Tay Ten

The Tay Ten returns for its tenth edition – Tay Ten 10 – at 11am on Sunday 4th May 2025.

Entries will open on Entry Central – that’s here – at 8pm on Tuesday 14th January.

The Tay Ten (TT) is Perth Road Runner’s open/all-comers’ ten-mile race held each spring. It starts and finishes on the athletics track at the George Duncan Athletics Arena in North Muirton, Perth. It offers a fast and flat course, ideal for anyone chasing a 10-mile PB, yet also suitable for newcomers to the distance! Ten-mile races are increasingly rare, yet remain a feature of many clubs’ standards and awards systems. Look no further than the Tay Ten!!

The TT was first run in 2014. It was preceded by the brutal Heaven & Hell Half Marathon (historic results of which appear below). The TT takes place on tarmac, asphalt and hard surfaces; it is a road race (in surface terms). Around 90% of the route avoids public roads and traffic, using paths and cycleways around the north of Perth. The course climbs just 25-30 metres total in its length. Perth parkrun runners will be familiar with the section of the course near the start and finish.

Licensing and regulations

The race is licensed by Scottish Athletics. The 2025 licence can be found here. The race thus operates under UK Athletics/Scottish Athletics regulations and policies.  

Health & safety

  • The race’s risk assessment can be found here. We encourage participants to take a look.
  • Insurance is provided via the Scottish Athletics licence; policy details are here.
  • First aid will again be provided by Active First Aid Scotland.

Race assistance

Taylors Snacks – the Taylor family has farmed in Errol, Perthshire for around 100 years, spanning four generations. They started making crisps in 2009, in partnership with the Mackie family. Said crisps will be the carbo and salt replenishment in your finish goodies.

We hope/expect to unveil more sponsors shortly!

Additionally, Highland Spring are donating water for the event, for both water and water stations.

Race entry

is via Entry Central here. There are no on-the-day entries. There will be 375 places available in 2024. The race is always popular with clubs from across Scotland – many of whom use the race as part of their championship/grand prix series – and typically sells out quickly (two weeks in 2024; getting faster every year!). Minimum entry age under SA rules is 17 years of age (an athlete celebrating their 17th birthday on race day may compete).

Inclusion

  • We are keen to welcome competitors who may have physical or intellectual impairment, and have done so at our races in recent years. We also have a duty of care to all athletes and volunteers. So as to be able to assist – and manage risk – as much as possible, we do ask:
      • if you have any doubt about the suitability of the event and course, and before entering, to contact us on secretary@perthroadrunners.co.uk to discuss; and
      • to let us know during the entry process if you have any impairment (the Entry Central form will ask this). This also helps us to monitor our ability to help, and to improve in this area.
  • For the first time in 2025, we welcome runners who would prefer to enter outside the standard male and female gender categories. They may do so in the Non-Binary/Other category. 

Entry fees

Until (and including) the 2023 race, a medal had been given to all finishers. As the environmental footprint of such practices creates more concern, we now offer entrants the choice (on signing up) of no medal (with a lower entry fee) or an eco-medal (which can be kept/admired or planted!, see here).

Entry fees for 2025 will be:

  • no medal: Scottish Athletics member £13, SA non-member £15.
  • with medal: SA member £16, SA non-member £18.

Updates

Watch this page and/or join our Facebook page.

Catering

We will again be joined by Penicuik’s Brew 52, who provide hot and cold drinks, cakes and snacks (for a fee: you don’t get those included in such a daftly low entry price!). 

The course

The Tay Ten course change saw a slight alteration in 2024, when compared with previous editions, and the new course will again be used in 2025. That new course can be seen here (Strava) and here (plotaroute, zoomable).

The course was re-measured by AUKCM for Scottish Athletics in January 2024 (2025 certificate here).

Water: There is one water station on the route which runners pass twice: the first time, between the 4 and 5 mile markers and again between the 7 and 8 mile markers.

