In near perfect condition, a mild 13 degrees and no wind, we witnessed a classic all British domestic elite tussle. Even with Eilish McColgan missing with a respiratory infection and Jo Pavey a foot niggle we saw a great days racing.
With Scotland coming out on top, as Mark Pollards (Scottish endurance manager) brought two great teams south to Leeds.
Adam Craig (Scotland) smashed his 29.40 road 10k PB in recording a 29.08 taking 1st place ahead of Jack Martin from Stockport in 29.27, with an on-form Lucian Allison Lincoln Wellington 3rd in 29.33.
The North of England secured the team victory with:
Dejene Gezium 14th in 30.18, Joe Wilkinson 15th in 30.21 and Nigel Martin 18th in 30.26. Scotland 2nd and Leeds Univ combined 3rd.
The ladies race Scotland dominated with Fionnuala Ross (Shettleston Harriers) 1st in 33.31, Mhairi Maclennan 2nd in 33.38 and Stephanie Pennycook 3rd in 33.50.
Claire Duck from the North of England had set the fast pace early on only to succumb to a rib stitch at 7k, finishing 4th in 34.02, with Elspeth Curran (Kilbarchan) in a PB of 34.18 (coached by previous Dash winner and Olympian Lynne MacDougall)
Scotland took the team victory with North of England 2nd and UK Armed Forces 3rd.
North of England: Claire Duck 4th, Lucy Crookes 7th and Becky Briggs 10th. Notable performance by UK Armed Forces ladies team with Danielle Hodgkinson 6th in 34.33 and Lauren Hall in 13th in 35.44
A great days UK 10k racing with10 men under 30mins and 34 men under 31 min. In the ladies race 19 under 36min. Again a quality of depth which can only get better in the years to come.
I’d like to say a big thank you to Alex Grant who has hosted this race for last 20 or so years (too many to count) who has worked tireless in building up the race to be one of the UK’s premier 10k road races. Alex with a small team of friends and volunteers have made this race what it is today, and for me it has been a pleasure to able to work alongside him on the easier task of getting 90 elites on the start line. When Alex started with the Dash we had 2000 runners, we now have 10,000, making one of the UK’s biggest 10k road races.
We hope next year to profile the Abbey Dash’s history over the last 30 or so years, demonstrating why it certainly is ‘a must do 10k’
Rob Cameron
Elite Race Manager
