Sunday 27th May saw 4 Hillingdon men take on the might of Mo Farah and an assortment of internationals and UK athletes taking part in the UKA 10K champs as part of the Bupa London 10,000 Reports Martin Bateman.The day was a glorious one with temperatures well in the 20’s before the 10am start on the Mall which was looking resplendent draped in red white and blue. The regal surroundings were matched by our changing facilities. As UKA Champs entrants we were treated to the palatial British Academy building as our HQ. I was somewhat surprised to arrive to find Mo and Scott Overall also using the same room as us “normal” athletes. Having been lead to the start along with the other champs entrants, Anupam Das, Carl Yates, James Manley and I found ourselves on the front row with over 10000 people behind us. Carl was bet to see if he could stick with Mo for 3k but he managed closer to 3 metres in the end. We started fast with the first Km clocked in 3.10ish with me running along with Mara Yamauchi for the first 3K before I decided to ease back slightly due to the heat. Well that’s my excuse! The course will in part be used for the Olympic marathon laps and with a mixture of dips and rises and a number of sharp turns which isn’t ideal for steady pacing. I was the first of us to finish back along a sun drenched, supporter filled Mall in 33:30 and 78th place. Anupam followed in 144th with 35:06. James fought on with an ankle injury to come 195th in 36:19 and finally Carl finished in his own words a disappointing 37:43 and 254th place. The mens race was won by Mo in a pedestrian by his standards 29:21 and the women’s by Mara in 32:53.
Lucy Duncan V35 and Angela Duncan V70 also took part finishing in 56:59 (4019th) and 1133:27(10345th) respectively. Other HAC athletes may have competed too but the results can’t be searched by club, so sorry if anyone is missed off.
Results here.