Two years ago, Mo Farah put Great Britain back on top of the world of 10,000m running with his unforgettable Super Saturday victory in London – but that success comes at a time when opportunities to race the distance on the track in the UK become ever rarer.
Interest in the distance itself remains as high as ever, as club and new runners embrace a plethora of road 10K races every weekend – but for athletes and aficionados, there are very few track events at which they can assemble and achieve personal best times or qualifying standards for major championships.
The famous Stanford Invitational track event in California is one of these, but travelling across the world isn’t feasible for all aspiring athletes – and nor should it be the only option. This dearth of opportunity is often cited as one of the principal reasons for the UK’s decline (Mo aside) in racing standards over the 25-lap distance since the nation’s 1970s and 1980s heyday.
Through the completely volunteer-driven efforts of Highgate Harriers and the passion of race organiser Ben Pochee, however, the inaugural Highgate Harriers Night of the 10,000m PBs in 2013 strived to build on the heroics of Farah and inject some life back into the event.
Last year’s event even lured British 10,000m legend and former world record holder, Dave Bedford, to award a unique prize for racing commitment – and the support of volunteer-led athletics website Eightlane helped bring the event to the attention of the running community.
In addition to motivational music – both athletes’ own personal requests and the London brass band blasting out Chariots of Fire on the start line – homemade maracas and a noisy home-straight of cheering friends and family, the three races and 60 personal-best performances did their very best to rekindle the British love-affair with the famed 25-lap distance.
“Hundred-metre races are fantastic short stories, but 10,000m races are compelling novels with enough characters and plot twists to make Dickens jealous,” said Highgate Harriers athlete, coach and now race organiser, Pochee. His aspiration for the races is to show how exciting 10,000m track racing can be to athletes and spectators alike, and this year’s race looks ready to shift up another gear and to sign up to Haile Gebrselassie’s call to inject some razzmatazz into track events.
Whilst its the running club community at the heart of pushing 10,000m racing forwards, the National Governing Body – British Athletics – have added a touch of prestige for 2014 and are incorporating their national championships, as well as the trials for the European Championships later this summer, into the event.
Headlining the men’s championship field on May 10th will be defending UK champion Andrew Lemoncello whilst GB international Alyson Dixon should find competition much tougher than the staggering state of affairs at the UK Championships in 2013, where she was the sole female runner. Olympian Jo Pavey also readies herself for her competitive comeback since having a baby last September.
Beyond the Olympians and internationals, the event will feature five races in total attempting to cater for each tier of athletic club aspiration. Now deserving of its own retro-style logo, the second edition of the Highgate Harriers Night of the 10,000m PBs promises to deliver a memorable spectacle previously lacking for non-ardent fans.
The buzz surrounding this year’s event has helped change people’s ideas about what track 10,000m racing can be – and so, if you fancy joining the 25-lap fun-fest, watching Olympians for free and helping put some sparkle back into UK distance-running, get yourself along to Parliament Hill athletics track on Hampstead Heath from 6pm on May 10th and play your part in the Olympic legacy in action.
Source: Read Full Article