Team Accelerate Runner and local legend Dot Kesterton traveled up to Grangemouth for the British Masters 10km Road Championships. Spoiler Alert, Dot smashed the out of the water. Find out how she got on below!
Grangemouth, 16th April 2023.
Named after Jim Dingwall (1949-2005), one of the finest Scottish runners of his generation*, the Round the Houses 10k road race in Grangemouth was the setting for the British Masters Championships for the second successive year.
A weekend in Edinburgh in glorious spring sunshine, a walk up Calton Hill and a tour of the Botanic Gardens provided a splendid preparation for the BMAF 10k road race. A short journey up the Firth of Forth towards Falkirk on Sunday morning brought us to Grangemouth for a lunchtime race organised by the redoubtable Falkirk Victoria Harriers. Everything you might hope for in a race, a stadium start and finish, large sports hall for meeting organisers and friends and a fast, flat course round the houses to enjoy in pursuit of a good finishing time, nice T shirt, chocolate egg and if at all possible a British Masters medal.
Margo Duncan, Sheffield Tri Club and I, the Sheffield contingent, met athletes from all parts of Scotland and the north of England to catch up on news of achievements, injury and illness and then, with our age group printed on card and pinned to our backs so we could view our competition on the line, tipped out onto the track for a warm up lap or three in mild Spring conditions.
The race took us round and out of the stadium and directly onto the road for an anti clockwise circuit round a housing estate finishing with a run through an adjoining park before re entering the stadium for an 80 metre dash on the track to the finish.
The usual jitters about pre race nutrition and hydration were played out. Too little and you’d be gasping; too much and you’d have the lead stomach to contend with. In the event I relied on a jam sandwich and water an hour before the lunchtime race. It seemed to do the trick. I started with a steady pace resisting the temptation to chase Margo who was way ahead almost immediately. One by one I focused on runners with similar pace to try and pick them off. Eventually I saw Margo ahead so put all my energy into levelling up and even briefly overtaking her at 8k. She urged me on but clearly saw the chance to chase me down in the final stages and came haring past at 9k as we returned for the final push to the finish. It’s great to have a friend to race against. We used each other for motivation and finished the race with Margo, V50, slightly ahead on the line in 47.14. I kept the elastic as short as I could to finish in 47.20. That gave me first V70 by a good five minutes and BMAF V70 Champion 2023. That chocolate egg tasted very good once I’d recovered from the post race nausea.
The race was won by Daniel Bradford, Shettleston Harriers in 31:03.
First woman was Jennifer Wetton, Central AC in 35:48.
Dot Kesterton was first V70 in 47:20 chip.
*Jim Dingwall achievements: 5000m -13:48. 1975.10,000m- 28.45. 1978.10 miles- 48:05. 1985. Marathon- 2:11:44. 1983.
Team Accelerate Runner and local legend Dot Kesterton took to the streets of Chester to defend her Vet 70 master title over the 10km distance. Spoiler alert, it went rather well!
To run for Great Britain as a Master (over 35 years old) you choose your event/s, enter, buy the kit and turn up on the start line. To run for England as a Master you have to run a qualifying race and reach a qualifying time. I don’t quite know why the discrepancy except that the World Masters Association set out to be as inclusive as possible and welcomes all athletes from 35 plus with no upper age limit. To qualify for the 2023 England Vs Wales Home International 10 km road race at Chester this week I had to plod off to Cockermouth two months ago and earn my place. With that achieved I was invited to race in Chester this weekend.
The next huge obstacle was to dig myself out of Bents Green, one of the highest locations in the city which, like the rest of Sheffield has had a seriously large amount of snow dumped on it two days earlier. Just before cancelling I wandered up the road to see just how bad it was and was pleasantly surprised to see lots of locals clearing a way through before a funeral car came down later in the day. Whilst commiserating with them I was also relieved that it looked as if, with a bit of community shovelling I’d be in a position to cross into Cheshire which had very little snow and join dozens of other runners for the annual Home International.
Chester 10k is one of three races offered in their calendar. A half marathon and full marathon follow later in the year. The course is undulating with the biggest climb back into the city from Mollington on the outskirts. It starts next to the racecourse and is well organised with bag drop and lots of toilet facilities alongside the start. The weather was pretty good on that side of the country. The snow had gone and a weak sun and fresh breeze kept us shivering in our pen before the start. At 9.00, half an hour prior to the main Chester 10k race the England and Welsh Masters set off.
I started with my usual visualisation of Percy Pud in my head, 2k to the dam wall, 5k to the Plough etc. Chester didn’t disappoint. At 8k came the last push to the Admiral Rodney, except this was up into the ancient walled city with medieval cathedral and iconic Eastgate clock. Of course, I wasn’t in much of a mood to enjoy the scenery. I’d given the race my best shot and was labouring in the final stages breathing hard and struggling to maintain my pace. A great relief then to cross the finish line in 48.03mins chip as first FV70, retaining my title as England Age group champion for the 3rd time, Kew in 2021 and Bristol in 2022. 
Colin Hardy asked me about the pressure of competing as a former age group winner. Although like anyone else there is a mix of anxiety and excitement in the run-up to any event, I follow the advice of controling all the things we can control, race preparation, kit, knowledge of the route, other competitors, nutrition, hydration, transport and even shoelaces and thus minimise the chances of negative outcomes. I stare down the creeping doubts, the ‘I am not worthy’ thoughts and rise to the challenge, whether that is having a mantra to repeat which many athletes adopt or simply smiling, as I’ve seen Eliud Kipchoge do, though that’s often pretty hard by mile 5. On the start line adopt Caroline Brock’s ‘Race Face’ with 100% attention and focus on the job at hand. Most importantly I’d say is to celebrate that we can run and enjoy the whole experience, even the lung-busting pain which is temporary before the euphoria at the end of the race. Thanks for the question Colin.
The race was won by Jonny Mellor in 29.20mins. The first woman was Kirsty Longley in 35.32mins.
Full results can be seen Here >>
