Ryan Binskin managed to do what an ex-Olympian and a current NSW state 5000-metre runner couldn't when he reached the finish line at the 10,000-metre NSW state championships on November 27.
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The Port Macquarie teenager completed the gruelling 25 laps of the track just outside the top 10 at The Ridge Athletics Track in Sydney when he completed the race in just over half an hour.
His time of 32.40 minutes was a tick over three minutes behind 2018 World Half Marathon Championship runner Thomas do Canto who won the event.
It provided the MacKillop College student with a great deal of confidence ahead of the NSW All Schools Championships next weekend.
"It's up there with one of the best performances I've had because it was in the open division," Binskin said.
"Most of it is a mental battle and just believing in yourself. I wanted to do around 32 minutes, but ultimately I just wanted to have a good run on the track because there isn't a track in Port Macquarie.
"It builds confidence within myself and gives me more motivation for the rest of the season."
The 17-year-old said he was hoping to go a little bit faster, but challenging conditions proved too much of a hurdle.
It was, however, the perfect preparation for the five-kilometre All-Schools event.
"Pretty much it was just a training run for that so hopefully I can be on the podium next week," he said.
"I was hoping to go a little bit faster which was my ultimate goal, but it was still a PB so I'm still very happy."
Reigning 3000m and 5000m NSW champion Kieren Tall suffered a back spasm two kilometres into the race and had to withdraw.
2016 Rio Olympics marathon runner Scott Westcott also did not finish the race after he pulled out at the eight kilometre mark.
Binskin also won the Port Macquarie Running Festival's 10-kilometre event in 2020 in a time of 34:37 so his time in Sydney was even more impressive than that win.
He also won several five-kilometre parkrun events across Europe in 2019.
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