Seeing the number of Striders who took part in the 2013 North Tyneside 10k and the internal surge of ‘oh I wish I had ran it’ I decided to book this race early. Greta mentioned this was one of her favourite 10k races which confirmed I had made the right decision in entering it.
A fantastic day for a race and as our purple diluted the crowds once again a mega turn out from the club.
This race was not chipped so at the start I tried to get as far forward as possible, starting next to fellow Strider Gareth who was looking for his competition Rob. My race plan was to pace myself at around 7.05, this would certainly test me, but with my new racing flats I was in a positive mind.
The race started very fast, straight away you head down hill, people flew past me and I decided to let go a little as my aching quads from Fridays trek hurt when I applied the breaks. On reaching the bottom I put the pace back on track. Jon Stead ran past looking strong and away he weaved into front racers.
On reaching the dockside it was apparent that the wind was going to prove the enemy in this race hitting us runners head on, I decided to hide behind several taller runners but they seemed to be running a different pace, so after about two miles decided to tough up and face the wind alone head on.
There was one hill during the race which was short but rather steep and placed early on so it was good to get it out of the way.
At mile three I plodded forward, overtaking some people which certainly increased my positive mind set. I was wanting to possibly speed up after mile 4 but I found I lacked the power to achieve this so continued as I were.
At mile five the onlookers clapping the runners lined the road, the support was fantastic. The lighthouse was in sight, I was about 200 metres behind Jon Stead, I was trying to catch him up but he seemed to maintain his original quick pace and the gap did not change.
At 200 metres to go shouts from the vast supporting Striders was energising and so lovely to hear, it certainly pushes you at that vital moment. As I ran down the last hundred metres I could see the clock ticking 43.50……..43.51…… I pushed and pushed and over the line I went. My garmin read 44.02, kicking myself because I was so close to under 44 which was what I wanted, but pleased that I had beaten my previous 10k pb. Superb running from all striders, plus a duel between Gareth and Rob and also a huge pb from Anita.
Results
Pos | Name | Club | Cat | CatPos | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Carl SMITH | Leeds City | M | 0:32:07 | |
44 | Deborah APPLETON | Havering Mayesbrook AC | F | 0:37:58 | |
248 | Jonathon STEED | M | 0:43:17 | ||
296 | Katy WALTON | F | 0:44:01 | ||
346 | Richard HALL | M | 0:44:59 | ||
500 | Richard HOCKIN | M | 0:47:25 | ||
624 | Mark DUNSEITH | M | 0:49:13 | ||
706 | David SPENCE | M | 0:50:12 | ||
717 | Greta JONES | F | 0:50:21 | ||
745 | Brian FORD | M | 0:50:41 | ||
920 | Stephen ELLIS | M | 0:53:07 | ||
921 | Lindsay RODGERS | M | 0:53:08 | ||
935 | Melanie HUDSON | F | 0:53:22 | ||
946 | Dave ROBSON | M | 0:53:30 | ||
967 | Jacquie ROBSON | F | 0:53:45 | ||
1114 | Kirsty ANDERSON | F | 0:55:26 | ||
1241 | Robert CLARK | M | 0:57:07 | ||
1258 | Sophie DENNIS | F | 0:57:18 | ||
1286 | Angela COATES | F | 0:57:43 | ||
1287 | Paul PASCOE | M | 0:57:44 | ||
1341 | Joanne PORTER | F | 0:58:50 | ||
1437 | Kelly COLLIER | F | 1:00:32 | ||
1462 | Kathleen BELLAMY | F | 1:01:03 | ||
1483 | Derek TOWERS | M | 1:01:28 | ||
1504 | Kerry LISTER | F | 1:02:00 | ||
1596 | Mike ELLIOTT | M | 1:04:20 | ||
1644 | Anita DUNSEITH | F | 1:05:34 | ||
1738 | Helen PAGE | F | 1:09:55 | ||
1773 | Sue JENNINGS | F | 1:11:40 |
1839 finishers