Leeds Abbey Dash 10K Road Race – Sunday 16th Nov 2014

Super fast times were promised and this was the main reason that Connell Drummond, former Harrier Scott Russell, Stephen Allan of Kirkintilloch Olympians, and myself made the decision to take the trip to Yorkshire to try out the Age UK Leeds Abbey Dash 10K.

Personally speaking it was a judgement call as the race was on the same weekend as the Ayrshire Cross Country Championships, however as I had felt okay since my recent Marathon and the fact that the “Dash” had been on my hitlist for a number of years, I made my mind up a few weeks ago that I was going to do Leeds.

Connell was in good shape having ran a bit under 37 minutes the previous week while Scott R was also looking to see where he was at over 10K on the road having not raced over the distance for a while. Stephen and myself have very similar pb’s over most distances and I was hoping we would all do well as we nipped over the border on the Saturday afternoon for an overnight stay in nearby Morley.

With a field of 15,000 expected we left the Travelodge just after 7am for the 9.30am race start in order to avoid unnecessary parking issues and passing Elland Road (the home of Leeds Utd FC) we managed to arrive in the City Centre before the rush with a couple of hours to spare.

The field was like a who’s who of British distance running and doing our warm up we managed to spot a number of athletes who have competed in recent major Championships so we all did feel a bit inspired as we made our way to our respective starting pens. It was here that was my only criticism of a fantastically organised event, as although Stevie and myself had been placed in the sub 34 minute pen (admittedly this would mean a pb of about 20 secs by us both) we found ourselves standing amongst other runners –some wearing headphones! – who would run nowhere near this pace, and as such it took us 10 seconds to get to the start line when the gun went to begin the race.

The sheer crowds meant a bit of weaving in the first few hundred metres but it did mean that I managed to grunt a hello to Ally Scott of Bella Harriers and Louise Rudd of Stockport among other people I know and by the first mile most people running around my pace did seem to settle into a rhythm.

I went through the opening mile in 5.20 which was a bit ahead of what I intended but as I was secretly targeting a pb to top off my year on the roads I decided to go with the flow and see what happened. Stevie at this point was about 8-10 seconds ahead of me while not too far behind, the after race reports were that Scott R and Connell took about 30 seconds longer to cross the start line and as such were affected by the congestion more than us.

The race is famously quick, and does attract a number of very fast athletes, nevertheless as we approached the turning point at half way we had a real eye opener. At this point the race doubles back on itself, hence you can see the lead pack heading on the other direction. Normally after 3.1 miles of a 10K there is a bit of daylight between most competitors. Here however, it was just a mass of runners with at most a couple of seconds separating one runner to the next, and with a number of these guys running well under 30 minute pace it was a great sight.

I had planned on reaching halfway in around 17 minutes flat, and although I was within a second or two of this I was slipping a bit. Catching up Stevie at this point we saw Connell, then Scott R coming in the opposite direction and giving each other a shout of encouragement we headed back into the City Centre.

By 9k the scale of the event was highlighted even further as we passed runners going in the opposite direction at their 1k point, but by this point I was concentrating as I was all too aware of a bit of a rise in the carriageway in the last few hundred metres! With the legs pretty much dying on me now, I did manage to get up it and muster a sprint finish to clock 34.36. Although this wasn’t quite the time I was hoping for, it was a marginal seasons best and consistent with my 10K times over the past couple of years, and hot on the heels of a very decent season I was happy with my race.

Stevie and I did finish within a few seconds of each other as predicted, while Connell was happy to keep his time around the same as his previous weeks clocking at Bellahouston Park by running 37.00, a great effort having been hampered by the crowds in the first few miles. Scott R finished in 41 minutes, exactly what he predicted to me the previous week and with Ironman preparation due to commence in the New Year this will have given him a great starting base to build on.

Speaking briefly to Scottish Cross Country Champ Rhona Auckland at the end we discovered that the Scottish girls had got a 1-2-3 in the race with pb’s galore, while in the Mens Race it was a Scottish 1-2 with Andrew Butchart and Calum Hawkins both sub 29.30. The first 15 were below 30 mins, 53 below 31 and 100 below 32 minutes. Scary stuff. Stevie and I sneaked inside the top 300 with sub 35’s!

A fantastic event which all being well I’ll target next year, and with the publicity it has had in the days since the race, I would imagine a number of people would have the same idea. My only warning would be that it IS crowded (Stevie reckoned that the biggest gap between anyone from 29.17 and 35.00 was 5 seconds), but aside that it’s great to toe the line to experience the standard of the race.

A perfect warm up to the following weeks Cross Country event in Nottingham!

Scott Martin (25-11-2014)