Race 8 : Bookham 10k

Race: Bookham 10k

Distance: 6.5 miles

Time: 1h 2 mins

Here I am- back to the grind! The Bookham 10K required a particularly early start for a Sunday. (6:30 - whyyyyy!?). You know the routine by now- wake up - Tea - Porridge - Car. It was quite a long drive to Surrey and the weather was not inspiring. It was grey with a thick fog hovering over the South Downs and later into the drive the Surrey Hills. Mary Ann Hobbs was on the radio - easing 6music listeners into their Sunday mornings in her usual electic way. There certainly were some great songs played! (Grizzly Bear - 2 Weeks followed by an Alt J song had me warbling along)

Getting there super early was worth it though- we got a prized parking spot and after collecting our race numbers we had time for a cup of tea in the school hall. It was a really cute race headquarters in a tiny primary school hall. We assembled on the road outside at around 9:55 for the pre- race intro. (One we could actually hear for once!) The spokesperson was dressed in a union jack vest and a teeny tiny pair of union Jack running shorts. He asked people to raise their hands if they had done the race before (a few had) was it our first time? (lots of people raised their hands) and was this anyone's first 10k? (I think one person raised their hand and the crowd dissolved into applause- how lovely is that?! I would of loved that kind of encouragement on my first race). Looking around the crowd at the type of runner who had assembled for this race it was actually quite refreshing to see a load of average joe runners- and plenty of muddy trail trainers. (Inov8s everyWHERE!? - Do I need to get involved?!). The intro then got a little bit weird when he announced that we would start the race with the national anthem. That made me feel a little awkward… as soon the singing was over we were OFF!

The race started on a residential street - in the road- leading us gradually up hill and towards the woods. Soon we were tackling some very thin and well trodden public footpaths. The mud fest had began!It was quite a fast start- with the runners quietly (yet politely) trying to get around the slower runners to find their own comfortable pace. I got there eventually- I think it took me about `15 minutes to find some space with some runners in front and behind that were running at a consistent and suitable speed for me to run with. The start of the race was rather lovely as it meandered through the woods and I was pleased when I looked down at my watch and saw that we had been running for 26 minutes. This would have been around 2 miles (my GPS decided not to work so I had to estimate how far we had covered based on my usual pace) After a narrow and slippery downhill (where the Marshall had advised no over taking) we were soon faced with an uphill…. It was quite the uphill and a lot of people gave up and started walking very soon after it had began. I always find it hard to continue running when people in front of me have slowed to a huffing and puffing walk up the hill. I tried my best to keep running and to also keep up my walk/ run technique when I did eventually slow to a walk.

It was one of these hills that slopes off into another hill. It just kept on climbing! I didn’t really realise I was still running up hill until I noticed that I was finding it pretty hard to catch my breath!! It’s always during these parts of the race that I long for my headphones and just the right song to pull me out of my slump- but alas- it was me and me alone that could get me through it and that I did. The last part of the 10K race saw us cross some National Trust land (Polesden Lacey) and also saw us stumble across a beautiful and remote old school Y.H.A property. (YHA Tanners Hatch in case you want to google it). This was the start of a wonderful downhill section of the race. I was flying down the hill (flappy hands flapping) my brain trying desperately to process all the visual information and risks that my eyes were flitting over. (tree roots, rabbit holes… so many ankle twisting possibilities.) It was also at this point that there was a drinks station (and Jelly Babies!) and the marshall told us confidently “it’s all downhill from here”. I can tell you right now- she lied! I was flying downhill and trying to keep my pace up on the flat that followed and then all of a sudden another huge hill loomed. Nooooo. I got up it and the race was nearly over- just a few MASSIVE puddles to get through.

I crossed the finish line with a smile but I was slightly confused and disappointed by my over 1hr finishing time. (1hr 2Mins!?). But apparently the course length was actually 6.5 miles which made me feel a little better. One day I’ll get faster… hurumph.

We gorged ourselves on cake and warmed up with some tea before getting back in the car and turning it into a sauna. Running through that massive puddle at the end started to feel like a really silly idea. (Still fun though).

#Running #10K #bookham10k #surreyrace #inov8 #trainrun #girlsrun #race #eventstolive