Standing on the winner’s podium, alongside the young woman running for Australia in the upcoming Rio Olympics …
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Forbes runner Jess Pascoe continues to smash her personal goals after placing third in this month’s NSW 10km open championships in Sydney - and took her place on the podium with race winner and Rio bound Milly Clark.
Pascoe, now based in Canberra for university studies, went into the race aiming to place in the top 10 and to run the 10km under 36 minutes. Instead, she ran in third with a time of 34.58. Clark ran a 33.32.
It seems that Clark is an impressive inspiration for Pascoe, having returned from a recent half marathon placed 13th in the world.
“It was awesome to be on a podium with Milly Clark - it was pretty cool to stand up there with her,” Pascoe said.
It’s hard to not get caught up in her enthusiasm - her inspiration at finishing in Sydney Olympic Park with “the big screen going”, the championships incorporated with the Sydney 10.
“It was not like running a normal road race, there was a constant stream of people - you were never not running with someone,” she said.
Eight hundred competitors started with Pascoe for the 10km run. Her Sydney University women’s team came first overall.
“I went into the race with a goal of running the first 5km in a comfortable 18 minutes with a negative split, and hope for a good second half.
“I ran that first 5km in 17.45 with a negative split and finished in under 36,” she said.
Her training now continues for state cross country titles (NSW and ACT), NSW relays with her athletics club (Sydney University, coincidentally the same club Clark runs for), and the national titles.
Pascoe and her father have organised a whirlwind visit to America later this month to check out a university that has ‘head hunted’ the talented runner for a full scholarship program.
Her next goals are the NSW and ACT Cross Country championships in June and the Australian Cross Country championships in August.
If she accepts the scholarship, Pascoe will relocate to Florida immediately after the national titles.
The scholarship will allow Pascoe to focus solely on her running - with tuition, training, accommodation and meals provided.
