With record entries and the most competitive field to date – despite it clashing with the European Cross Country Championships in Tilburg – the course records at the Telford 10k could be under threat on Sunday (December 9).

Weather conditions are forecast to be unseasonably mild and still, and, with a host of international stars set to push each other to the limits on the two lap course, the fastest times of the year on domestic soil could be in the making.

The fastest PB in the men’s field is held by Dorking & Mole Valley’s ace, Luke Caldwell. 

The Scotsman scorched to a 28:29.61 best on the track at the 2015 Payton Jordan Invitational, and has dipped comfortably under the 30 minute bar three times already this year. 

He was sixth at the rearranged 2017 race, which was held in January this year due to ice and snow on the course on the usual December date.

Caldwell’s season’s best this year is his 29:18.17 at the Highgate Harriers Night of the 10,000m PBs in May.

Boasting the fastest 10k road time this year in the impressive field is Wreake & Soar Valley’s Sam Stabler, who ran his 29:09 PB at the Parelloop 10k in March. 

The Leicestershire athlete also won the Armagh International 5k in 13:59 in February, as well as last year’s Leeds Abbey Dash in 29:13.

Cardiff AAC’s Ieuan Thomas earned his 29:13 life time best at January’s Telford 10k when finishing runner up to Charlie Hulson. 

The talented steeplechaser – who holds an incredible 8:30.16 PB for the 3000SC – was seventh at this year’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. He pulled on the GB vest once again at the European Athletics Championships in Berlin in August, so is used to performing under pressure.

Ollie Lockley has enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2018, running his 30:18 road PB when winning this year’s Great Ireland Run. 

The Leeds City athlete dominated the Isle of Man Easter Festival races, winning every single event. His track best over 10,000m is an impressive 29:15.45 from the Highgate Harriers event in May.

Thames Valley’s Petros Surafel was third in January’s Telford 10k, which is also when he earned his 29:21 best over the distance. Surafel rose to a more national prominence when making the podium at October’s Great South Run, his 48:05 good enough for third in the televised event.

With 100 men indicating their intention to break the 31 minute mark at Sunday’s race, there is a huge range of talent set to battle it out for the minor positions.

Jack Martin from Stockport won last weekend’s Percy Pud 10k in a 29:13 PB, although his 10,000m best is 28:52.78 from this year’s Gouden Spike in Holland.

Photo: Percy Pud 10k/Steel City Striders

Aldershot, Farnham & District’s Josh Grace won the event in 2016 with a 29:21 lifetime best, while Lincoln Wellington’s Lucian Allison is in the form of his life. 

Allison followed up a dominant victory at October’s Peterborough Half Marathon with a third place at last month’s Leeds Abbey Dash 10k in a 29:33 PB.

RELATED: Lucian Allison’s rapid rise from ‘Couch to 5k’ to dreams of a British vest

Southampton’s Alex Teuten is also entered, and, assuming he has recovered from rolling his ankle at the Liverpool Cross Challenge race, his PB of 29:52.29 from last year’s Highgate 10,000m suggests he could challenge for a top 10 result.

Jack Gray has consistently run within half a minute of the 30 minute mark and, if he can manage to avoid a reoccurrence of the stomach problem he often suffers with in races, he could also be in the mix.

Blackheath & Bromley’s Scott Overall is a class act, but, while he has one of the fastest PBs in the field – 28:49 – that dates from seven years ago. Nevertheless, he ran a useful 29:48 in March, so he could be on better form than his recent race results suggest.

It remains to be seen whether Chris Davies’ 28:52 course record from 2003 will still be standing on Sunday, but, with the hugely popular event including the additional competitive element of an Inter-Area match (with selected athletes representing the Midlands, North of England, North Wales, UK Armed Forces and Birmingham University), there will be no holding back at the sharp end. 

Kate Reed leads the women’s field

The highlight of the women’s elite field is undoubtedly 2008 Olympian, Kate Reed. The Bristol & West star made a very welcome return to competitive running this winter, with an 11th place at the Cardiff edition of the British Athletics Cross Challenge series in October underlining her serious intentions.

Reed followed that performance up with a 16:05 5k in Romania last month, before posting a promising 33:29 at the recent Wilmslow 10k. The Beijing Olympian’s PB of 32:07 dates back to 2007, but, having battled back to fitness following years of Achilles tendon injuries, it’s clear this determined athlete still has plenty to give.

