Telford AC 10k

 

On Sunday 12th December, two members of GRC ventured across to Telford to take part in what boasts to be the 'statistically proven' fastest 10k course in the UK. A bold claim, but one that maybe has some genuine credence!

The largely flat course involved 2 tarmac laps in Telford Town Park, and attracted some of the UK's fastest road runners. Overnight rain left some puddles scattered throughout. But conditions for the day were as close to perfect you could hope for a December race - a balmy 12 degrees with very little wind.

Given the quality of the field it attracts and narrow sections of the course, Telford AC elect for a wave style start with three waves staggered throughout the morning.

First up for GRC was the constantly improving Sam Jepson, who had been targeting this as his key race of this year. Starting in the middle of a very strong field, Sam used the frenetic start to set off fast and kept getting faster as he put down a spectacular performance to clock 35:49!

While he was hoping for a PB, he crossed the line in shock having taken a 72 seconds off his previous fastest time - only set in October at Leeds Abbey Dash. It represented an age grading of 75.55% his highest to date.

 The day was far from done as Sarah Chynoweth set about her own fantastic run.
Having focussed on longer distances this year, Sarah raced her first 10k in 2 years and was keen to see what she could do after a year of consistent running.

Going through the 5k mark at just under 20 minutes, she knew it would be very optimistic to make sub 40, but managed to cling on and cross the line in a respectable time of 40:18 - still setting a new PB – an improvement of 39 seconds compared to the Summer Solstice 10k of 2019. The race was won by Alfie Manthorpe of Sheffield & Deane AC in 29:06, and the first lady home was Samantha Harrison of Notts AC in 32:07.