Concept
The short version:
Old School racing in the modern world
Go hard or go home
New year, new PB (for the January race)
Run fast
In Winter 2020: 82 of the top 100 got a PB!
In Winter 2019: 64 of the top 100 got a PB! Another 7 were within 10 secs, another 5 within 20 secs.
In Summer 2018: 72% of the field got SB's. 30% got PB's.
The long version:
Concept
To address a number of current issues that runners face.
1) Missing out on race entry as nowadays races tend to fill up immediately and if you aren't online at midnight you won’t get in.
2) Partly due to 1, not regularly getting to race against other runners of similar/higher ability and thus have no one to push them on or incentive to get faster. It’s a fact that if you train and race with faster people, you will get faster yourself. Leading to -
3) At the moment there is little/no pathway for a decent club runner to make the next step up or break through to higher level competition. It’s also well known that average race times and field depth have dropped considerably from the 1980s onwards. If we could create a 10k race or series of races that had 300 people running 35 mins, there might be 100 in 34, 50 in 33, 20 in 32 and so on; so there may be a couple of potential stars of the future in there.
It's all about performance at the end of the day. Improving standards throughout the region.
How to?
Entry must be cheap (comparatively) and will be based on ability. Free entry available for elites (when there isn't a global pandemic).
Money prizes to encourage a good field to enter. Potential for time bonuses.
On dates that don't clash with other big races.
A flat and fast course to attract runners looking to improve their times.
Venues should be near good transport links so that runners can come from further afield to compete.
The Race Itself
A race for racers. Bare bones. No fluff, t-shirts, medals, goody bags. A flat, fast course with PB potential. Chip timing. One water station. It’s about going out and getting the job done with a load of other people who want to run fast.
The future
The Summer 2018 race was seen as a one-off trial race to see if the concept has legs and support from the running community... luckily it did! A series of 10k's in the Summer was thought about but deemed impractical, however a Winter season and Summer season race was definitely achievable. Hence the Summer Speedway and now Winter Speedway.
Imagine a Leeds Abbey Dash or a Telford 10k with the same depth and quality field, but in the South West/South Wales.
"Project 35"
Refers to the idea of creating a 10k race with the largest number of people running sub-35 mins in the South West/South Wales area. (Men sub-35, women sub-38).