Date: 27 October 2019
Distance: 10k
Terrain: Road (closed)
Field size: c. 9000+
Limit: Unknown
Cost: £28 (unaffiliated) / £26 (affiliated)
Time: 45:51 (my watch) / 45:52 (official time)
The Race
This year saw an updated course with the start line moved from Wellington Street to the Headrow and the removal of the utterly pointless loop in the retail park on Kirkstall Road. While this didn’t have much of a material impact it helped mentally as the retail park felt unnecessary.
After a cold and soggy wait in the pink pen we walked to the start just after 9am, hit start on our watches and started the obligatory jostle for position, weaving through the crowds looking for a space to get moving. I started alongside Jane, a fellow Puma, and took off down the Headrow towards Kirkstall Road.
The course is ultimately a flat out and back with a slight downhill at the start (Headrow to Kirkstall Road), a slight incline towards the halfway point and a slight climb towards the end (Kirstall Road to Headrow). The course isn’t the most inspired and offers little to see along the way but it’s a good opportunity to lay down a good 10k time in a well organised race. The overall elevation gain is just 131ft so pretty flat if you’re used to the hills. I kept a pretty steady pace throughout the race averaging 7:23/mi though dropping off a little on miles 5 and 6.
Just my opinion but… I actually think running on the flat is harder than hills! There, I’ve said it! I personnally perform much better on hills, possibly because on the flat you’re running at your maximum capacity all the time whereas the undulation mixes things up and gives you an opportunity to rest on the descents. There’s possibly also a psychological disadvantage associated with flat races as they become monotonous. That’s not to say they’re not enjoyable.
Weather
Having experienced this race in the rain in 2015 I was hoping for better conditions this year. The forecast was looking pretty perfect – dry, sunny, cool and still. It didn’t quite turn out that way though. In true British style the heavens opened 15 minutes before the start! 15 minutes into the race and it had cleared up and the sun was crackin’ the flags. Not a problem when you’re on the outward leg with the sun behind you, not ideal when the sun’s low in the sky and pretty much blinding you for the last 5k!
Attendance
According to the guy on the PA there were over 9,000 runners at today’s event and yet it ran like clockwork. This is probably one of the best races I’ve seen in terms of organisation. Good job!
Kit
I was sporting a load of new kit for today’s race – some Pumas swag and some ‘performance enhancers’ thanks to advice from other runners:
– Pumas t-shirt
– Pumas hoodie
– Skins compression top (long sleeve)
– Under Armour compressions shorts
It served me well in the conditions.
I’ll give the compression gear a proper review at some point but so far so good.
Result
So I started with Jane but flew off in front, caught Andy at mile 2.5 but lost ground to Jane when we hit the slight downhill at mile 4 when she shot past me!
When I did the Abbey Dash back in 2015 I got around in 47:17. Today I managed it in 45:52. Pretty happy with the 1:25 PB for this race but gutted I missed out on a 10k PB by just 7 seconds after putting down 45:45 at Littleborough.
Never mind, there’s always next time!!
Next target is sub-45…
Yorkshire Running Man 