Nick Goolab (born 30 January 1990) is a British

distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

. He is the former British 5k record holder, previously held the English 5k and 10k titles concurrently, and has represented Great Britain at World and European cross country and track championships.

Junior career

After impressing his PE teacher in a

bleep test The multi-stage fitness test (MSFT), also known as the beep test, bleep test, PACER (Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run), PACER test, FitnessGram PACER test, or the 20 m Shuttle Run Test (20 m SRT), is a running test used to estimate ...

, Goolab was asked to represent his school in a cross country race, which led to him joining his local athletics club as an under-15 in 2004. In 2008 Goolab joined Belgrave Harriers and was part of the 12-man squad to win bronze at the English national 12-stage road relay championships. In 2009 became the English National junior cross country champion, the junior intercounties cross country champion, and was part of the Belgrave team to win gold at the National 12-stage roa
relays
He also won the junior race at the International cross competition in Lisbon, Portugal. In 2010 Goolab defended his English junior cross country title in addition to winning gold in the

5000m The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Athletics at the Summer Olympics, Olympic Games and the World Championships in At ...

at the

British Universities Universities in the United Kingdom have generally been instituted by royal charter, papal bull, Act of Parliament, or an instrument of government under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 or the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. De ...

championships, competing for the University of Birmingham. In 2011 he won the

cross country title, beating future Olympians Ross Murray and

Jonny Brownlee Jonathan Callum Brownlee (born 30 April 1990) is a British professional duathlete and triathlete. He is a six-time World champion (once World Triathlon Series, twice World Sprint Triathlon, three-time World Triathlon Mixed Relay), and one-ti ...

Senior career

In 2015 Goolab joined

Craig Winrow Craig Nicholas Winrow (born 22 December 1971 in Ormskirk) is a male retired English middle-distance runner competing primarily in the 800 metres. Early life Winrow was educated at Burscough Priory High School in Burscough, Lancashire. As a 14 ye ...

's training group based at St Mary's University in Teddington, South West London. In 2016 he won the Vitality Westminster Mile road race, beating Olympian

Andrew Butchart Andrew Butchart (born 14 October 1991) is a British runner who competed in the 5000 metres event at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. He is the current Scottish record holder in the 3000, 5000 and 10,000 metre events. In June 2023, he broke th ...

in a photo-finish, a title he would successfully defend the following year the day after setting his 5000m track personal best of 13:33.48. In 2017 Goolab set his 3000m personal best of 7:42.22 at the IAAF Diamond League meet as part of the Muller Anniversary Games held at London's Olympic Stadium. In 2018, following a second-place finish at the European cross country trials in Liverpool, Goolab represented Great Britain at the European cross country championships held in Tilburg, Netherlands, finishing 47th.

Senior national titles

In 2019 Goolab stepped up from the mile to longer distances on the road, winning the

England Athletics England Athletics is the governing body for the sport of athletics in England. It was set up as a limited company in 2005, taking over the role of the Amateur Athletic Association of England. England Athletics is part of UK Athletics, the national ...

5k and 10k titles in races in Ipswich and

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

respectively. He also won bronze at the British Athletics 10k championships held as part of the Vitality London 10000 race. Goolab had led at the half-way point but was eventually beaten by Mo Farah and

. In summer 2019 Goolab represented Great Britain in the 10000m at the European Cup competition held as part of the Night of the 10,000m PBs event in London, finishing 8th in a time of 28:10.49. The performance won Goolab silver in the British championships and helped win silver for his country in the international competition. In February 2020 Goolab broke the British 5k record previously shared by Mo Farah and

Rob Denmark Robert Neil "Rob" Denmark (born 23 November 1968) is a British former middle- and long-distance runner who won a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 1994 European Championshi ...

, bettering their mark by three seconds to record a time of 13:27. In the same race, held in Monaco, Ugandan Joshua Cheptegai set a new world record of 12:51. Goolab's record lasted until 8 August 2020 when Marc Scott ran 13:20 at a road race in Barrowford, Lancashire.

Personal life

Goolab lives in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

, west London, and works part-time as a maths tutor. He holds a first class degree in mathematics from the University of Birmingham.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goolab, Nick Living people 1990 births Athletes from London English male long-distance runners Alumni of the University of Birmingham