Leeds Abbey Dash 20th November 2011
Foul Leeds fails to stop Wilkie smashing PB…
“Dave and I travelled all the way up to Leeds (via my brother’s in Alderley Edge, for a stopover) to do what we had been assured was a fast 10km course – the Leeds Abbey Dash. Even the name makes it sound fast! It was still an early start on race day and as we neared Leeds the fog just got thicker and the temperature kept dropping. But it was at least there was no wind, and with a good warm up I felt confident at the start, knowing I was in good shape. Avoiding a repeat scenario of the chaotic start that I experienced at Cardiff half marathon I made sure I was well up on the start line and in a good position from the gun. The race went well, the conditions were good, the worst thing was that the road was greasy underfoot, but at the 5km/half way point I was at 20:51 so I knew I was well within my pb pace. In fact that was the quickest I’ve run a 5km for the best part of 10 years. As an out and back route I knew what the 2ndhalf had in store and didn’t slow on the run in, coming in with a chip time of 41:39, a pb by over a minute and half. A good day all round as Dave finally got under the 31 minute barrier with a time of 30:50 so we were both very chuffed with our performances.”