Struck down by an injury, just at the wrong time, Abdinasir Mohamoud Elmi was out of action for the National Cross Country Championships – a race he was hoping to win. James Kingston, who Abdi finished a minute ahead of at the Southern Cross Country Championships went on to finish second at the Nationals, with Chiltern Harriers man Richard Slade cashing in on Abdi’s absence.

The injury resulted in some weeks with no running at all for Abdi and then it was a case of hitting the gym to strengthen his knee and gradually work his way back to full fitness. That meant a couple of months off the race circuit and some hard graft to get the speed back.

For his first race back, Abdi was heading over to Bristol for an elite 5k race called the Bristol Track Club 5k. There was prize money at stake, with the winner netting £500, £250 for second place and £100 for third. That guaranteed a high standard field so he was bound to have some competition. Having not competed for a while, it would be interesting to see whether Abdi would be a bit rusty or whether he would be full fresh and raring to go again.

Phil Norman of Woodford Green was one of the lead contenders for the race win. He ran for Britain in the Tokyo Olympics and won the British Championships for the 3000 metre steeplechase. Swansea Harriers superstar Dafydd Jones was in it as well. He’d finished ahead of Ollie James on a few occasions, including the Under 20 race at the Welsh National Cross Country Championships, where they won gold and silver, and the 3000 metres at the Welsh Junior Championships.

Ronnie Richmond of Bideford was there as well and he’s the guy who normally wins the Bramley 20 in about 1 hour 45 minutes. He’s also got a 1:05 half marathon in his locker and ran 2:15 at the Valencia Marathon in December.

Abdi had proved he was capable of a sub 14 minute 5k though when he ran a 13:55 at the Mizuno Podium 5k in Battersea Park in December. He would have to pull another performance like that out of the bag in this one if he wanted to win it.

It wasn’t an ideal scenario for Abdi going into the race as he was supposed to be getting a train to Bristol but the trains were cancelled so he ended up having to take a bus. It was a very long journey and he almost didn’t make it in time for the start of the race, which was at 6pm that day.

Luckily he did manage to make it though and was on the start line, ready and raring to go when it got underway. There were a couple of pace makers in the race so instead of blasting off really quickly like it he usually does, Abdi was able to use the pace maker to dictate the pace in the early going. It was still furiously quick though.

The venue of the race was Odd Down Cycle Circuit in Bristol, so it was sort of like a racing track circuit, with very smooth tarmac. It wasn’t completely flat though and there was a bit of a headwind in places.

The front runners went through the first kilometre in 2:43 and Abdi was right at the sharp end, moving very well and certainly not showing any signs of ring rust. They then slowed it down a touch with a 2:51 for the second kilometre.

There were still quite a lot of runners in touch with the front of the race but it was gradually getting more spread out as the ferocity of the pace drove them to their limits. One of the pacers managed to keep going up to about 3k before peeling off and after that Abdi took to the front and started to drive the pace.

The lead group had been whittled down to six athletes so it would be between them to contest for the prize money. A lap of the Odd Down Circuit was about 1500m so they had to do three laps and one third of a lap.

As they got onto the last lap it started to get cagey. Soon there was only four left and they were Phil Norman, Dafydd Jones, Ricky Harvie of Bracknell AC and Abdi. As they got nearer to the finish Abdi started to show signs that he was finding it tough. Dafydd Jones was really driving the pace hard at that point and Abdi was at the back of the group.

Dafydd Jones and Phil Normal were beginning to pull away as they started to approach the 13 minute mark. Abdi needed to dig deep to try to stay in touch. Phil Norman started running away in the end though and was able to build up a good lead as they went through 13:40.

Abdi overtook Dafydd Jones in the end but he wasn’t able to catch Phil Normal. He went over the line in 14:04, with Abdi reaching the finish less than three seconds later for a 14:07. Dafydd Jones then took third place in 14:09 and Ricky Harvie took fourth in 14:13.

Under 17 man Alex Lennon of Sutton & District had a good run to finish 7th in 14:28. Ronnie Richmond was 12th in 14:36 and first V40.

On Abdi’s Strava activity the distance had come up long and that showed he’d gone through 5k in 13:42 which would have been his fastest time yet. The extra distance cost him 25 seconds. It was a great run from Abdi though and although he had to be content with second place on this occasion, it showed that he’s back to his best and that was what mattered most.