With most of the BUCS outdoor athletics being held in Chelmsford at the end of April, the 10,000m championships act as an amuse-bouche for the rest of the action. Taking place in Loughborough, it promises to be a star-studded affair.
The standards for the event show the level of performance that will take to the Paula Radcliffe Stadium on 23 April. The base qualifying standard is 35:00:00 for the men, and 42:00:00 for the women. Achieving these times means that athletes would be able to represent their university if they send either one or two athletes. It is possible for universities to send three or four athletes if all of them go under even more strict standards. These were set at 33:30:00 and 40:00:00 for men and women respectively.
With multiple universities bringing more than two athletes, the number of students going under those tough standards promise to be very large. The current crop of athletes competing at the long-distance events also seem to be very promising, meaning the battle for top spot will be fierce.
Who Will Win the 10,000m Championships?
As the teams are yet to be announced for most of the main teams, it is very up in the air as to who will win the 10,000m Championships.
A good indicator is how the universities fared at the BUCS Cross-Country Championships earlier in the year. The three big-hitters seem to be pretty well established: Loughborough, Birmingham and St. Mary’s.
At BUCS Cross-Country, Birmingham had the best showing in the men’s category. In the long race, William Battershill and Will Barnicoat finished first and fourth respectively, and in the short course Ethan O’Shea also took home first place. Thomas Keene’s third place in the short course furthered Birmingham’s dominance in the men’s races. Loughborough’s Matthew Stonier finished in third place in the long course, but the highest placing St. Mary’s athlete was back in eighth.
In the women’s, however, Loughborough were on very good form. Kirsty Walker and Abbie Donnelly took home first and second place in the long course, with Saskia Millard of Birmingham being the closest of the rival university finishers. In the short course, however, it was Meg Gadsby of St Mary’s that brought home first place. Therefore, the women’s was more of an open affair, but the Loughborough dominance in the long course should not be ignored.
Despite these statistics, track racing is different to cross country. It should be taken more as an indication of where the respective university training groups are at in terms of their overall performances. It would not be a surprise if the top finishers in the cross-country sides did not even feature at the 10,000m championships.
Overall, the 10,000m championships are very tough to call. Being so early in the track season, it is difficult to know who will peak at the right time in order to take home top spot in April. That being said, I would predict (perhaps with some bias in seeing the athletes myself) that the University of Birmingham will come into the championships with a very strong side. Whether this will be enough to surpass the powerhouses of Loughborough and St. Mary’s, however, is yet to be seen.