This morning was a perfect morning for our club's 10k! Well, we are a bit early for our 10k, this is a run through for our members! As it is such a pretty route, with lots of twists and turns, ups and downs, woods and pavements, it's the only time that we all can run it together.
When I got to the rec however, there was barely anyone there, just Hannah sitting in her car. I thought that maybe I had the wrong day! but soon after, there were more and more PWR's coming along. I think that we maybe had about 30-40 members, a representative from each group.
Groups 1-2 were going to be running together, 3-4-5 were another group and 6-7-8 were the last group. We all set off about 10 seconds apart. We were doing the full 10k which means that we ran around the rec first! It bought back memories for me from 2010, the first time I did this run as a competitor. My first run of that distance, my first run that I had 'competed' at. The race I did before I did the 10k, I saw as my fund raising fun runs.
This time however I wasn't nervous, I wasn't at all fazed by the distance or the terrain. No, this was my favourite place to run, and 10k just doesn't bother me at all anymore. Ok, it's still a tough distance, and I still run/walk it, but I have decided that is just me! That's the way I get through my running, so I am just going to have to work on running faster and walking faster!
We wasn't too far into the run, about 2 thirds, when our group split into two. We told David that we will (thats me Illustrious Leader and Hannah) run at our own pace. Besides which, it will give I.L. another chance to make sure she knows the route for her team of marshals in October.
We got to Goss hill and the faster runners were out of view. This hill always gets me. I have only managed to run up it in one go only the once, and that was when the Old boy was with me. But I thought I would try and try as hard as I can to run as much of it as I can. Half way up here, however, a chap with a rather wet and rather dirty smelly dog appeared on the footpath. It had obviously been in the stagnant pond and having fun! But know he was out and needed to have a shake! Guess who was in the 'danger' zone of the wet dog's excessive pond life? Yup, yours truly!
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| splattered legs! |
We carried on up the hill to find the the faster runners having a quick breather. They carried on soon after I arrived and then we walked for a bit after them. Just have this path, just on Botany Bay Lane is where I.L.'s marshaling patch starts. So she took the lead to reinforce the route firmly into her inbuilt satnav! Her patch is a mixture of downs little flat bits and ups! But because it's in the woods it just doesn't matter, there is just too much distracting you from the inclines!
There was just one spot, at the top of the woods which was a bit iffy, but as I had been on the the previous 'getting to know the route' run before I was able to point the right way! We ran passed the Willet Memorial, a huge stone in the middle of a clearing, it's to commemorate William Willet and his brilliant idea of the Daylight Saving!
We then joined the path that goes through the middle of the woods and headed down towards Dog Poo Ally, with a sharp left turn to do we continued through the woods. But this was a part of the route that neither of us was quite sure about. We took some paths and then headed on up again. We arrived at the exit of the woods just by the new bridge. Now I know we took the wrong path. But we carried on running, doing the pavement section. And there was no taking a short cut, even though I said that as we had gone the wrong way we may as well just go straight to the rec. But I.L. being the leader that she is said "No, we shall continue to finish the course" And so we did.
It' turns out that we still did just over 6 miles anyway, so we still covered 10k! But a lovely run, through some of the best woods that's around!
Geeky stats.
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