In the run up to my England qualifying 10km race in Thorney near Peterborough this weekend members of my close family were battling flu, pneumonia and post viral fatigue. I was bound to go down with something, surely? Their children had the usual coughs and decorative facial candles to complete the level of threat. So it was with a certain relief that I was able to pack and set off with Louise Rowley for Peterborough last Saturday without even a sniffle.
Louise decided to be Jess Ennis: ‘I always believed, and when you do that life can get unbelievable”,
I went for Muhammad Ali: ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”. If we could talk ourselves up, anything was possible.
Lucy Broom, W50, Possibly Liz McColgan: ‘Never cry, learn, motivate, get stronger. The race is never over’, hoping to be with us as a qualifier joined us at the start line on a very pleasant early Spring Sunday morning. Unlike Ashby 20 or Sheffield Half Marathon, this race was low cost and low key. There would be coffee and cake at the end plus lots of excited chatter and race stories, even a trophy if we were lucky. But first the serious business of the race. Louise and I had the comfort of knowing that the top three W70 runners, registered for England would qualify. The total number of registered entrants was three. Job done but there was always the challenge of doing a good race in a good time. Lucy had a tougher task. There are some exceptional W50 runners. She knew she’d have to show her rivals her heels in order to demonstrate her superiority.
The tactics followed the usual pattern. Following a well-practiced warm up stand as close to the front as you can, set off with the pack for a few hundred meters then settle to the pace and focus on posture, breathing, arm swing. Pick out the person just ahead and gain on them if you can. At the turn go for home, push yourself when your body wants to rest and use the last kilometre to pick up the pace and push hard. The wind coming off the fens provided a bit of a challenge but we all gave our best to finish as strong as we were able.
Lucy met me and Louise who crossed the line less than a minute later congratulating us on our effort.
“Have you qualified?’ We were sure she must have.
“No, I was overtaken by a W50 coming up to the finish so reckon I’m 4th”.
A very helpful supporter came over and showed us the electronic times, available instantly. Lucy was definitely in third place in 42:05 chip. We watched her disbelief turn to joy. She had produced a superb result, only 20 seconds behind second and 66 seconds behind the winner in her age group.
We celebrated with refreshments, chatted to the locals and eventually made our way out of the community rooms. That’s when I discovered I’d won a trophy as fastest W65+. Since this was another of those races where W70’s are not recognised I hadn’t bothered to look. More celebrations and photos followed.
Lucy, Louise and I will join Kate Waddicor, W70 who qualified at the Brighton 10k last November in our England vests at the Newcastle Great North 10k Run in July. That means that the Steel City Striders RC will have four representatives with National honours in this race.
First Male was Danny Rock in 31.54.
First female was Ellen Leggate in 34:41.
My thanks go to John Rothwell, coach; Donovan Blake, Strength and Conditioning coach, Matt Rimmer at MyracekitNorth for help and advice on kit and to my running buddies, Louise, Lucy and Kate who share my passion for running.
