NSW 10,000m Championships

18 October 2024

NSW 10,000m Championships: Josh Phillips and Leyla Liakatos defend titles

Last night in ideal conditions at The Crest track at Bankstown, Josh Phillips and Leyla Liakatos defending their 2023 NSW senior state 10,000m titles with much improved times.

MEN 10,000m

From the gun the favourite, Josh Phiilips, was running solo.

“It's usually like a pretty relaxed night here at Bankstown, but I knew coming into it, I'm going to have to do some work on my own,” said Phillips.

“And so going into it, I just said, if I can run 70 second laps, that will be about 29:10 pace, that would be awesome.”

He was spot on mid-way

“I came through 5000m in exactly 14:35.”

But the second half was not as smooth.

“In the back end, I started slipping a little. Maybe it was the cost of being alone out there for so many laps, but I brought it back in the end with the last two laps a bit quicker.”

Overall, he was very pleased.

“So, yeah it was a good test of fitness, but it's hard to judge what this means when you're on your own and you're kind of in the thick of some big training weeks, but I'm taking this as a positive.”

Josh Phillips finished in a time of 29:14.62, ahead of Randwick Botany’s Kurt Fryer (31:03.45), with the bronze medal going to Gosford’s James Starkey (31:44.49). Victorian visitor John Portwood was third over the line (31:18.65).

After completing his studies and college running career, at Villanova in June 2023, Phillips has been based back in Sydney. His 2024 campaign across the track, road and cross country, has been a building nicely and he is on the cusp of a major Australian team. After placing sixth at Zatopek in December 2023, in 2024 he set PBs at 3000m 7:50.25 (6th at Nationals) and 5000m 13:34.80 (7th Maurie Plant Meet) and Half Marathon 64:47. Also in 2024 Phillips was third in the 10,000m at the Oceania Championships in Fiji and an impressive sixth in the Australian trial for the World Cross Country team, where he missing National team selection by one place.

Phillips who works three to four days a week and is supported by shoe company Saucony, looks well on track for a good result at Zatopek in December.

“I’m really just looking at trying to get onto a podium there and ultimately run faster than last year. So just pbs and placing high is the goal.”

WOMEN 10,000m

Leyla Liakatos, 21, defended her NSW 10,000m title in style, running a time of 35:38.67, 38 seconds faster than her time in 2023. It was just the second state open title for the Bankstown athlete.

“It was a little bit rough tonight as ‘I was in no man's land’ running by myself, so it was pretty hard just to stay focused, but I enjoyed it, and it was fun,” said Liakatos.

It required a lot a concentration.

“I was just trying to just focus on each lap, trying to stay at a consistent pace. I struggled through the middle section a lot, that was through the four and five kilometres. Then once I got to five kilometres, I was feeling a bit better.”

How did she get her mind back on track through the tough patch?

“I just broke it down. I do a lot of two k reps in training, so I was just breaking it down into two ks.”

It was a comfortable win for Liakatos who was well clear of second placed UTS Norths athlete Amy Thake (41:06.94) and third place getter from Sydney Striders, Rachel Kay (41:36.97).

David Tarboton for Athletics NSW
Images: Josh Phillips (courtesy of David Tarbotton)