Running log

Racheal Bamford finished an excellent eighth in the Abbey Dash 10K.

The Otley AC athlete’s performance (34min 49sec gun-time) was impressive amid strong Scottish, Welsh and English inter-regional teams.

The fastest lady in Sunday’s race was Louise Damen of Winchester (33:06 gun).

There were 14 men who broke 30 minutes, with Matty Hines (North York Moors) quickest in 29:23. James Walsh (Leeds City) was the best West Yorkshireman (11th in 29:49).

Bradford’s Tesfaye Debele was 35th of 9,448 finishers in 30:49 (chip-time), slightly quicker than in his breakthrough Bradford 10K in April.

Tom Hooper of Bingley, another who started competitively in the Bradford 10K, smashed his personal best by over a minute by running 32:43.

Under-20 Joshua Woodcock-Shaw (Spenborough) ran 33:20 in his maiden 10K, while team-mate Kevin Ogden was close in 33:36 to be seventh over-40.

Julian Hood of Skipton tied with Bradford-Airedale’s Pete Hopson in 33:44. Hopson said: “Delighted to get under 34 for the first time. Conditions were fantastic, with hardly any wind and a good temperature.”

Hopson was one of few to enjoy the new start and detour off Kirkstall Lane at 2km.

He said: “The start was a bit hectic. You couldn’t stretch out for a while and there were a few elbows.”

Hopson went off ahead of plan (3:20 per km), hitting 3km at 9:45, and suffered after halfway.

“But I managed to find some strength for the last 2K and did 3:20 to 3:15 with a sprint finish,” he said.

Clubmate Matt Nowell, alongside training partner Will Kerr (Saltaire), lost time being too far back in the starting pen.

His 33:52 was 13 seconds down on last year but he said: “I felt strong at the end and finished well, so should have made the effort earlier.”

Kerr, struggling with a recent injury and having to weave through traffic, ran 34:36 with his sights set on his 2000 PB of 33:25.

Skyrac duo Chris Thornton (34:14) and Zack Whitehead (34:57) and Bingley’s Sam Clegg (34:45) will also be pleased with their times.