British League Premiership Round 4 (5000m)

Although I had ended my track season by this stage, I was asked by City of Manchester’s team manager Dean Hardman to run the 5000m here.  It was a pretty big match for us as it was the final fixture of the season and we held a narrow lead overall coming into the match.

The race was a really strange one, with the pace really volatile throughout.  The whole field seemed to stay together for the first km which was outside 3:00 and then Carl Hardman put in a big couple of laps to completely split the field apart.  By 3km, I had caught back up to the leading group having been dropped by the earlier surge, but then a faster and more sustained increase in pace by Carl made for a painful last 2km for everyone.  Times were never going to be quick, I just concentrated on getting the best result possible for the team.  James Bailey was our A runner and I was having a real battle with a couple of guys for victory in the B race.  I thought I might just nick the win but Dan Augustus ran a strong final 250m to steal a few yards on me.  15:09 was the final time for me. 

After a season of injury, disappointment and no PBs, it was definitely the highlight of the season for me when we were announced as league champions for 2011 and as a result we have been invited to compete in Portugal next year in the European Clubs Championship.