In-form Cumbrian runner Charlotte Arter excited to race in the United States

Fresh from becoming the Welsh 10km champion last Sunday as she won a race in Cardiff, Stockdalewath’s Arter will head to America and line-up at the Carlsbad 5000 in a competition she has wanted to feature in for a long time.

“I have a race today in Carlsbad which is just outside San Diego. That’s over 5km. It’s a race I have always wanted to do,” said the 27-year-old.

“I’ve heard the athletes that go there enjoy it. I’ve always wanted to do it, so I’m really excited to go and do that.

"That’s today. Then, this evening, I’m heading to Albuquerque for two weeks’ altitude training and, after that, I’m dropping down to California to, hopefully, run a big 10km on the track.

"I’ve never really done a big block of altitude and then raced, so it’s going to be interesting to see how it goes. But Spain went well during altitude camp, so I’m hoping I’ll recover alright after the altitude camp and I can reap the benefits of being at altitude and can get a good time in California.”

Arter, whose recent form has coincided with her decision to take a break from her role as performance sports officer for Cardiff University and become a full-time athlete at the turn of the year, has set a new Parkrun world record and a new Welsh half-marathon record in 2019. She says she is excited to race abroad in the coming weeks.

“That’s the best part of racing as an athlete is going around, racing across the world,” she said.

“This is something I haven’t been able to do previously when I have been working. If I went away, it would literally be for a couple of weeks in altitude, or a training camp, and then I had to come back. 

“So, to just have more time to race either side of it, and see different of parts [of San Diego] is great because I have never been to San Diego before. So, that’ll be pretty cool to be there and I’m pretty excited for that.”

Arter headed Stateside on Thursday after blitzing the women’s field at the Brecon Carreg Cardiff Bay Run at the weekend, finishing in 32.49 ahead of Belgium international Nina Lauwaert who was 26 seconds behind.

She led from the off as she targeted Angela Tooby’s 35-year-old Welsh 10km record and she reached the halfway mark at the Cardiff Bay barrage a second inside Tooby’s Welsh standard. But a strong headwind slowed her progress in the second-half of the race.

“It’s a good race, it was nice to do something a bit shorter than a half-marathon. They take a lot out of you,” said Arter.

“To be honest, the four or five weeks where I was doing half-marathons, my training was a bit up and down – I was recovering from one and then trying to get a bit of training in before another. I knew I was going to be in reasonably good shape, but I didn’t know how I was going to fare over 10km.

"But it was fairly nice to step down in distance and run something a bit shorter. I go into every race, either wanting to get a win or get a PB, and if I can get both, then that’s a bonus. 

“The conditions weren’t ideal on Sunday, so I was on target at the halfway stage for running around my PB, but the last two miles were into a head wind, coming across, and you are quite exposed over Cardiff Bay barrage, so I dropped quite considerably over the last two miles.

"But I was just happy to get the win, it was a good run-out and I have, hopefully, benefited from that.”

Former Austin Friars School pupil Arter added: “It’s always fun to run in Cardiff.

"I’m not sure how many runners were racing, but it was pretty packed. Cardiff Bay is a good course because it kind of loops round and, to be fair, the crowd were pretty good even on the barrage when you get a bit further out.

"There was quite a good buzz about it and it was fun. It incorporated the Welsh Championships, as well, so, overall, it was a good race.”