Night of the 10,000m PB's

I’m Jonny the Area Activator for GoodGym Birmingham. I’ve been a runner for a large part of my life competing on the club scene for most recently Tipton Harriers. I’ve also ran at senior level for my now ‘adopted County’ Warwickshire and also the Midlands. I also have the proud honour of representing England at Vet 35 level.

The Night of 10,000 Pbs, is a spectacular event that has been around for about 10 years. Each year it gets bigger, better, and even noisier!

The first time I competed in the event was in 2017, I then did it again in 2018 and 2019. This year was my first time back in 4 years. I got involved through entering as part of my running club, you then get seeded in a race depending on your personal best for the distance and your current form. I was seeded in race 2.

Preparation

I’ve been injured much of the past year, but since February I’ve managed to get 3 months of consistent training under my belt. I, therefore, entered a 3000m race in Birmingham 10 days before the race and my hometown road 10k back up in Yorkshire 6 days before. The idea was the 3000m would ‘fire my legs up’ being a faster under-distance race, I would then just do some very easy running after leading up to the Night of the 10k pbs with the Beverley 10k sandwiched in-between.

Well, the 3000m race didn’t go so well, as I only ran 8 minutes 54 seconds, but it served its purpose, as I ran a very satisfying 31 minutes 58 seconds at the Beverley 10k 4 days later, on what is rather a hilly course. After this, it was all about recovery. This involved daily short easy runs, to get the blood pumping around the body to aid this recovery process. I also added some short 15-20 second bursts of intense running, just to get the legs ‘turning over’.

The day of the Race

Saturday arrived and as I was in race 2, it was at 3.45 pm, therefore I got the Rattler down to London and arrived at Highgate in good time, whilst bathed in sunshine. After pinning the number on saying hello to a few people I knew, I warmed up around the delightful lakes of Hampstead Health and I was good to go!

As ever the crowds were fantastic during the race, going through the tent over the track with the banging music, this really is a running experience I’ve never got anywhere else! I had GoodGymer’s shouting my name, people banging drums, it really was a carnival atmosphere!

I was so pleased with my time, which was 31 minutes 28 seconds, my previous 10,000m pb was 31.42, so to break that was fantastic!

The best part of doing the earlier races was that once done you can enjoy the rest of the event! So after a cool-down jog back around the lakes, it was time to eat and drink. There was food galore and plenty of beer stations. There was on-track entertainment between races, such as jugglers, even a guy who managed to fit through a tennis racquet! Then later on the music seemed to get louder and louder for an atmosphere like no other.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay to watch the A races, with the World class athletes, due to having to catch the last train back to Brum, but I did stay for a good few hours after the race, enjoying what really is a fantastic spectacle and of course downing a few well-deserved beers. If you are in and around London next year, do come down and watch, you certainly won’t regret it.

Jonny Carter Area Activator - GoodGym Birmingham