Worcester’s Jenny Nesbitt will be fighting Reed for the title after having a superb year on the track, with a Commonwealth Games final performance the highpoint of the Hoka One One athlete’s career so far. 

The young Welsh star ran her 32:38.45 10,000m PB at Highgate this year, so clearly has the speed to challenge for the top podium prize.

Fellow Hoka athlete Louise Small went even quicker at the European Cup event in May, posting a 32:34.73 lifetime best just a month after recording a 33:20 road 10k PB in Poland.

The Aldershot, Farnham & District ace is consistently a class act, and, with a 15:40.5 5000m best, cannot be ruled out for the title.

Another sub-33 minute talent to watch is Leeds City’s Claire Duck. Although she has only run 34:00 on the roads, the fact she has posted a 32:52 10,000m this year and a 32:51 last year – both at Highgate – shows she has the legs to go much quicker than her Leeds Abbey Dash PB suggests.

Duck’s club mate Bronwen Owen will be debuting over the distance in the West Midlands event, but with a 16:17 5k best from this year’s Manchester Sale Sizzler under her belt, she could be a dark horse in the race for the top spoils.

Other exciting talents to watch will include Birchfield’s incredible success story Hayley Carruthers, who has improved from 43:47 two years ago to 34:05 at this year’s Vitality London 10,000m. 

The former Rotherham Harrier has topped the world parkrun top 10 rankings twice already this winter with a 16:24 best recorded last month. Her 2:36:48 marathon PB from October’s Toronto race shows she has huge potential to upset the bookies’ predictions.

Josephine Moultrie from Victoria Park City of Glasgow AC and Danni Nimmock from City of Norwich are also set to challenge for a podium place, the latter finishing third in January’s event with a 33:44 PB, behind Caryl Jones’s 33:18 and Faye Fullerton’s 33:26.

RELATED: Charlie Hulson and Caryl Jones win Telford 10k

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The post Telford 10k set for fast times appeared first on Fast Running.

In 2017, a heart scare forced runner Charlie Rogers to collapse in the final stretch at the Shropshire cross country championships. It resulted in the Loughborough student being hospitalised for 13 days, but a year later he still doesn’t know the cause of the problem.

“It was about 11 and a half km into the 12km race when it happened, which had been really tough,” he tells Fast Running. “I wanted to sprint to the finish so I started to push, but the next thing I remember is lying on the ground.

“There was a crowd over me, asking me if I was okay. I was just really, really confused. I vomited five or so times until there was nothing left and I fell backwards.”

Rogers’ heart had seemingly gone into overdrive and after being taken to hospital he was unable to answer simple questions.

“My blood pressure was super high and I could really feel my heart beat pulsating in my neck,” says the Shrewsbury AC runner. “At the hospital, they asked me my postcode and the scary thing was that I didn’t know.”

13 days and counting

It wasn’t just a quick in and out of the hospital for the runner. It took 13 days in bed before the staff were happy to realise him.

“I watched as though my body deteriorated and all the muscle mass that I had trained for during the winter months left me,” recalls the student. “I was trying to exercise every time I went to the bathroom, but the rest of the time I was just sitting in the bed and there was just no point.”

There wasn’t really a diagnosis though. Sent home with future tests still to be taken, an unfit and none the wiser Rogers felt at a loose end.

“Returning to a highly sporting university can mean it is difficult to avoid exercise, especially when you’re missing out on doing something that you love,” he says. “But every time I tried to go for a run my heart rate would spike and blood pumped hard through the veins in my neck.

“Even an angiogram deemed that my veins and arteries were fine. Not knowing made it more difficult, but I wanted to start running again.”

Still not knowing the cause of the health scare he made the decision to return to running and tried to cut out stimulants like coffee and focusing on sleep more.

“I still pertained to feel pain in my chest and neck following a hard rep session or hilly long run,” he explains. “However, I wasn’t going to let this ‘injury’, for which there was no cause, define how I lived my life. So I started to slowly increase the mileage and sessions throughout the first semester of my second year in university.

“Cutting out the stimulants, focusing on sleep and my health, I started improving. The condition or injury, whatever you want to call it, gets better when I’m fitter.”

Some would have considered walking away from the sport, but Rogers took the approach he felt was best and gradually built up his fitness, which eased the symptoms  – even if they never disappeared.

