Julien Wanders’ 10km tips

Rising Swiss endurance ace Julien Wanders is one of the NN Running Team’s most promising young European-based athletes. Here the 21-year-old – who boasts a 10km road best of 28:13 – offers his five tops tips to the recreational runner of how to tackle a 10km road race.

1 – Start conservatively

“I would say to the recreational runner, to not start too fast. Even if you start slower than your target time, you can always then go faster later on. It is far better to set off too slowly rather than too quickly at the start.”

2 – Try and find “the feeling”

“Try and focus less on time and more on the feeling. Focusing on time can lead to stress and it can cause the mind to over-think. It is important to instead concentrate on how the body is feeling. This will help your body relax.”

3 – Build a good base

“My preparation starts in terms of building my basic endurance, so I would say to anyone running the 10km don’t be afraid of putting in the kilometres in training. The training only needs to initially be at a slow pace before later focusing on specific 10km work.”

4 – Stay relaxed

“It is good to be a bit stressed on race day, but not too much as this will impact on energy levels. So, my advice ahead of race would be, try to stay relaxed and don’t think too much about the race.”

5 – Enjoy it

“Obviously, you have to be in good shape to produce your best but if you are in a good mood, confident and happy on the day this will allow you to produce your best.”