Hamsterley Trail 10K

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Graeme Walton

Seemed like a good opportunity for a nice day out. Two of the kids ran the 3k fun run and then it time for Katy and I to tackle the 10k. With the weather hot and stuffy and the course billed as undulating a fast time seemed out of the question. Katy did however have aspirations of a PB!

So I offered to pace her thinking this would give me an easy run, how wrong I was. Off we went and I set off at a pace that would get Katy her PB. Within a few hundred yards Katy had dropped off the pace and it was pretty obvious that a good run here would not lead to a PB.

I soon came up against the first major hill, this went on for a while but was to followed by a lovely downhill stretch. The route was lovely with k markers throughout. The killer hill came at around 3 miles after enjoying another downhill section and cooling my feet down running through the stream. This was energy sapping in very humid conditions although I did consume a few flies that may have helped (is there protein/carbs in flies?) [Yes. 260 billion of them equate to one SiS gel. Ed.]

The rest of the race continued on the trails and although it was tough it was never boring. I find it totally different to road racing as you are concentrating fully on your footing and therefore tend to forget how hard you’re breathing!

I finished in a respectable time without breaking any records. The goody bag was generous with a T-shirt included. Katy came home in around 51 minutes, an excellent run on a tough course in tough conditions. There were a few more Striders in attendance with everyone seeming to enjoy it. Apart from the insect bites of which I had 30 (Paul Beal outshone me though), a brilliant race, highly recommended.

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