Chris Thompson on Highgate, coaching and marathon tips

Double Olympian discusses evolution of Night of the 10,000m PBs, coaching with On and the strength of British running over 26.2 miles

Chris Thompson is no stranger to Night of the 10,000m PBs.

The 43-year-old has competed at the event on four occasions, the first being a decade ago. There are few better people to speak with about the evolution of Highgate’s annual celebration of the 25-lap event.

Thompson says one his favourite memories in the sport came at the Parliament Hill track in London, when less than a second separated himself, Alex Yee and Andy Vernon in the 2018 edition.

The trio finished fifth, sixth and seventh respectively, all running well under 28 minutes. That year also doubled up as the European Cup 10,000m, with Richard Ringer – 2022 European marathon champion – taking the overall victory.

In recent years, the Swiss-based brand On has thrown their support behind Night of the 10,000m PBs, which is now one fifth of the On Track Night series alongside Paris, Vienna, Tokyo and Melbourne. Thompson, an On athlete and now coach, believes the impact of the investment has been sizeable.

It’s not just 10,000m where the double Olympian can speak with some authority, though. Having competed in the marathon at the Tokyo Games, Thompson also gives his verdict on the current crop of British runners in the 26.2-mile event and his top tips for them ahead of Paris 2024.

How was commentating on last month’s London Marathon and how did it compare to competing?

Firstly, it gives me a great buzz. It’s a different type of buzz to competing. I think athletes in general have a passion to do things that are sometimes slightly out of the norm. I think coaching and commentary both offer that. Don’t get me wrong, both represent skills that people master. There are some phenomenal people in both disciplines and they work on their craft.

I’m still very much at the learning phase of both of those things and I’m not going to remotely say that that is my destiny. I’m enjoying the learning curve and I love being part of Verity Ockenden’s [coaching] team. I love seeing the buzz of helping her and seeing her happy.

It was quite eye-opening at the London Marathon to commentate with Hannah England, who is much further down the road than me in commentary. She’s very keen to make it a regular thing and she’s very professional. Just getting into the whole process of researching in…