After a two week holiday in the USA, was it wise to race ten miles?

When and where?

19/11/23 – Tadcaster, obvs.

Start: St Joseph Street

Finish: Wighill Lane

The Route

After a warmup and last minute wee at the community centre, we headed to the start line. It was just a regular road, but there were lots of excited runners. This year was its biggest turn out yet!

As we set off we ran through the centre of Tadcaster, by the iconic John Smiths brewery. We then looped back into the centre, which did confuse me! We turned left this time, rather than right. I was relieved, I did not not wanted a lapped course.

It led us onto a main road which I wasn’t thrilled about, but then eventually again, we turned left. Down some closed country roads with only fellow runners for company.

I did enjoy the quiet and I did have to remind myself a few times I was supposed to be racing!

Early on, there was a puddle that runners were tiptoeing or trying to leap over. It didn’t look that deep so I ran straight through it, thank goodness I was right!

We carried on with country roads occasionally with some houses. What was absolutely lovely was the community coming out and cheering us on. I didn’t see any angry people complaining about the closed roads, it was just lovely.

Most of the route was like that. It was mostly flat although there was a little climb at the end which isn’t what you want with tired legs!

Race Conditions

There was a threat of rain all morning, as we drove over it rained a fair bit. I was worried.

Luckily by the time we arrived it had stopped raining. It was actually quite pleasant.

On route, it was a bit muddy in parts (including that puddle!). At mile 7 it did start to get a bit breezy which was annoying but it was because it was so open.

My Performance

Won’t bore you to death about how I’ve struggled this year (please see previous posts).

My aim was to run the whole thing and relax. I had an overly realistic time in mind, which I beat by almost 5 minutes.

The first 7 miles were a dream. I didn’t push myself, I was just on a regular run singing to myself. All was well.

Until it wasn’t. Mile 8 and my quads decided to let me know they were unhappy. It was painful. But I couldn’t start walking now. I knew if I started to walk, I’d just give up. Only 5k to go. I can run a 5k.

I had a little cry and looked straight ahead. I distracted myself focusing on my form hoping it would help ease the pain. It did a little, but it still hurt. I had slowed down.

I looked at my watch and knew I could easily hit my overly realistic time as long as I kept running. This helped drive me forward. Loads overtook me, I was cringing but I kept going.

As I crossed the finish line I was so relieved. I did it! And faster than I had expected. I felt sick with pain, but I was proud of my efforts. I didn’t stop.

The best thing about the race was my running club. Loads of us signed up, we were one of the biggest clubs there! To see them waiting for me at the finish line was a great boost and it was so exciting to see so many gain new PBs!

Would I recommend?

Yes, this is a well organised race that is well marked and marshalled. It was well supported by the local community.

I liked that your times are immediately available, which you don’t often get for smaller races.

The medal is fab and I loved the flapjack 😍

The course did register slightly long (it was long for all who I’ve spoken to about it). So take that into account if you try to pace it.

Official Time: 1hr 45mins and 04secs