The Journey to a Personal Best 5km

I had a chance to interview our club president Richard Millard about his new 5km personal best, set at the Brian Rhodes Memorial 5km race on July 1st, 2026.

Richard has been progressing steadily since joining the Pounders and keeps getting faster! There is no doubt that setting a personal best in the 5km race later on in life is no easy task. See interview below.

Kelowna City Park

What were the keys to your success in achieving a new personal best in the 5km? 
The biggest thing was probably just running with a group of people that inspired me to try harder =)  As a result I've started training harder, eating better, and all the rest!  I broke the 20 min barrier last year and I think that was kind of a mental barrier thinking how hard it would be to get under 4 min/km, but once I did that I started thinking "how fast can I get"? 

How did the race unfold for you? and how did you feel before and during the race?
I felt I paced the race fairly well, but got in behind some people in the second km that were a bit slower than I wanted.  I passed them soon after, but I got a new realization of how short a 5 km race is - not a lot of time to make up time!  I was hoping for sub-19, but that's now my goal for next race. 

Do you enjoy the short distance races more than the longer races?
I enjoy the 5 km, but I think my favorite distance is still the 10 km. 

Do you have any tips to share for others who are trying to get faster in the 5km?
Join a running group - or run with someone faster than you and make it your goal to keep up! 

Richard still recovering from the fastest run of his life!

Now that you've achieved a huge personal best in 5km, what is your next primary running goal?
My next big goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon this September in Kelowna.  Not sure yet if I would even go to Boston, but all I care about right now is qualifying =)