AN ANGLESEY runner is aiming to represent Wales in this summer’s Commonwealth Games having recently broken the Great Britain under-20s’ record for an indoor 3,000m race.

Osian Perrin, aged 19, beat Tom Farrell’s UK indoor 3,000m record by less than a second at the BMC Grand Prix in Sheffield on January 9 with a time of 7:58.23, which also placed him fifth overall on the Welsh all-time list.

Osian, who lives and trains in Anglesey and is also a member of Menai Track and Field Athletics Club, then beat his own record at the BoXX United World Indoor Tour in Manchester on Jan 22 with a time of 7:54.41.

Ahead of competing in the 3,000m race at the UK Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham on February 26-27, Osian is dreaming of a return to the UK’s ‘second city’ to compete in the Commonwealth Games in July and August.

Asked what his personal highlight of his running career so far was, Osian said: “It would be breaking the British record (in Sheffield). I knew as soon as I did it, because I knew the times before the race!

“I ran the 7:58 in Sheffield and I ended up taking the pace out with 800m to go, because I thought they (other runners) were slowing.

“I found that race harder than when I ran 7:54 on the weekend just gone (in Manchester) - I had so much energy left that I had a huge sprint finish.

“The Commonwealth Games has been my target for years. I’ve always thought I could have done it.

“They’ve increased the standards to make it harder this year; the qualifying time now for 5,000m is 13:33, but I think it’s a very realistic goal. I think I could run that now.”

Osian, who also competes in triathlon events, also came fifth in the 2021 European Championships under-20s 5,000m, and 22nd in the European Cross cross-country event in Dublin last month.

A keen runner since his primary school days, Osian is also setting his sights on an appearance at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and is aiming to break a few more records while he’s still a teenager.

He added: “I’d like to try to break the 1,500m, 3,000m and 5,000m under-20 British records this summer, but no-one’s done all of that before as an under-20!

“I’ve always set the bar high, but I only set them because I think they’re achievable. The main goal is to get to the next Olympics; I think I can get there for the 5,000m and possibly the 10,000m, or maybe I’ll choose between the two.

“I just started through doing primary school competitions; Year Three and Four races, and then Year Five and Six races. I was third in Year Three and first in Year Four , and then started going to the club (Menai) when I was about 10 in Year Five.

“I ended up going to the North Wales Cross Country Championships in Year Five, won that, and then the year after, I went to the British Under-11s Championships and came third, and it just took off.

“I train because I love racing, and when I race well, it gives me the motivation to train.”