Talented Teuten smashes Gosport Golden Mile record

A time of 4min 09.04sec put the Portsmouth-based athlete well clear of Tom Payn’s previous mark set in 2014 when he ran 4.17.

Event hosts Absolute Running had put everything in place for a go at the course record and with conditions perfect on Sunday morning at Stokes Bay it certainly looked on.

Teuten’s fantastic form in 2017 has seen him represent England on the road and in cross country.

But he wasn’t concerned about any pressure on him in the Gosport race.

He surged clear of the field from the start and was cheered on all the way by the fantastic event marshals.

Now Teuten feels the success can set him up for some faster times on the track this summer.

He said: ‘I was quite happy, I wanted to see whether I had some speed in my legs.

‘It’s nice to see I have got the speed there so that is promising for the shorter races to come for this season.

‘Before this I’d never done a mile competitively on the road. It was a bit different. That told during the race really.

‘I know I didn’t pace it quite right, I was a little bit conservative at the start and it left me a lot to do towards the finish.

‘It was definitely a learning experience and an enjoyable one.

‘I knew the record was there, I knew what sort of times I’ve been doing in training and particularly with such good conditions I knew all I had to do was give my A game and I would get a good time.

‘That told because I knocked about eight seconds off the record and that was obviously very promising for me.’

Stubbington Green’s Rob Greenwood finished second with a time of 4.33.07 and Chichester’s James Baker was third in 4.37.07.

Teuten’s former City of Portsmouth team-mate Karrie Blake finished first lady 5.02, just beating Winchester’s Victoria Gill in a close finish (5.03.09).

Third place went to Kelly Fielding (5.32.2).

The event was well supported and glorious sunshine added to a superb occasion.

Teuten hopes he may be able to race again there in future years.

He added: ‘I was lucky because I have got a BMC race next and then the British Championships after that, so I think it was quite good to have a sharpener ahead of those races.

‘It’s nice not to have to worry about it because racing on the track brings almost more pressure.

‘If you go to an event you are not really familiar with and have a run out and work hard it is almost a better way of doing it.

‘It is nice to come to these events to see the familiar faces.

‘You have to do the best races for your development and this was a happy coincidence that this time it was the right race for the occasion.

‘Hopefully there will be a few more like that in the future.

‘It’s a nice day, you can have an ice cream and you haven’t got the pressures of the track.’