hi, im struggling to find many. Looking for anything from 5k to 10miles. from the months may through to september.
if anyone knows of any good races please let me know.
so far ive pencilled in the howich (aaa) 5k, great manchester 10k. but thats about it.
thnaks for your help.
If your staying in London I recommend that you check out the Serpentine Running Club web site. They offer weekly 2 mile races in Battersea Park from May through Sept. on a flat one loop course. I know there was a big 10K held the 1st weekend in July, I missed it by a few days when I was there this past summer. Hyde Park is a great place to train, and there is a very good track to work out on in Battersea Park.
I suggest you do a search on the runnersworld.co.uk website--they have listings of the main races. It's actually Sri Chinmoy who run the two-mile races in the summer in Battersea Park. The course is flat and fast but not many turn up and the quality is poor. Instead I'd suggest you try one of the 5K races run by Serpentine in Hyde Park. They take place on the last Friday of every month. You have to enter in advance. They usually get around 200 people running and the standard is fairly high: you'd need to run 15-something to win if you are a man, though sometimes the races are won in the low 14s. The course is good for a PB with only a couple of short hills. Stay away from the mass participation events like the Nike and British 10Ks. They tend to attract lots of people and most people I know find them too busy.
thanks for the advice so far. anything in london woud be great but im prepared to travel as well. usually a track runner but want to give the roads a good go this summer. is the british 10k any good at the sharp end (meaning serious club runners (30-32mins) not the actual leaders? calling it the british 10k is a bit miseading as it isnt actually a championship race (i dont think?)
what about the auckland castle 10k? i know it was good last year but cant find any details of this years race online.
thanks again
What are you looking for out of these races? None of those two races are run on fast courses. Especially the aaa's at Horwich. That is hilly. If you are looking for good competetive races they will however provide that.
If you are looking for fast times there are much better races. If you are looking for money races. i.e. you are a sub 30 minute 10k type runner.... then i'll only tell you about the ones i'm not going to be at! Just kidding
Let us know more specifically what you are looking for and i'll post some races on here.
basically im an injury prone track runner who wants a change and fancies spending the summer road racing. I would expect to run low 31 on a quick course when at my peak so nothing special and not looking for money.
im looking for a mixture of fast races where i can attack pbs (im 15 flat, for 5000 on track standard) and also races where the
field is quite deep and competition is high. (ie championships or just well attended races.
thanks for the help storming, and dont worry i wont be chasing your tail for a few years yet!
I'll have a proper look tomorrow and post some. If you want to search a couple the Cabbage Patch 10 is a fast 10 miler in August I think. The Trafford 10k in early September is quick.
Good sites for race calendars.
(mostly Northern races)
(Northern races)
(bigger races, generally higher standard)
Are you heading to the North or South of England? The 2 races you mentioned are within 25 minutes of me. But London is a 4 hour drive from here.
Unfortunately the Cabbage Patch 10 is in October. There's more information about the British 10K on its website:
http://www.thebritish10klondon.co.uk
Geb won it last year in just over 28 minutes, though only 12 finished under 32 minutes. I've heard a lot of bad things about this race (mainly, too many people and bad facilities) so you might want to look elsewhere.
i dont see how the British 10k is that bad- its grown heaps and this will only be the 6th staging i think. as for bad facilities i dont know y that is- u store ur baggage in a guarded area and its a nice 5min jog or 10min walk to the start- ideal to warm up etc....
and u get to run thru central london but have to do the marathon....plus parts of course are even better than marathon..like the finish.