In-form runner Richard de-Camps is preparing to take part in an international event that organisers say is the best and most popular road race in the world.

The 36-year-old Gloucester Athletic Club star will compete at the Armagh International Road Races next month, lining up in the 5K alongside elite runners from all over the globe.

The 2025 winner, Andrew Colley, was from the USA, one of 167 finishers from outside Ireland.

The runners are drawn to the event because the course is flat and fast. Last year 155 competitors clocked sub 15-minute times with Colley posting a hugely impressive 13.33. 

This year’s event take place on Thursday 12^th February – the men’s 5K gets under way at 8.30pm – and de-Camps said: “It’s primarily aimed at elite runners, I’m not expecting to be at the front, I just want to run as fast as possible.

“One thing that makes the Armagh races unique to people like myself is that transport, accommodation and meals are included, everybody gets treated like a professional athlete.”

De-Camps, who has been a member of Gloucester AC for 20 years, has run in the event twice before and he has very good memories of the first time in 2023.

“I ran a PB,” he said. “I ran 14.49 which was a considerable chunk off my previous best of 14.56.”

He was delighted with that – he finished 112^th – but the following year he ran 15.07 “on a very cold night”.

He’s hoping for much better this time around and he’s in a confident mood.

“I’m hoping for a PB, that would be nice,” he said. “I’ve just run a 10K PB at Speedway in Chepstow, I ran 31.22 which beat my previous best by 20 seconds.”

De-Camps will travel to Northern Ireland with his training partner Ben Robinson, who lives in Gloucester.

The soon-to-be 37-year-old has recently left Bristol & West Athletic Club to join Western Tempo and he, too, is in good form after running a sub 30 minutes at the Speedway 10K.

“I think he will be looking to run under 14.20 in Armagh,” added de-Camps.

The men’s 5K will be one of many highlights next month with the women’s 3K also attracting some high calibre runners.

“The locals all turn out to support the event,” said de-Camps, who ran a sub 16 minutes in April to qualify for the 5K.

“The atmosphere is brilliant, as an experience you can’t beat it.”

And de-Camps, who lives in Cinderford, has certainly being enjoying some great experiences in recent times.

“When I turned 35, I qualified to be a Masters runner and last year I was lucky enough to run for England Masters three times on road, trail and cross-country,” he said.

“I’m hoping to get more vests this year, I’m happy to do anything if it means running for England but it would be nice to run on the track and complete the set.”

As well as being a good runner over 5K and 10K, de-Camps is also impressive over 1,500 metres.

His PB is 3.55 set back in 2018 but last year he ran sub four minutes for the first time for four years.

He clocked 3.59.4 and said: “That placed me seventh Masters 35 runner in the UK.” 

De-Camps, a health club manager at Hilton Puckrup Hall Hotel in Tewkesbury, comes from a family of runners.

His 38-year-old brother Andrew was a top 800 metres runner back in the day and is a former Welsh age group international.

Their dad Paul, meanwhile, is a former runner and these days coaches middle-distance runners at Gloucester AC.