Still improving

After a summer of gradually building up his fitness, he progressively worked more on his speed during autumn and winter which resulted in some good cross country results and a 5k personal best. He was then off to Denmark of all places.

“In January I did a semester swap in Denmark and joined a Danish club, Aarhus 1900,” he says. “The warm welcome was just what I needed. In the long dark and cold training sessions and stretching long runs I really began to improve.

“Motivated on by a supporting club and following a training plan written by my previous school running coach, I targeted the 10km Danish National Championships on March 17th.”

Photo: Aarhus 1900

PBs all around

He enjoyed a solid period of training with his new club before the day came for the Danish 10km Championships in Middelfart. With a target of running under 35 minutes, Rogers did not disappoint with an excellent 34:39 showing.

“The time meant so much more to me than just a number, a race or a day,” he says. “For me, it represented a defiance against a limiting force and an expression of freedom.

“It showed how I wouldn’t let some irregularity define me, and how I would rather spend time doing something I loved over living a life of fear.”

In the months that followed the Aarhus 1900 athlete also recorded personal bests over 3km (9.21), 1500m (4.21), 800m (2.09) and a half marathon (83:00).

Looking to the future

Rogers is not out of the woods, but he is looking to the future with renewed optimism and taking a low tech approach in the style of the legendary Steve Jones.

“I sometimes still get pain in either my chest or neck following a fast rep session and have no diagnosis on my problem, but I’ve accepted this for now and have started to know when I’m reaching my physical limits in training or in a race,” he says.

“After a summer break, I’ve been training without a watch, going by feel, and really listening to my body. It’s a lot less stressful not to be chasing numbers for a change.”

He is now back in the high-performance environment at Loughborough, where there are plenty of people around to push you, but knowing when to hold back a little is key for the runner with an unknown ailment. 

“It still brings my standard up being at Loughborough, but I have to remember that some of the people around me are truly brilliant runners,” he says. “Getting carried away chasing others means you forget about how much you want to improve personally.”

So what is next for Rogers? 

“I’m targeting some more PBs this winter,” he says. “Telford 10k is fast, although I’ve heard it can bunch up at times. I want to run under 34 minutes there and hopefully also post a 5k PB around 16:10-20 just beforehand.”

It is refreshing to hear from someone who doesn’t let a problem define his life and is determined to take back control.

Many in a similar situation, rightly might be too scared to even start running again, let alone go chasing PBs. But ultimately only the individual really knows how their body feels, and hopefully, Rogers can be an inspiration to others.

“I don’t want to stop doing what I love,” he says. “Rather than be scared of what could happen, I have to accept it.”

If you would like to keep up with Charlie’s progress you can on follow him on Instagram and Facebook.

Cardiac Health

Please remember that Charlie started running again only after extensive medical checks. If you are experiencing similar symptoms then please see a doctor.

Every week in the UK at least 12 young people die of undiagnosed heart conditions. Cardiac Risk in the Young is a charity that supports anyone diagnosed and offer subsidised screenings for anyone 18 to 35.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patreon. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post From a hospital bed to a season of running PBs appeared first on Fast Running.

As a result of the snowfall on Friday and further snow expected for the weekend, one the fastest road races in the UK has been rearranged to next month, on January 7.

In a statement, organisers said: “There has been 3 inches of snow on Friday morning with more showers forecast, and with little prospect of a thaw, and further heavy snow forecast for Sunday morning we have decided to make an early decision, bearing in mind there are lots of runners travelling on Saturday.

“The main aim of the race is for runners to achieve fast times and there seems little chance of this now, so it is best to give runners a better chance next month in safe conditions.”

Eighteen men finished under 30 minutes in 2016 with Aldershot Farnham and District athlete Josh Grace taking the win in 29:21 ahead of Tom Lancashire.

This year another field of the fastest UK-based runners was expected, including Swansea Harrier’s Josh Griffiths, Irish Olympian Kevin Seaward and his Cardiff AAC teammate Matt Clowes.

Olympian’s Sonia Samuel and Laura Weightman were the leading entries in the women’s field.

The new date of January 7, has been approved, however, it does clash with a number of cross country championships that weekend across the UK, as well as the fourth Cross Challenge event that takes place in Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Organisers have said no refunds can be given and if runners intend to sell their entry to someone else they can arrange that on the Telford 10K Facebook page – informing them of the details.

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