong in the final. That’s just a learning curve,” he says.
He believes that competing in up to three races in one day in the NAL helped him when it came to the rounds at the World U20s. He says the league is “a great opportunity to do multiple events on the same day. For example the 800m, 400m and 4x400m relay, which I think has helped me massively trying to go through rounds. Having that experience of running multiple races in a day gave me that edge over some people who don’t have that opportunity.”
Reardon plans to run all three again on Saturday, where his squad will aim to go better than their 3:11.05, which was a B&B record and leads the UK club rankings for 2022. Bailey Stickings and Dan Putnam are also set to be on a quartet looking for maximum points.
The Premiership final will take place on Saturday and the Championship final on Sunday in Bedford. Entry to the stadium will be free. Both meetings will start at 11am and be covered by Vincosport. More information on the finals.
