Leighton 10K: The Family’s Race

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Yesterday was time for one of the Leighton Fun Runners’ biggest events of the year, the Leighton 10K race. The highly anticipated occasion, which is organised and hosted lovingly by all it’s own members, has been advertised since last year and had even sold out of all of its 250 places to run!

I woke up excited on Sunday morning with my clothes carefully complied according to my phones weather prediction (cloudy and a chilly 4 degrees), and made my porridge/ coffee combo. Not really taking notice of the weather, I got dressed and made my way over to race HQ, in another words one of our local upper schools. As I parked and walked up to the school, I was greeted by some florescent LFR’s who had given their time to being marshals.

The big finish, AKA the place where the magic happens

Instantly I felt the pre-race buzz as I was impressed by the carefully crafted and very professional finish line. The rest of  the pre-race rituals followed the same well organised suit- no long queues for the loos or baggage storage. The race packs were handed out in a very timely manner and came equipped with safety pins for your race number, and mine was even personalised!

There is honestly no better feeling before a race (especially when you’re the nervous type like me) than to be relaxed and assured that there’s no waiting in line or rushing to get to the start. This all comes from a well organised event which this one really was. Organised by runners for runners is definitely the way to go.

After everyone had registered, the runners eagerly went in force to the starting line, which was at a lower school about 1km away. This was a great way to warm up and Debbie and I took a leisurely plod down. It was then that we realised how wrong my phone’s weather prediction had been- it was turning to be a beautifully sunny day and the temperature was creeping up: I was starting to regret my long sleeved base layer! As we the start line the school car park was filled with a range of many excited runners, including groups of different sports club members in their colours. For some it was their first ever race, for others it was a training run for marathon season. In true LFR tradition, we came together for a couple of group photos, before dispersing to take up our starting positions.

After a short and sweet briefing by Tam and his megaphone, we got ready and were set off to run. For the first few minutes, we moved in a herd along a residential road. Within a matter of moments we were heading out of the town on a main national speed limit road and had all broken up into single file. Having run this route the week before, I was prepared for the challenge ahead, but I wasn’t prepared for how hot I would be. Thankfully enough I applied sun cream but that didn’t stop my face and my arms feeling the heat of the sun. The first mile was delightful, peeling off from the main road to take smell of farms down a country lane. I started to struggle in the second mile as I was running completely solo, but this is about normal for me as I always find the first three miles the most grueling. As I considered stopping for a short walk, I turned a corner to see the cross road section up ahead, lined with many familiar faces- the LFR marshals. As they saw me coming and began to cheer me on, it was definitely the boost I needed.

an example of some excellent marshaling in the road- who needs road safety awareness when you have these guys?

For the rest of the run, there were marshals after every hill and every turn, willing to lend words of encouragement and smiling faces to keep me going.

The route was described as ‘undulating’, which I found to be a massive understatement as there were two mountainous hills to overcome on the route. The first was over a km long of steady incline, with many corners when you think you’ve made it to the top, and it keeps on climbing.

at the top of Eastern Way

I must say the view at the top was pretty amazing and looked over the whole town. I had to get a fellow runner to take a pic- Thanks Ceri!

After we thought the worst was over, we were soon greeted with our next challenge after a brief down hill treat; Shenley Hill. For anyone outside of Leighton, it’s a short but very sharp hill, which I think looks worse than it is (although a lot of people would disagree). Once I reached the brow of the hill, there was another familiar LFR picture ready who got a rather unflattering snap of me and offered me more words of encouragement. From then on it was a fast stretch back to the finish, being downhill and flat, it was very welcome after a tough route!

After a sprint finish, I felt knackered: I had no muscle aches or pains but I spent most of the run pacing myself so that I couldn’t keep up conversation other than a few words. I even forgot to stop my watch until Debbie prompted me, so wasn’t sure of my time and to be honest, I wasn’t too bothered about it- my body knew I had worked hard and I felt like I had really pushed myself.

*Mushy Conclusion Alert*

When I was looking for a title for this post, I began to think about being part of the Leighton Fun Runners and how we are like a big family. With our Facebook group and the extra social events we do, it’s like having our own community which we can all support each other with. They are there to encourage you when you are struggling, to share joy with when you get a PB, and answer any small niggling questions you may have when running. I honestly believe without their support I would never have dreamed of even doing a 10k let alone entering a half Marathon. If you read this and are just starting out, or if you did the race at the weekend, I would urge you to think about coming along on a Tuesday night, or going to another local club, as it may help you more than you will ever know!

God Bless,

Grace

P.S Photography was courtesy of Claire Amos, and all proceedings from the race go to the clubs chosen charity, to make a small donation, please click here.

It wouldnt be a race without an LFR group photo!