The 1st Swinton 10 Mile Road Race - 26th September

Since the Ladies team have been doing so well recently (see below), I felt the pressure was off in terms of my contribution to the team. So Saturday morning when I woke up with with-drawal symptoms after two enforced days rest I hit the gym – HARD. On Sunday I woke up; not surprisingly, with tired heavy legs, not really fit to race, but I decided to make the jour-ney to support the club and use the race as training mileage.

I arrived to find a large chunk of the Ladies team in worse condition than I. Poor Rebecca was full of cold and really should have been in bed, Emma didn‟t seem much better. I wasn‟t sure whether Carol or Steve had lost the marshalling coin toss and I couldn‟t see Dawn any-where – OMG I was going to have to at least try to run this thing fast.

It became apparent that Carol had won the coin toss when I saw Steve in a marshal‟s vest. To be honest, I hadn‟t taken the pleas for marshals too seriously – I seem to remember months‟ worth of nagging last year and miraculously on the day we had enough. I felt quite guilty at turning up to race not fully fit, when Steve and possibly others were desperate to take part and had given up their places. From Ian‟s report this is obviously an issue the committee are going to tackle before next year. A big thank you to everyone who did get out of bed early on a freezing cold morning, sprinted in between marshalling points to make sure all were safely covered and suffered abuse of the local motorists. From a racer‟s point of view, I didn‟t notice any shortage of marshals and felt very safe all the way round.

I felt even guiltier at my lack of involvement in preparation for the race, when girls in the loo queue started asking me about the route. I was wearing a Swinton shirt so it was a fair assumption that I would at least know where the start line was – Ooops, no sorry, haven‟t got a clue! I ended up milling around with everyone else, in the right place as it happens, but purely by chance.
Emma was obviously feeling really rough, so – I suspect in breech of the rules- I spent the first two miles trying to stick to her shoulder and give her pace updates and encouragement. This worked for two miles, because its nearly all downhill, as soon as we got to the bottom of Folley Lane and started the upward climb toward Monton the tiredness in my legs took hold and I fell back rapidly. The push start seemed to work and Emma put in a good time, despite being under par.

I have run this loop so many times over the last two years that I can almost do it in my sleep and I suspect I did. I‟m not quite sure whether Kate and Adam passed me on the first lap or the second. I remember being amazed that I‟d put in a half way respectable time on the first lap and then dying on Lancaster road the second time around. Flogging back along the East Lancs I was thinking to myself, “At least we haven‟t got the awful steep finish like the Ladies‟ race.” I really should have taken more interest in the route before the day.

That finish was PAINFUL! I crawled up it; the guy who had just overtaken me started walking and growled something unfriendly at Mary when she tried to encourage him. By the time I reached the finish line my vision was blurred and my breathing ragged. I will not underestimate this route next year – no matter how well I think I know it.
I‟m afraid I was too cold and tired to hang around long at the finish to chat to everyone else about their race. From the results it looks like those of us who could take part put in some respectable times.

Full results available on UK Results

Sarah