Brownlee’s 10,000m ambitions could be thwarted

Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee fears his hopes of running the 10,000m at next year’s Commonwealth Games could be scuppered by a lack of races to contest.
Alistair BrownleeAlistair Brownlee
Alistair Brownlee

Yorkshire’s triathlon hero expressed in the wake of his Olympic triumph last summer that he wanted to spread his wings by challenging himself over not just longer distances, but the 10,000m on the track as well.

The fact that he ran the 10k in the London 2012 triathlon in 29 minutes 07 seconds, just 97 seconds slower than the time Mo Farah ran to win gold in the Olympic stadium, only heightened the belief that within two years he could be challenging for honours in that discipline.

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But since those heady days of summer, Brownlee – who misses tomorrow’s Madrid leg of the triathlon World Series with an ankle injury – has been able to run only one 10,000m race, in California last month.

The chances of him competing in further races over the distance to hone his preparations for Glasgow appear few and far between.

Brownlee ran 28mins 32.48secs in the race at Stanford University, improving his Olympic time by half a minute, but he was 22 seconds outside England Athletics’ B qualifying standard which he would need to achieve to be considered for next year’s Commonwealth Games.

Given his rate of improvement, his application as an athlete and his undoubted talent, it would appear only a matter of time before he attained the required mark. But the lack of races at the standard he requires is jeopardising his chances. The British Championships in July in Birmingham, for which his California time qualified him, is the only realistic 10,000m race he can run.

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“There’s not many around that are of the same pace as the one I ran in California,” said Alistair, 25, who has to fit any races around his bid to wrest the world triathlon title from younger brother Jonny.

“World-class fields are a little too fast for me right now, and then at the opposite end, most fields aren’t fast enough. So it’s proving really difficult. I’ve got no idea when my next one will be. I haven’t got anything lined up.

“The best chances are actually in America, and right now, there aren’t even any races in America.

“At the moment I’m still in the mindset of just giving the 10,000m a go. But the decision of whether I race it at the Commonwealth’s will be made for me, not made by me.”