Newbury runner Izzy Fry breaks U23 British Record and hits new personal best in Sheffield to start 2022 in style
Newbury AC’s Izzy Fry kicked off the New Year by hitting a new personal best and U23 British Record in the women’s 5000m at BMC GP in Sheffield.
The 21-year-old finished third in her event with a time of 15:38.71 and smashed her PB by almost 11 seconds.
Prior to the indoor event in Sheffield, where Fry was making her debut, her previous record was 15:49.25 – which was set in Watford last summer.
“I was pleased with my performance at the weekend, you can never be unhappy with a PB especially an 11 second PB.
“However, I definitely learnt a lot from the experience and know next time I need to believe in myself abit more.
“I guess it’s a nice feeling having started the year with a PB but knowing I still have more left in the tank,” she added.
As well as securing a personal best, the former Park House pupil also broke the British U23 record, which is something she was unaware of until later that day.
“I actually had no idea going into the race, I was just focusing on trying to run my own personal best but it was nice to find out a day later that it was actually the fastest time an u23 female has ran 5000m indoors.”
Fry was competing indoors for the very first time and she explained how she had to adapt her preparation for the event.
“An indoor debut, it feels completely different racing indoors,” she said. “It’s very hard to tell how fast you’re running and it’s quite easy to get disorientated.
“I just concentrated on counting down the laps in groups of five (1km) and in the end it actually went by a lot quicker than I initially thought it would feel.
“I have a few more indoor races left, I think the plan will be to try and be more competitive by clinging onto the fast girls and just enjoy the new experiences.”
The result has left Fry not far off the Commonwealth standard, so starting the year off in the way she has done can only be a positive.
She continued: “It’s definitely a good way to start the year, it’s got me excited for the year ahead.
“I am now nine seconds off the 5000m Commonwealth standard, so I guess I’ll be trying to chip away at that in the summer.”
