READ MORE - 5km Frenzy to light up Flora Hill track
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ECHUCA teenager Archie Reid will not be daunted by the challenge of racing a top-class field in Friday night's 5km Frenzy athletics showdown in Bendigo.
There will be a frenetic pace across the 12 1/2 lap contest at the Bendigo Regional Athletics Complex in Retreat Road, Flora Hill.
Reid is one of the youngest in the elite men's field to contest the inaugural running of the Bendigo Harriers AC event, which is backed by City of Greater Bendigo through it's Summer In The Parks program.
Racing for South Bendigo, Reid has a superb record at various distances.
Last month he raced to sixth place in the Launceston half marathon.
He cut his personal best by more than two minutes as he clocked 65.42 for the 21.1km distance.
In Friday night's 5km duel he is up against the likes of Bendigo University star Andy Buchanan, Bendigo Harriers clubmates Jamie Cook and Brady Threlfall, and world championships marathon runner Julian Spence from Ballarat Harriers.
It will be athlete against coach as Reid and Threlfall take to the track.
Threlfall's mark of 14:09 puts him at second on seed times for the race.
"The 5km Frenzy is such an awesome event to be held in Bendigo," Threlfall said.
The 5km Frenzy is such an awesome event to be held in Bendigo
- Brady Threlfall
"To see Australian representatives up against athletes from Bendigo clubs and other parts of Victoria is going to be exciting.
"Archie Reid will go into the race as one of the favourites.
"He has improved dramatically throughout 2020 and had limited race opportunities because of the the Covid-19 cancellations.
"He has the speed for a 5km race, and the strength and fitness from a half marathon that will make him hard to beat," Threlfall said.
Spence was 39th in the marathon at the 2019 world championships in Doha.
Not only will he be focused on running well in Bendigo, but also on the performance of Ellie Pashley, who he coaches.
Pashley ran the 10,000m at the 2019 world titles in Doha and will be aiming for the same event at this year's Tokyo Olympics.
The Glenhuntly athlete ran a 15:40 5km split in her most recent 10km event and will be determined to break her personal best.
Major challengers to Pashley are likely to be Melbourne's University's Stella Radford, Glenhuntly's Karinna Fyfe, and Frankston's Gemma Maini.
This is a free event, but City of Greater Bendigo requires it be ticketed for COVID tracing rules.
For tickets to the 5km Frenzy, log on to bendigoregion.com.au and follow the links.
Gates open at 5pm for an event that includes live music.
First race is at 6pm.
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