Timing: Since (and including) the 2015 race, the Tay Ten has been chip timed (albeit based on gun time, ie with no start mat, for most of those races). Given the rising costs of doing so (these being invariably met by the runners) and improvements in alternative technologies, it was not chip timed in 2024. We had been trialling, testing and becoming proficient with webscorer for the last year and, like a few of our neighbour clubs, were hugely impressed by it. The 2024 Tay Ten was timed by this method. The traditional trip-to-the-timing-van was not possible (no van!), but live ‘official’ results were showing on a laptop screen at race HQ. The timing was a great success, and this approach will again be used in 2025.

Event records and previous winners

Male: James Donald, Dundee Hawkhill Harriers, 51:54 (2024).

Female: Annabel Simpson, Fife AC, 59:21 (2019).

We’ve pulled together the overall winners, age group winners, team winners and the records for those categories in our race history table here. Results for each of the races appear below.

Race prizes

Our prize pot increased sharply in 2024; we doubled our previous prizes and added age category record prizes and an Under-20 age category. These new prize levels stay in place for 2025.

In 2025, there will be prizes for:

  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd prizes for male & female (£60, £50, £40 + glass mementos).
  • 1st prize for first non-binary/other (£30 + glass memento).
  • 1st prize for male & female teams (XC/position-based scoring system, 3 in team score; decent wine).
  • 1st prize (only) for male & female age categories as below (£30 + glass mementos):
    • Under-20s: aged 17-19 inclusive on the day (NB: if aged 20, athlete competes in the Senior category);
    • Vets: M 40-49 and F 40-49;
    • Supervets: M 50-59 and F 50-59;
    • Master Vets: M 60-69 and F 60-69; and
    • Vintage Vets: M 70+ and F 70+.
  • All of the above categories are subject to the the proviso that the prizes stated will only be awarded if there are a minimum of three entrants in the category. This is a rule addition in 2025.
  • Course records (£50). To be 100% clear, this is all-comers (overall/absolute) records, not age group records! … but see also…
  • Age category records (£30). See link immediately above for current age group records.
  • Note that in 2025, no U20 Men’s record prize is offered, as there is no current/standing record (no MU20s having run in 2024).
  • Course and category record prizes will be awarded regardless of the number of entrants (if a record is broken!).

Results from previous years:

2024 (265 finishers)      individual results     team results

2023 (228 finishers)

2022 (237 finishers)

2019 (271 finishers)

2018 (297 finishers)

2017 (307 finishers)

2016 (270 finishers)

2015 (266 finishers)

2014 (171 finishers)

also held in 2020 and 2021 as a virtual 10K race.

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For completeness, here are the results from the Heaven & Hell Half-Marathon, prior to the launch of the Tay Ten:

2013 (106 finishers)

2012 (179 finishers)

2011 (156 finishers)

2010 (196 finishers)

2009 (192 finishers)

2008 (115 finishers)

2007 (70 finishers)

2006

2005 (114 finishers)

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2024 race report

The 2024 Tay Ten was held on Sunday 28th April 2024. Results appear above.

265 runners completed the 10-mile course, this being the first use of a new course, slightly altered from its predecessor. It emerged as even faster than the old one. Dundee Road Runners took both team prizes, with their first three men coming home 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the men’s race, and their ladies finishing a perfect 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

In a year where age category record prizes were offered for the first time, four new age category records were set, by Alison McNeilly (Dundee Road Runners, F40), Gillian Sangster (Dundee RR, F50), Gary Watt (Bellahouston Harriers, M50) and Tony Martin (Fife AC, M70). Rose Ryan of Perth Road Runners also set a record for the U20 ladies in winning the first Tay Ten for that age group.

The ladies’ open/overall race was won by Mairi Littleson of Dundee RR in 1:02:32. James Donald of Dundee Hawkhill Harriers not only eased to victory in the men’s race, but also took over two minutes off the event record, lowering it to 51:54. See photos below and Perthshire Advertiser press coverage here.

All photos by Caroline Hogarth.