Efrem Gidey breaks John Treacy's 10k record

Efrem Gidey. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

They call it the “world’s fastest 10K”, and Efrem Gidey showed further proof of that by breaking John Treacy’s national record in Valencia this morning, the 24-year-old clocking 27:43 to take three seconds off Treacy’s mark.

Gidey came home 20th in the 10K Valencia Ibercaja, won by Sweden’s Andreas Almgren in a European record of 26:53, the Dubliner smashing his previous best of 27:57 and surpassing Treacy’s Irish record of 27:46, which was run in 1985.

His best on the track for the same distance is 27:40.02, which ranks Gidey second on the Irish all-time 10,000m list behind Alistair Cragg. This morning’s run marks a fine start to the year for Gidey, who runs professionally for Hoka, still based in Dublin but training under the guidance of London-based coach Andy Hobdell. This is his second Irish record, having broken Martin Fagan’s national half marathon record last September in Copenhagen, clocking 60:51.

Gidey was born in Eritrea but fled the war-torn country in 2016, spending several months at a refugee camp in Calais before arriving in Ireland in March 2017, where he was soon linked up with Clonliffe Harriers, where coaches Joe Cooper and Peter McDermott developed his talent.

He became an Irish citizen and made his international debut in green at the European Cross Country Championships in 2019, winning bronze in the U-20 race behind Norwegian star Jakob Ingebrigtsen. After finishing his studies in business and logistics at Cathal Brugha FET College last year, he committed to full-time running, his weekly training load rising from 60-65 miles a week to 100-115.

He plans to attack Cragg’s Irish track 10,000m record at an event in California in March, and will complete a training camp at altitude in Flagstaff, Arizona ahead of the event. “I’m more excited about what’s coming in 2025,” he said earlier this week. “I hope to improve my time, to push my limits.”