Eric came away from his first European race having taken another step forward on his comeback from an injury riddled 2023. On a cold and wet February 8th in Northern Ireland, Eric ran 13:58 for 5k around the 1,000m square of Armagh to take 16th in a deep Armagh International 5k field.
Despite being back in 16th place Eric only finished 9 seconds off the win in a blanket finish. The depth of the race and the slippery conditions on the road made for a hectic start. Eric struggled off the line and found himself well back of the leaders at the mile, which he passed in 4:38. After the opening mile Eric began to move through the field, passing the 2nd mile in 4:28. Moving up into the 20’s at 2 miles Eric continued to roll past people in the final mile, which he covered in a race-best 4:23.
Eric is coming off a string of injuries that kept him off the start line from December of 2022 until just a few weeks ago. He made his comeback by winning the Matanzas 5k in 14:23 in January and leveled up by cracking 14:00 in his 2nd race back. Eric will have 1 more road race at the Oskar Blues 4 Miler in Brevard, NC at the beginning of March before he makes the transition to spring track. He will be focused on qualifying for the 5,000m and the 1500m at the US Olympic Track and Field Trials this June.
You can find full results for the Armagh International Road Race here.