Race 2: The Friston Adder 10 mile
- stephturley
- Nov 6, 2016
- 3 min read
Race: The Friston Adder
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1 hour 35 mins
Race Number 2 was the Friston Adder. It was a little known race that I found on a website that was starting to actually look like my personal Calendar - Sussex Races. All I knew when i signed up was that it was going to be hilly… and it was 2 laps… 2 of my least favourite things! - But hey- this is supposed to be a challenge right?
In the run up to race day the event organiser emailed us our starting numbers and we were able to see the whole list of people who had signed up. 60 people only! This was going to be a miniscule event… and I am going to be S-L-O-W.
The night before race day was Bonfire night and we spent the evening at my in-laws which is a bit of a tradition seeing as they live a stones through from the local fireworks display in Lindfield. We ate heartily, had a few glasses of wine and enjoyed a very chilly bonfire night.
The next morning there was a definite chill in the air and even some ice on the car as we set off for the race. (My husband was running with me- I say with me… we have a nice tradition now- we kiss each other and wish each other a good race and then he is there waiting for me at the end- normally finishing on average 15 minutes before I do!)
We arrived with loads of time to spare (this is not something that we EVER do) and huddled in the car faffing with safety pins , grateful for our complimentary race beanie hats and giggling at other runners warm up routines.
The race soon began and it was indeed a very small race attended by what I typically describe as ‘serious’ runners. You can tell a serious runner by their kit and their pre-race chat/ routine. Do they have all the top of the range gear? Do they have a fancy GPS watch? Are they talking loudly about other runs/ times/ PB’s they have got in the week/ month/ year so far? Do they seem well known by lots of the other racers? Do they smell strongly of Tiger Balm?= SERIOUS RUNNERS.
Anyway- off the serious runners went - Alex too- and I went off at my comfortable pace- overtaking a few of the slower runners who were chatting as they went. It was certainly straight into a steep hill! It levelled off into a more gradual hill- that became a steady downhill, that was soon followed by more gradual and steeper climbs/ decents in a beautiful forest setting. But wow- what a view! From the edge of the forest the farm land was golden in the beautiful winter sun light and in the forest the leaves were orange and crunchy underfoot. It was a great course and I was pleasantly surprised (as I always am!) to find myself enjoying it as the miles seemed to tick by. As it was 2 five mile laps I decided to go steady on my first lap and scope it out to potentially push myself further on the second lap. I was pretty relieved to find that it wasn’t anywhere near as hilly as I thought it was going to be. I would say that there is only one major ‘sting’ of a hill which I doggedly took on - legs burning- lungs doing the same- which didn’t rear it’s ugly head until around Mile 4.
I started lap two at the same steady pace but soon reached for my last remaining Torq energy gel that I had saved from the High Weald Marathon where I had got this idea in the first place. Torq Gel’s if you haven’t had them before quite literally taste like sweets. The one I had left was rhubarb and custard and it did not disappoint. Feeling revived and ready to pick up the pace I started pushing myself a bit more and by Mile 3 was running considerably faster than I had the first lap around. I overtook 3 runners that were previously specks in the distance and again took on the steep hill at a good pace (over taking a cyclist as went!) I finished the race smiling and Alex took some good pictures of me approaching the finish line.
I found out that my time was 1 Hour 35 minutes which I am a little disappointed about- plenty of opportunities to improve ahead though.
So 2 races down - 28 to go. That’s still an awful lot!
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