I did it 💪 New record! 🏆 5 km under 23 minutes 😎
This gave me a WAVA age grading score of 60.90%, which means I’ve joined the group of the best local runners!
Next goal: run under 22 minutes! 🏃👟 👍
It looks like my recent training approach, running slower to run faster, is starting to pay off.
#mentalhealth #running
Saturday, 17 Jan 2026 I completed my first Park Run in 2026. This time I decided to take it easy. Ran with an average pace. Not try to sweat it or beat my PB.
In the end I finished 5k run just under 25 minutes. Not bad taking into account that not that long ago I struggled to finish 5k run in 30 minutes.
My average is constant 24:05 and my overall best time still is 23:01 (age grading score of 60.17%). The plan for 2026 is to go permanently under 23 minutes.
Belfast Victoria parkrun #686 result:
| Position | parkrunner | Gender | Age Group | Club | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 163 | Arek JAWORSKI | Male | VM40-44 | 24:56 |
On Saturday I completed another 5k Park Run at Victoria Park in Belfast.
This time I decided to take the run easy and I wasn’t trying to beat my Personal Best (at the moment it’s 23:01).
Here are my results:
Congratulations on completing your 30th parkrun and your 20th at Belfast Victoria parkrun today. You finished in 111th place out of a field of 229 parkrunners. You were the 83rd male and came 11th in your age category VM40-44
Worth noting was that it was my 30th park run! My time was 25:17 (two minutes slower than my PB).
| Position | parkrunner | Gender | Age Group | Club | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 111 | Arek JAWORSKI | Male | VM40-44 | 25:17 |
On 22 September 20024 I took part in Belfast City Half Marathon.
My official result:
This was my first and so far the only long distance run. Usually, I run for 5 or 10km. The first 15km I was doing in a steady pace of around 30 minutes per 5km. After reaching 15km I started to slow down. When I passed 18km I started to get muscle spasm. At that stage my goal was to simply complete the half marathon.
When I signed up for this challenge my not-so-realistic goal was to be able to finish in about 2 hours.
I was really pleased to achieve the time of 2 hours 10 minutes. As for the start of running career, I say this is a promising result.
Unfortunately, I did not compete in 2025 half marathon. At the moment I’m more focused on shorter distances – like 5km Park Runs.