For the third time in seven weeks, the European 10km record on the women’s side underwent revision at the Facsa Castellon 10K on Sunday (22) morning.
In a race won by Kenya’s Caroline Gitonga in 29:34, Great Britain’s European cross country silver medallist Megan Keith clocked 30:07 to shave one second off the European record and defeat the two athletes who had previously held the record.
- Watch again in full here
Keith was on course to become the first European in history to break the 30 minute-barrier as she passed halfway in 14:57 and despite slowing slightly in the second half, the Brit was still rewarded with the European record.
Her British teammate Eilish McColgan, who clocked 30:08 in Valencia last month, finished sixth in 30:36 as she continued her build-up to the London Marathon on 26 April while Belgium’s Jana Van Lent finished eighth in 30:50.
Van Lent, who led Belgium to a historic team gold at the 2025 SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa in December, began the record-breaking spree with a 30:10 clocking in Nice on 4 January although her race today was marred after being embroiled in a heavy fall on the start-line. "I felt so strong but when this happens, the race is over," she wrote on Instagram.
The record has since been improved twice with Keith the latest runner to gain ownership the record. The 23-year-old will remain focused on the roads this spring as she prepares to make her half marathon debut in the New York Half Marathon on 15 March before her attention will switch to the track.
Keith will have a rare opportunity of donning a Scottish vest at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this summer ahead of the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham from 10-16 August.
Keith won bronze in the 10,000m at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome.
Full results here
Updated European all-time 10km list
30:05* - Lonah Chemtai Salpeter (ISR) 2019
30:07 - Megan Keith (GBR) 2026
30:08 - Eilish McColgan (GBR) 2026
30:10 - Jana Van Lent (BEL) 2026
30:21 - Paula Radcliffe (GBR) 2003
30:26 - Klara Lukan (SLO) 2025
30:29 - Diane Van Es (NED) 2023
30:32 - Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal (NOR) 2020
30:36 - Yasemin Can (TUR) 2025
30:38 - Liz McColgan (GBR) 1989
*The fastest ever time set by a European remains Lonah Chemtai Salpeter’s 30:05 from Tilburg in 2019 although that mark was not ratified as a European record