Exclusive by Owen Morgan
Many people welcome the New Year as an opportunity for a change in fortunes.
But athlete Jenny Nesbitt is delighted the form she displayed right up until the final hours of 2018 is already continuing into 2019.
Nesbitt rang out the old year in fine style by winning the 60th anniversary edition of the prestigious Nos Galan race in Mountain Ash on New Year’s Eve.
And then rang in the New Year in similarly successful fashion by setting a new 10k personal best in her first race of 2019 in Valencia.
The 23-year-old told Dai Sport: “It was nice to close the year on a high and then take it through to last weekend and hopefully build on that again this year.
“I’ve been entered for Nos Galan for the last three years and every year I seem to be injured when it happens. 2018 was the first time I got to race it, so I was really pleased to go and win the race. It was the 60th anniversary as well so that was quite nice.”
It was the perfect way to round off a year which had seen Nesbitt represent Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Australia, the inaugural Commonwealth Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff and clock a new 10,000m track personal best at the aptly named Night of the 10,000m PBs in London.
The Worcester AC athlete said: “Commonwealth Games was really the highlight of last year. Going there, getting the experience, being in the race, the atmosphere . . . I learnt so much that I was able to take back with me to the UK afterwards.
“I then ran a new PB in the 10k at the Night of the 10,000metres PBS, so I was really pleased about that.”
Now she is looking ahead to what else 2019 may bring, following her time of 33:10 on the road at the Valencia Ibercaja 10k earlier this month.
Nesbitt said: “At the moment I’m in Spain training with Welsh Athletics then I’m going to Barcelona to run a half marathon there in February, so I’ll hopefully get a PB there, that’s the goal really. Then I’m going to go to the Welsh Cross Country Champs after that.
“Looking towards the summer, I would like to go to the World Student Games and try to medal there in the 10K. I did it two years ago in Taipei and I came close to the medals in fifth. Hopefully I can get on the podium this time.”
Asked whether she dare dream of competing at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Nesbitt said: “It’s a dream goal, definitely. I’m going to run as hard as I can to get the qualifying standard, they’ve lowered it quite considerably this year.
“It’s 31.50, which is quite fast,” said Nesbitt, whose track 10,000m PB is currently 32:38.45.
“I’ll try to get as close as I can to that. If I do, then great, if I don’t then I’ve got other goals for this season.”
Nesbitt was speaking during a well-timed warm-weather training break in Spain organised by Welsh Athletics. She was one of more than a dozen Welsh athletes who escaped the cold snap at home to enjoy some quality training and preparation in the sun.
The final year Bath University student, who hopes to do her Masters at Cardiff Met, stressed the benefits of such camps: “It makes a massive difference for me.
“I’m not one that’s great with the cold, so in the winter it’s nice to be able to get away for a couple of weeks with all the Welsh Athletics support team.
“Not just that but all my training partners are out here too. So it’s good to be able to really knuckle down and get in some really good quality work.
“It just brings everyone’s positivity up. You’re motivated to get out training and stuff. It’s great.”
Nesbitt praised the structure put in place by Welsh national coach Chris Jones, who also coaches her individually.
“I think Chris has put together a great programme, he knows exactly what to put into place to support the athletes and to give the athletes the chance to really develop from junior level right through to senior level.
“I think it’s really important we have the opportunity to do this. He’s all for supporting us, giving us this chance and getting the support staff involved.
“We’re all brought together and we all collaborate together. They really understand each of us as an individual. That’s really important going forward as an athlete.”
Getting away from the worst of the British winter has particular benefits for Nesbitt, whose life, let alone her early athletics career, was put on hold by serious illness during her teens.
At the age of 17 she was struck down by Henoch Schonlein Purpura, which can cause inflammation of the blood vessels in the skin, kidneys and joints.
Nesbitt recalls: “At the time we really didn’t know what was wrong with me. It took a couple of weeks to get the right diagnosis and the correct help, but it landed me in hospital for about six months.
“I was really quite ill and I took two years out of running. I went back a year at school, had to re-sit all of my A-levels.
“But I got a new perspective on life when it happened. You can’t take anything for granted. I enjoy running so much now, I appreciate being able to do it very much now because I had those setbacks in the past.
“It’s all behind me now thankfully. I’ve just got to look after myself and I have things I know that I’ve got to do to keep myself healthy. My immune system is a little bit rubbish, but apart from that everything else is fine.
“I’m really lucky to be in the position I am today from what was wrong with me in the past. Credit to the NHS for that.”