This weekend sees the MK5000 PB Special hosting the English 5000m Champs and the elite fields are stacked.
We had our inaugural event last year,” said organiser Elliot Hind. ” We set the race up to give club runners from all over the country the best platform to run a PB and to help raise the standards of British 5000m running.”
“We also hoped to provide elites the opportunity to run the GB Championships qualifying times (14.00 & 16.20).” and looking at the start lists for the Milton Keynes AC events, you can see that they have done just that.
It’s a who’s who of domestic British distance running talent, with Adam Hickey, Jack Gray, Richard Allen, Joshua Grace and Mohamed Mohamed just the start of the NoblePro elite start list.
The women’s event is no different with Jessica Judd bringing her new PB from last weekend’s Diamond League to face talented athletes such as Claire Duck, Mhairi MacLennan, Jenny Nesbitt, Nicole Taylor and Hayley Carruthers.
The strength in depth is both NoblePro Elite races is excellent and it will be an exciting day of racing.
Investing in fast times
“All entry money and sponsorship goes back into the event,” points out the organiser. “We’re paying for things like pace makers (there’s one in every race), prize money (£250/150/100 this year for men and women), chip timing and photo finish and DJ. We’ve even got the live splits as done at Night of the 10,000m PBs.”
It’s clear that Eliot has the event and the athletes in mind when talking about why he’s a driving force behind the racing. Last year saw tough, rainy conditions but Hind still has many fond memories.
“The standout performance was Jess Judd running 15.37 almost completely solo for half the race; incredibly inspiring front running and only 3 seconds off her PB (at the time) despite the horrible conditions,” smiles the Marshall Milton Keynes AC man. “The crowd were going wild and it certainly helped push her on.”
Better weather and a good DJ should certainly help bring PBs and fast running this weekend.
Will there be more PBs?
It might be hard to to the improvements from last year though. “We had 60% [PB] last year and the happiness it brought people made all the hours of organisation worthwhile,” reflects the clearly athlete-centered Hind.
“Although there are lots of 5000m meetings available there aren’t too many on Saturdays so it allowed people to travel from all over to be here. We had people travel from the Isle of Wight, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man last year.
This year we have lots of stories of people travelling great distances to give themselves a chance of a PB including Javier Fontaneda. He’s a Spanish M55 athlete trying to beat the European record and, if possible, the World Record! The current ER is 15:37.0 and the WR 15:29.7. He ran 15: 41.88 last year (and has a PB of 13.50 from 1988!), so it could happen.”
What does it mean to host the EA champs?
“It’s a real honour. Bringing the national championships to Milton Keynes fills us with pride and we are determined to put on a great show! It has encouraged runners of top class and numerous internationals to come and compete so we are looking forward to some awesome racing and some rapid times.”
Needless to say it’s encouraging to see another individual so passionate about British endurance running and obviously Hind is supported by his club and most likely a whole army of volunteers. It is something very special about the British club racing scene that produces people and events like Hind and the MK5000m Special.
“In the run up to the main events we have 10 packed races (~30 runners in each race) and they sold out 3 months ago,” adds Hind. “We are doing everything we can to help club runners run new PBs with supporters in lane four, DJ, trackside food festival, bar (it’s a van with beer taps on side of it) and live splits/results online.”
This weekend promises great racing and fast times, so if you are able to get down and watch then you won’t be disappointed. There might not be a “Lane three Beer & Cheer”, but Milton Keynes will have the “Lane four Bourbon & Roar”… [I’ll get my coat – Robbie].
NoblePro Elite Men’s A Race 20:45 – Paced for 01:06 laps (~13:45 for 5000m)
Hickey, Adam (STHEN)
Gray, Jack (CAMCO)
Allen, Richard (AFD)
Grace, Joshua (AFD)
Mohamed, Mohamed (HILL)
Shelley, Jake (SBH)
Hind, Owen (KEN)
Caldwell, Luke (DMV)
Goodman, Richard (SBH)
Crout, Phillip (CUAC)
Sanderson, John (GG)
Harvie, Ricky (AFD)
Navesey, Paul (CRAW)
Escalante-Phillips, Jonathan (CAMCO)
Cornish, Jonathan (HW)
Moody, Callan (SERP)
Abdullahi, Kadar Omar (BIRCH)
Rainsford, Chris (HIGH)
Warner, Robert (BBRNH)
Shreeve, Norman (CAMCO)
Torry, Nicholas (SERP)
Brown, Dominic (TONB)
Crehan, Matthew (WIGAN)
Barbaresi, Oliver (TVH)
Ahmed, Omar (BIRCH)
Ryle-Hodges, William (SBH)
Abdulle, Abdishakur (HILL)
Mulryan, Daniel (TVH)
NoblePro Elite Women’s A 20:15 – Paced for 01:14 laps (~15:30 for 5000m)
Judd, Jessica (BBRNH)
Duck, Claire (LEEDS)
Maclennan, Mhairi (MORP)
Nesbitt, Jennifer (CARD)
Taylor, Nicole (TONB)
Carruthers, Hayley (BIRCH)
Murray, Rebecca (BEDC)
Holt, Katie (STOKE)
Straw, Rebecca (CANST)
Reid, Lucy (TONB)
Small, Louise (AFD)
Kirk, Elinor (SWAN)
Chattenton, Dani (MKDP)
Maltby, Kate (BRIW)
Viner, Hannah (HIGH)
Gent, Laura (AFD)
Mercier, Sarah (GUERN)
Barker, Phoebe (TONB)
Gummow, Annabel (CORNW)
Cowper, Sophie (ROTHE)
Davies, Elizabeth (SPRNG)
Irwin, Hannah (GG)
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