My first race of the year is complete and it was a challenging one! The tough in the title was no joke, especially when the unexpected rain came out to play…

When and where?

26/1/20 – Start and Finish: Meltham Sports and Community Centre

The Route

The route starts and finishes at the Meltham Sports and Community Centre. You then head out of Meltham and are hit with a steep road climb with two blind corners. A good way to wake you up!

Once you smash that, you head up past Crosland Hill airport (yes, Huddersfield has an airport!) before a sharp turn into Blackmoorfoot and down… and back up Holt Head road. You run down there to the end before turning back into Meltham. This is very much a undulating race. Once you defeat the first 4 and a half miles, you’re rewarded with a glorious downhill sprint. Go mad! There is a bit of a mini climb at the end, which is nothing really but plenty of room for a sprint finish.

Race Conditions

The weather up here is always a bit windy, so it’s something I had fully prepared for. The sun was shining and the weather forecast said no rain till after lunch.

Of course, halfway through the heavens opened and the rain poured down. Wind and rain is such a terrible combination!

My Performance

I entered the race to test myself on challenging hills, something I have been struggling with since I’ve moved back to Huddersfield last year. It feels like I’m starting running again haha!

Hills are something I find tough, but I refuse to give up!

My overall aim was to complete the race in under an hour, but would have loved to have completed it in 56 minutes.

I set off steadily and comfortably, climbing up the hills with a grin. Everything was going to plan with my pacing until I reached Holt Head Road and the rain started. It was heavy and combined with the wind, I struggled to see, never mind increase my pace as I’d planned.

At that point I decided to just enjoy it best I could, so I pushed on with a smile and thanked the marshals who were controlling the traffic and ensuring us runners remained safe.

I still managed to sprint downhill and make up some of the time lost and then a sprint finish, overtaking a few people… can’t resist! 😉

My time was 58.36, so slower than I reaaally wanted. I still reached my overall goal though, so I was pleased.

Would I recommend?

I would definitely recommend this race. It’s a great way to kick off the year and it is well organised. The support from the organisers and marshals was outstanding. Even when I was being blinded by rain slapping in my face, I felt safe with the marshals controlling the flow of traffic and motivating me to keep pushing on.

You may not get a medal, but you get a momento (this year was a reusable cup!) and to meet some lovely people! I was smiling all the way through, we’re crazy us runners! 🙂

I’ll definitely be doing the race again next year, I now have a time to beat!

Official Time: 58:36