The 40 minute 10km is a barrier for many a club runner. I spent a couple of years looking longingly at results sheets featuring times under 40 and wondering how on earth I would get there.

A few more years training, and a few close shaves passed before I dipped under the 40 minute barrier in Claregalway on a fine summer's evening.

Well we can't promise a fine summer's evening on Dec 26th in your attempt to break the barrier, but we can do one little thing - we'll try to pace you along. We will have a pacer, clearly marked, who will run an even paced race in an attempt to get you to the finish line in just under 40 minutes.

Of course, you still have to do the work yourself, but it might be the encouragement you need to break the barrier.

We hope to expand this over the next few years to include pacers at other levels, but for this year, we said we'd start small with just the one pacer.