Abbey Dash

Leeds, Sunday, November 20, 2011

Peter Bell

At an ungodly hour for a Sunday morning Alister Robson knocked on my door. We were off to Leeds for the Abbey Dash, one of the fastest 10Ks in the country. I normally run this every year but it was a last minute number which got me out of bed this time! After a drive through some serious fog we arrived at the start to be greeted with 8000 other runners. This race is a big one and attracts clubs from all over the North. It’s a straight there and back and pretty flat hence why it called a dash as the speed you can hit has ensured a personal best for me each time. Last year’s time was 48:40 and I knew I could improve on that!

Stood at the start, Garmin at the ready, pre-race nerves started to build. I turned to Alister and said, “Why do we do this?” to which his reply was “because we can!” With those words ringing in my ears I picked out the first person who was running my 7 minutes mile pace. I quickly overtook her running comfortably at about 6 minute 50 pace. The fog had still not cleared and the road ahead looked bleak. Conditions underfoot were greasy at about 2 miles but still I was overtaking a few, determined to pick off as many as possible. The abbey appeared out of the mist shortly afterwards where I made the turn to come back.

I couldn’t see Alister but I knew he would not be far behind. Keeping an eye open for his famous fluorescent hat and gloves I was on course timewise and pushed harder to keep it going. Before I knew it I was at 5 miles and still powering through. The final rise up the main road brought the finish in sight. That rise had slowed me considerably with the Garmin reading over 8 minute miles. For the first time I knew what to do at the finish. Sod my stupid watch and run like hell. Head down I crossed the line in 43:50 mins smashing nearly 5 minutes off last year’s time. What a Dash!

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