Tay Ten

 

The Tay Ten will return in 2024, on Sunday 28th April. Entries will open in late January. Watch this space – and/or join our Tay Ten Facebook page – for updates!

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The 2023 Tay Ten took place on Sunday 30th April 2023. There were 228 finishers. The races were won by Alison McNeilly of Dundee Road Runners (1:04:34) and (just) by Alistair Gudgin of Fife AC (54:29), both runners successfully defending their 2022 titles. Full results can be found here. Thanks to all who ran, organised and helped!

Above: The 2023 Tay Ten sets off in soggy conditions (left); the men’s race hots up some way from home (right).

Above: (left) It’s a proper sprint battle on the home straight, as Alastair Gudgin (Fife AC) just holds off Mark McGuire for the men’s title …. while (right) Alison McNeilly of DRR is less pressured for the ladies’ crown (instead requiring a sepia photo to deaden the impact of her day-glo gloves).

Photos from Brian Stewart Photography, with great thanks. More photos of the race can be found here.

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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! 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 and Hell Half Marathon (some historic results of which appear below). The TT takes place almost exclusively (all but ~150m) on tarmac, asphalt and hard surfaces. Around 85% 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

The race is licensed by Scottish Athletics; the 2023 licence is here.

Sponsors

In 2023, we were fortunate enough to be sponsored by:

Tunnock’s – legendary producers, based in Uddingston, of – among many deliciousnesses – the Caramel Wafer and Tea Cake. Provide a small mountain of Caramel Wafers for the race. Have sponsored the Tay Ten for some years.

Highland Spring – bottlers of Perthshire spring water, based in Blackford. Also a long-term sponsor of the Tay Ten, they provide our water station and finisher water. 

Race entry

is via Entry Central. There are no on-the-day entries. 300 places were available for the 2023 renewal, although this will be increased to 350 in 2024. The race is always popular with clubs from across Scotland – many of whom use the race as part of their championship series – and typically sells out quickly.

Updates

Watch this page and/or join our Facebook page.

The course

A map of the current course can be found here. The mapping software gives a distance very marginally over 10 miles; the course is, naturally, verified at 10 miles, certificate here.

For those wanting to see the course more directly, here is a link to a video of the course (complete with incongruous, pulsating, techno backing track). NB: The video shows a start on the track from the 1500m start (at the top of the back straight), but this has recently been changed to correct for distance (micro-alterations out on the main course); the start is now a little further along the back straight.

Note that the course is likely to alter slightly in 2024 at around 6-7 miles into the course to obviate a short section of road that is becoming increasingly unpredictable. Discussions with local authorities are well progressed and course re-measurement is scheduled. More details will appear here in December and January.

Course records and previous winners

Male: Alistair Gudgin, Fife AC, 54:04 (2022).

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. Overall results for each of the races appear below.

Race prizes

There are prizes for:

  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd prizes for male & female (£30, £25, £20).
  • 1st prize for male & female teams (XC/position-based scoring system, 3 in team score; really quite decent wine).
  • 1st prize only for male & female age categories as below (£15 each):
    • 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+.

Results from previous years:

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)