Hi everyone!
As I am not currently writing my blog at the moment (Please see previous blog entry) but I thought I would keep in touch by writing a couple of race reports. So her goes my first attempt at doing just that!
On a chilly Sunday morning on the 28th April I took part in the Frenchay 10K and for those of you that don't work in kilometers like me its a 6 mile race. Why are shorted races in kilometers?, I don't know and one day I shall remember to look it up! According to their website Frenchay 10K was one of the first 10K events ever set up in this country in 1980! It was set up to raise money for local charities and today was the 39th time is has been held. The event set up was pretty good, the race HQ was on the Glenside UWE campus. There was plenty of onsite parking (which is unusual) and off site parking in the near by housing estate where we parked. Inside race HQ there was plenty of room for all the runners to prepare. We hadn't signed up online before hand so we arrived pretty early (an hour before the race started) to register. This process was very well organised and quick, within approximately 2 minutes we had paid our entry fee of £20 and had our race numbers. As this was such an easy process we had a bit of time on our hands but the organizers had this covered as well, we found a seat and watched a bit of the London marathon. I want to say a massive out out to all the marathon runners and especially the ones that ran it to raise money for Jessie May. When it was time to head out to the start line a very nice gentleman ushered us all out in the right direction. Once outside we found our way to where we were going to start, there was very handy signs with predicted finish times. This was so you could make sure you were running with other people of the same pace and not getting in each others way during the race. We weren't hanging around long before the race was started and off we went!
Below I have posted a video using an app call Relive, this shows you the route of the Frenchay 10K
I have to admit this was one of the most brutal but beautiful 10K races that I can ever remember taking part in. The scenery along the root was amazing, we went through Snuff Mills, up to Vassals park and back down through Frenchay village. Now any of you that knows this area will have realised that these areas do have big hills in them. In total there was three big hills in this race, one going up from Snuff Mills into Vassals park, the second was when we were going up into Frenchay and finally and I personally think the hardest hill of the three, Blackberry hill. This last hill was big but it was also on the final bit of the race, we had to run up Blackberry hill to get to the finish line which has got to be the hardest finish of any race I have ever completed. My plan of action for this race was to keep a nice disciplined pace throughout and when I got to the hills (which I had been warned about) I kept my head down and just kept pumping my legs. The plan was pretty simple but I believe it worked very well, I finished in a time of 48 minutes and 50 seconds. This time meant that I was 141st out of 508 finishers. The figure got even better when I looked at where i came in my age category, I finished in 68th position. Once you cross the line there is no medal or T-shirt like in many other races, this event give you a nice commemorative mug. Now normally I am all about the race bling but it was nice to get a different type of prize.
Overall I was very impressed with this event, the parking was good, the organisation of all runners was good and the course was beautiful although brutal in places. I would recommend Frenchay 10K as a must do race but make sure you are prepared for the hills! I will be back next year on the 40th anniversary of the race.
Take care!
Steve
As I am not currently writing my blog at the moment (Please see previous blog entry) but I thought I would keep in touch by writing a couple of race reports. So her goes my first attempt at doing just that!
On a chilly Sunday morning on the 28th April I took part in the Frenchay 10K and for those of you that don't work in kilometers like me its a 6 mile race. Why are shorted races in kilometers?, I don't know and one day I shall remember to look it up! According to their website Frenchay 10K was one of the first 10K events ever set up in this country in 1980! It was set up to raise money for local charities and today was the 39th time is has been held. The event set up was pretty good, the race HQ was on the Glenside UWE campus. There was plenty of onsite parking (which is unusual) and off site parking in the near by housing estate where we parked. Inside race HQ there was plenty of room for all the runners to prepare. We hadn't signed up online before hand so we arrived pretty early (an hour before the race started) to register. This process was very well organised and quick, within approximately 2 minutes we had paid our entry fee of £20 and had our race numbers. As this was such an easy process we had a bit of time on our hands but the organizers had this covered as well, we found a seat and watched a bit of the London marathon. I want to say a massive out out to all the marathon runners and especially the ones that ran it to raise money for Jessie May. When it was time to head out to the start line a very nice gentleman ushered us all out in the right direction. Once outside we found our way to where we were going to start, there was very handy signs with predicted finish times. This was so you could make sure you were running with other people of the same pace and not getting in each others way during the race. We weren't hanging around long before the race was started and off we went!Below I have posted a video using an app call Relive, this shows you the route of the Frenchay 10K
Overall I was very impressed with this event, the parking was good, the organisation of all runners was good and the course was beautiful although brutal in places. I would recommend Frenchay 10K as a must do race but make sure you are prepared for the hills! I will be back next year on the 40th anniversary of the race.
Take care!
Steve
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