Saturday started off hot, sunny and windy. The race was due to start at 4.00pm so I was hoping the sun, heat and wind would die off for the start. By the start of the race I had got my wish. The sky was cloudy and not the clear blue of earlier in the day, the temperature had dropped a little and the wind had calmed down. The time for the race came and I took up my usual place somewhere near the back. Then we were all off, spectators cheering us on.
The race was advertised as a fast course. The first couple of miles were fairly flat, some slight up and downs but nothing to worry about. The worse of the course was between around 2.5 – 4 miles where it was down one “hill” and up another. At the turning point we had to come back and do the same ones again but in reverse. I say hills but really they weren’t anything to worry about. They didn’t slow me down too much, although I was puffing a little. There were a few walkers and some red faces on those behind me that I saw on my way back and I am sure that I had a very red face at this point too!
On the last couple of miles I caught up with a couple of other runners and had a chat with them for around a mile and a half. The last half a mile or so I had enough left to speed up. Admittedly I was puffing a bit but it did feel good not to be having my injury nagging me to stop or at least slow up.
My unofficial time was 56 mins 59 secs. I’m just waiting on the official chip time to come through on the results. It’s not my fastest time on a 10km but it was better by a few minutes than I thought that I would do considering I am still getting fit from injury. At the end of the race my hip muscle reminded me of this as it was aching, not so much that I couldn’t enjoy the feeling of actually finishing and doing a lot better than I thought I would do.
Sunday morning came round and time to get ready for the 4 mile beach run at 11.30 am. I have never run on a beach before so this was going to be an experience to say the least. The weather was sunny, dry and very windy. The sand we were very lucky with as it was very firm all the way round which compensated for the windy conditions. This race was one with a difference. Rather than all the competitors starting at the same time and getting round the course in the fastest time we could, we were counted down from 48 minutes and had to finish the 4 mile course before the clock reached zero. We could start anytime within the 48 minutes that we wanted, just so long as we were back over the finish line in time. There were 4 of us that I know of that started at the beginning of the countdown, 1 male runner and 2 other ladies along with myself. I managed to get in front of the two other ladies and stayed there but never had a chance to catch the male runner in front. The first two miles were fairly easy with the wind behind us all the way. Miles 3-4 were a lot harder as we had to run into the wind. I was averaging 9.00 – 9.30 min miles for the first two miles and 11.00 – 11.45 on the last two miles, so you can see how the wind affected my speed! It was around 2.5 miles that a male runner passed me. When I took a quick look over my shoulder at around 3 miles there was no one in sight behind me. I finished the course with an unofficial time of 41 mins 21 secs. I was convinced I wouldn’t be able to do it in the 48 mins so I was really pleased with this. I won’t have been the fasted lady runner in the race, but I can for the first time ever say I was at least the first lady runner over the finish line! I even managed to speed up for the last quarter of a mile and the cheers of the spectators at the end were really welcome. If you get chance next year to take part in this event, I would say “go for it” as the feel of both races is friendly, also the 10 km is good if you are looking for a good time. The beach run is good if you are looking for something a little different as I was, and want to try something other than road, trail etc. All in all, well worth the 2.5 hour drive there on Friday and the same back after the race on Sunday.
Cath Hodgetts
0 comments:
Post a Comment