After the Night of the 10,000m PBs decided to take a fallow year, this season’s British world 10,000m trials will now be held at the University of Birmingham’s track (June 14).
The UK Athletics 10,000m Championships, which doubles up as the trials for September’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, will see some of the best distance runners across the country battle it out for qualification.
Traditionally, the domestic event over 25 laps has taken place at the Night of the 10,000m PBs in Highgate, north London.
However, the popular and much beloved athletics meet has copied Glastonbury this season by having a fallow year.
Megan Keith and Fiona O’Keeffe (David Hicks)
The volunteer-driven and spectator-friendly meeting, established by Ben Pochee in 2013 to improve British racing standards, returns in two years and it’s expected to be bigger and better.
That meant this year’s domestic 10,000m championships needed another venue, with the University of Birmingham being the preferred choice.
The university actually hosted the Tokyo Olympic 10,000m trials four years ago, with Eilish McColgan and Marc Scott securing their spot on the plane by becoming national champions.
Mo Farah (Getty)
The event, which doubled up as the European Cup, also saw Mo Farah’s hopes of being able to defend his Olympic 10,000m crown left in disarray.
The 10-time global champion insisted he was hampered by an ankle injury after clocking 27:50.64 under the lights.
This year’s qualification standards for the Tokyo World Championships are 27:00 and 32:20 for men and women respectively.
The qualification period to obtain the standards, either in the 10,000m or over 10km, is between February 25, 2024 and August 24, 2025.
European 10,000m Cup in 2021 (Getty)
These are the proposed entry standards for races at this year’s UK Athletics 10,000m Championships:
Women’s A race: 33:00
Women’s B race: 34:20
Men’s A race: 28:45
Men’s B race: 29:30
“We are looking forward to this event, not least because our last time at this venue saw some cracking performances,” Chris Jones, UKAs Head of Endurance Strategy said.
“Thanks go to Luke Gunn and the team at Birmingham University for hosting the championships. The endurance community in Birmingham will bring a great atmosphere to the event and help athletes strive for those times.”
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