Scott Overall and Emma Stepto winners of 2014 runbritain Grand Prix
The final race of the 2014 runbritain Grand Prix took place at the Age UK Leeds Abbey Dash 10k on Sunday, attracting many of the UK's top runners who travelled to Leeds to make a final push on the standings in the Grand Prix and their share of £18,800.
The final results show 52 men under 31 minutes for the 10k distance and 27 women under 36 minutes. This is believed to be the first time in almost 20 years that more than 50 British runners have gone sub 31 mins in a UK road 10k (previously 48 at Bupa Great Manchester Run 2007) and has caused great excitement on our facebook page with many comments including Jason Newell who said, "In 1993 I came 85th in the Abbey Dash, the same time would have placed me 257th on Sunday, and it was the UK 10k Champs back then too! Definite improvement in standards as it was a big race even back then!"
Many thanks go to Race Director, Alex Grant and Elite Race Coordinator, Rob Cameron, for their hard work in putting this field together that included runners looking to move up in the Grand Prix standings and claim the title of England Champion plus those representing England, Scotland and the regions in this inter-area event.
At all six events,that make up the Grand Prix, points are awarded for the first 250 finishing positions. 250 points are awarded for the first British finisher, down to 1 point for the 250th British finisher.Time bonuses are also available.Up to the best four scores from the six available races count at the end of the series.
In the women's race Emma Stepto's (handicap -1.0) 4th position in this final race kept her at the top of the Grand Prix leader board and she was able to replace her score of 243 in the Bupa London 10000 with 247 points from this event and take her total to 991 pulling her further away from Emily Wicks (handicap 0.0) who achieved 981 points from four of the previous races but the real climber was Rachel Felton (handicap 0.1) who moved from 6th to joint 3rd on points by claiming another 242 points for her 9th place at Leeds to add to her previous 733 from Reading, Bristol and London giving her 975.
By adding 240 points, at Leeds, to her previous score of 735 points from just three races Jenny Jagger (handicap 0.2) tied with Rachel for 3rd place. Samantha Amend's (handicap 1.1) race at Leeds didn't add to her score as she has done all six races with best scores at Stretford, Cardiff, Reading and Bristol and her overall finishing score was 962 for fifth place.
Going into this last race of the series, Scott Overall (handicap -5.4) couldn't be beaten as he had built up a significant lead on the men's leader board with a total of 1398 points from three wins plus a third place and 400 bonus points for fast times. This was despite Nick Torry (handicap -4.6) claiming 343 points at Leeds for 8th place and an additional 100 points for running under 30 minutes. Nick remained in 2nd place but took his final score to 1183.
The significant climbers in the men's race were John McDonnell (handicap -4.6) who leapt from 9th to 3rd and Jack Martin (handicap -4.5) who went from 10th to 4th. Leeds was the fourth race for both John and Jack where they scored 346 and 345 points respectively for 5th and 6th places in the race and each added another 100 bonus points for sub 30 times. John's overall score was 1156 points whilst Jack finished with 1078. Their performances at Leeds knocked Paul Martelletti (handicap -5.0) from 3rd to 5th. Paul had run in all five of the previous races but didn't run at Leeds and had 979 points from his best performances in Reading, London, Stretford and Cardiff. The final top four on the score board had all achieved time bonuses in at least one race.
Final positions and prize money awarded are displayed on the table below. Prize money will be paid by 5 December.
Women
| Pos | Name | Handicap Score | Races | Total Points | Prize Money (£) |
| 1 | Emma Stepto V40 | -1.0 | 5 | 991 | 3000 |
| 2 | Emily Wicks SEN | 0.0 | 4 | 981 | 1500 |
| 3 | Rachel Felton SEN | 0.1 | 4 | 975 | 850 |
| 3 | Jenny Jagger SEN | 0.2 | 4 | 975 | 850 |
| 5 | Samantha Amend SEN | 1.1 | 6 | 962 | 700 |
| 6 | Nicola Squires SEN | 2.3 | 4 | 931 | 600 |
| 7 | Faye Fullerton SEN | 1.7 | 4 | 929 | 500 |
| 8 | Liz Hartney V45 | 3.4 | 4 | 873 | 300 |
| 9 | Rebecca Robinson SEN | -0.5 | 3 | 743 | 250 |
| 10 | Lucy MacAlister V35 | 0.7 | 3 | 725 | 175 |
Men
| Pos | Name | Handicap Score | Races | Total Points | Prize Money (£) |
| 1 | Scott Overall SEN | -5.4 | 4 | 1398 | 3000 |
| 2 | Nicholas Torry V35 | -4.6 | 5 | 1183 | 1500 |
| 3 | John McDonnell U23 | -4.6 | 4 | 1156 | 900 |
| 4 | Jack Martin SEN | -4.5 | 4 | 1078 | 800 |
| 5 | Paul Martelletti SEN | -5.0 | 5 | 979 | 700 |
| 6 | Toby Spencer SEN | -4.3 | 5 | 965 | 600 |
| 7 | James Connor SEN | -3.5 | 4 | 964 | 500 |
| 8 | Ben Fish SEN | -4.3 | 4 | 937 | 300 |
| 9 | Tom Payn SEN | -3.3 | 4 | 934 | 250 |
| 10 | Richard Phillips V35 | -2.4 | 4 | 889 | 175 |
NB article althered 0639hrs 20/11 to reflect as in /run-britain-grand-prix that
" In the event of a tie, combined prize money will be shared equally between the athletes."
As such we have to split 3rd and 4th women's prize money so they get £850 each.